Spain’s World Cup Win!
Spain’s World Cup win is so deserved! With Nico Williams’ header to Ferran Torres, they finally scored. Argentina did not even have a shot on goal until Messi’s 117th minute blocked shot. With 11 [...]
The Odyssey
The Odyssey is a narrative epic poem of 12,109 lines about the extraordinary deeds of heroic characters. Epic heroes like Odysseus have superhuman strength and wisdom (god-like), and encounter gods or other superhuman forces. [...]
Joys and challenges of home ownership
My 11th grade math teacher Mrs. L would be so proud of me for using charts, graphs, and formulas in my English classes to teach theme, thesis statements, literary analysis, research papers, and more. [...]
Hands open to motherhood
I have learned to listen and live with my hands open to motherhood. My three daughters are close in age, and with all three girls in college at once, they have stories and ideas [...]
Yellow tulips to mark a school year concluded!
Today was our final staff day with brunch, milestone awards, saying so-long to teachers retiring or moving (once an Eagle, always an Eagle!) grades due, and general classroom shut down. My dear friend Rebecca [...]
On the shifts of grief over time
When my older brother Tim died on Ascension Day 2010, the numbness of loss eventually gave way to deep turmoil and pain; I knew my choice was to become “A Quartz contentment, like a [...]
Fire drill opportunities
A fire drill is a great opportunity to connect with students outside in the fresh Colorado sunshine, so why not talk about writing and publishing? One of my ninth grade students recently immigrated from [...]
My lilacs
My lilac bush had a brief but glorious two week bloom this year, with the freeze and snow on Friday finally scattering the petals. In our seven years in this home so far, sometimes [...]
Breaking Home Ties
Norman Rockwell, "Breaking Home Ties", The Saturday Evening Post, September 25, 1954. I can understand his feeling of letting go of the season of childhood and teen years, in order to let young adults [...]
A Mother’s Love
A Mother’s Love. I’ve been so sick with influenza this week and even left work on Monday at lunch so ill, I had to find afternoon sub coverage. It’s been miserable and I’ve been [...]