Having written my memoir really gets me thinking about everyone else's story. No one is ordinary. And even if they are---it's in that day-to-day that stories are built, that the remarkable occurs. In the hall at work, I stopped to watch a teacher assemble a bulletin board. Another teacher stopped and another one---a small professional... Continue Reading →
Exciting. Fabulous. Brave. Crazy. Tired. Grateful
November and December were full. Full. Full. Full stop. You can probably tell by my lack of posts and presence on here. Birthdays and book launches November was busy. I celebrated my 55th birthday and launched my new book My List, My Rules. My learning curve grew once again as this book was a solo... Continue Reading →
My List, My Rules As a Gift
Iceland has the right idea. There is a list of reasons to give books as gifts. My List, My Rules: The Year A Checklist Changed My Life is the most recent book I have written. I'm extremely proud of all the books on my author roster but this one is special. It's about the year... Continue Reading →
Chain Stitch. Hook. Loop. Repeat.
**Stories that were not in My List My Rules Goal: Crochet Something Mindful this. Mindful that. I grew up watching my good Greek Ma craft her brains out. She did not paint or draw but she did everything else. She sewed. She embroidered. She rug-hooked. Remember that one? She took a stab at beading and... Continue Reading →
Rest Relaxation Work and Writing
The first part of this post was written at school. I finished all my duties: room cleaned, marks entered, boxes packed and ready for transport. I am being moved to a new school. Last-minute administrative duties are done. With this bit of free time, I thought why not work on the writing side of my... Continue Reading →
Speaking of Being Neighborly
I have an elderly neighbor who's been around for about 30 years. Up until a couple of years ago, he and his even more elderly parents shared the home. They've passed. Now he lives alone. He's quirky, with quirky ideas. Whenever we chat the conversation always finds its way to the biblical ominous end of... Continue Reading →
The Lilac Bush
I had a beautiful yard surrounded by mature lilac bushes that served several purposes. They gave my yard privacy from a busy street. They absorbed sounds from outside the yard and absorbed vibrations from passing trains. They looked pretty. They smelled nice. I loved the oasis that this green wall created. Then one day I... Continue Reading →
The Star and Graduation
Excuses. Excuses. Excuses. I spent the last few days of the school year packing and moving and hauling and cleaning because I am being moved to a new school. I was spent. June is typically met with exhaustion, but let's add to that packing up a decade's worth of teaching tools and supplies and stuffing... Continue Reading →
Fast Food & Fear
**This post is not about dieting. It was a dark and stormy night. Actually, it wasn't. At all. It was a quiet night full of familiar sounds of the urban nighttime---sounds that lulled me to sleep from the open window in my bedroom. Sleep slowly took me. I floated away in restful slumber. And like... Continue Reading →
Love It. Keep It. Hate It. Leave It.
Thanks to social media conversations and hilariously reflective radio DJs I have been left considering things I love when I was much younger. Man, sometimes I make myself sound so old! I'm not. I'm just experienced (wink). Things I love now that I hated when I was younger Salads. Fresh. Crispy. Delicious. A whole meal... Continue Reading →