Last night, my name was picked and I got to tell a story on stage at The Moth. (I didn’t tell any stories involving wedding dresses, as they ended up not making good stories. More like good anecdotes. I told a story about a brazen comment in a conversation with my first principal-to-be.) Because I … Read more
I’m volunteering at The Moth StorySlam tonight in Phoenix. While I’m there, I can throw my name into the hat for an opportunity to tell a 5-minute story on stage. (I’ve had the opportunity to tell stories twice. One went well; the other, not so much.) The theme this month is BOLD. I’ve been thinking … Read more
The Climbing Daddy is friends with the couple who own the fishing lodge we stayed at in Canada. As a result, we were there the week before they officially opened for the season, so they weren’t serving meals. They were apologetic but assured us that in terms of appliances and equipment, there was a fully … Read more
…my senior recital. For those who didn’t go through this, a senior recital is a big deal (for most of us). As an education major, I was required to perform a 30-minute solo recital as one of my graduation requirements. (I could have instead performed a 30-minute jury, which means just for a panel of … Read more
A week or so ago, I had a dream that I remembered when I woke up. A few details of it have stuck with me, and it’s been turning over in my head a bit… The dream below; side comments in brackets: I was racing my third Ironman. [I have never raced anything close to … Read more
I’ve wanted to leave teaching and go into health and wellness (which really is just another kind of teaching) for years. At the advice of my trainer at the time, I went and got my personal trainer certification because it has a nutrition component and that would be good enough credential to do weight loss … Read more
I saw a meme that depicted a student climbing a ladder where the rungs were the arms of teachers and coaches. I saw a video of a recently-retired band teacher honored with a surprise concert and a massive instrument donation to his school. I reread a note from a former student who I had taught … Read more
I accepted a challenge on Halloween to blog daily. Beginning November 1, I’ve shared my writing here every day. Sometimes it’s easy; sometimes less so. I was never worried about having enough to say; I have plenty of thoughts to share and writing is so much easier for me than talking. I expected my biggest … Read more
I’ve heard so many stories of people’s celebrations … so many stories of Christmases not exactly as planned but still lovely … of new beginnings … of “probably the lasts” … of new traditions with old people … of old traditions with new people … Thank you for sharing your stories with me. If you … Read more
The Kid suggested yesterday that we leave out cookies and milk for Santa. We have always told him that Santa is a story, but he loves pretending. (This morning: “I heard Santa on the roof last night!”) By bedtime, he had forgotten about the milk and cookies, but we left out a plate with crumbs … Read more