I lost one of my best friends today, my darling Tasha.

My ex-husband, our daughter, Charlotte, and I adopted her from a Humane Society Adopt-a-Pet in the year 2001. She was just about four to six months old, a gorgeous Rottweiler/Australian Shepherd mix with a smart, eager-to-please personali… Read full post »

My stomach’s been churning over Ann Coulter’s “retard” for a couple of days. I’ve not been able to really articulate why this so offends me, for I’ve no dog in this particular hunt. My daughter is a certifiable genius, part of the Gifted programs from First grade o… Read full post »

This was originally posted to another site in April, 2011

 Alone of all the High school campuses in our district, ours puts on quite an elaborate prom-type dinner-dance for our Special Ed students. It's funded entirely through donations - not a penny comes out of the school bu… Read full post »

Let me preface the following by saying, I like cats. Love them, in fact. I have been owned by four of them in my life, and my friend’s cats occasionally condescend to borrow me. Anyone who has had a cat in their life in any way knows that we do not own/… Read full post »

Some lessons, even well-taught, take a long time in the learning. A lifetime, even.

One year. It’s been a year since I watched Jeff take his last breath. Since a person who changed my life, my way of thinking, left this astral plane.

“It’s better to be kind, than right.” Jeff… Read full post »

One of the unwritten duties of anyone working in public education is preventing parents murdering their children. This duty is implicit, if not explicit, in all public education contracts from the Custodians right up through the Principal. Nowhere is this more necessary than on a High school campus.

Read full post »

Millions of years ago when the dinosaurs were fluffy hatchlings and I was terribly young, my best friend, John, was in the Navy and quite the world traveler. John sailed through Japan, Okinawa (they are not the same thing, or so he says they say), Korea, the Philippines, so many exotic… Read full post »

Over the last week I have been thinking a lot about the Chicago Teacher's strike; I suppose it's normal for one's ears to prick up at a teacher's strike when one  works in Education. Then today I heard a fascinating report on NPR's This American Life, which will repeat tomorrow an… Read full post »

So.... yeah. I'm pending approval at the Our Salon. I'm not the most frequent blogger, but I've gained so much from the writers here and many of you are leaving. I will follow, because I can no longer stand the endless wait for a page to load only to get Lots of errors… Read full post »

I haven’t known what to do with 9/11 for a couple of years now. Last year, being the 10^th anniversary, it made sense that there would be a big…. Remembrance? I guess that’s the word because celebration seems totally wrong; commemoration is perhaps better and yet, what I’m fee/… Read full post »

Over dinner the other night, Paul and I discussed our mutual incomprehension of roadside memorials. We both grew up elsewhere, I on the West coast in Southern California; he on the East coast in Rhode Island by way of South Boston. These markers of tragedy had not been part of our… Read full post »

     Of all the blessings I’ve received from my time on a High school campus, being in the Auditorium when the Schiffs came to speak is the most profoundly emotional and stirring. But for the miracle of my grandfather’s immigration my own beloved father might have… Read full post »

I watched the Chick-Fil-Asco with interest, weighing in from time to time, mostly when a friend posted reasoned, informative pieces to his facebook page and gracefully endured the sometimes nasty commentary that followed. No matter how mean-spirited the conversation became, Scott remained stalwart, c… Read full post »

Because we’re both suckers for adorable animal videos, my friend, Maggie, sent me a link of a giraffe giving birth at the Memphis Zoo. You can watch it here: Click here: Giraffe Birth at the Memphis Zoo    

A crowd gathers around the enclosure to watch. Momma giraffe stays t… Read full post »

This morning as I was buttoning up my pretty pink blouse, I reflected on the sad article I read on the suicide of Teddy Molina, a teenager from Corpus Christie, Texas (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46934484/ns/local_news-corpus_christi_tx/t/family-says-bullying-led-teens-suicide/). After years of relen… Read full post »

Teenagers of both genders but most especially teenage boys are, from my observations anyway, perpetually in a state of locked-and-loaded, their health, raging hormones and energy all combining to make them pretty much crazy most of the time.  

They are also in possession of adult-sized bodi… Read full post »

In a matter of two weeks, the creek Tasha and I walk along has sprung back to life, gone from stark and drab to vibrant and lively. Tiny purple clover has popped up amongst the blades of grass; my garden-savvy facebook friends identified redbud for me, abloom amongst the trees and… Read full post »

The creek behind my apartment complex handles the runoff from our sometimes torrential North Central Texas rains. When the water subsides one sees all kinds of junk washed up on the banks: tattered articles of clothing, the ubiquitous plastic grocery bags, scraps of paper and to my amusement, a Pring… Read full post »

As happens sometimes an innocent facebook post started a bit of a cyber-kerfuffle this week. A fellow parishioner mentioned it had been a small crowd on Sunday; someone else lamented the loss of our Music Minister and from there things took a bit of a negative turn. I guess when folks are… Read full post »

Because I am divorced, and because I don’t wish to spend my life alone as I am happiest in a loving relationship, I joined an internet dating sight. And my, oh my, what an eye-opening experience it has been. My friend, Ann, told me I might have to kiss a lot… Read full post »

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away called San Jose, California, lived a tiny family of three who were far away from their native land of Huntington Beach. Ok, it wasn’t all that far away, but we were new to San Jose and poor, and didn’t know many… Read full post »

My daughter, Charlotte, is going to South Korea to teach English as a Second Language.

My daughter is going half-way around the world to earn her living.

This is not the way it was supposed to be.

She was accepted to Chicago-Loyola’s Master’s program in Women’s and Gender… Read full post »

Tasha and I took the evening constitutional along the creek as we do every day, she trotting along in the grass, sniffing at interesting bushes and trees, pricking up her ears at sounds that could indicate another animal on the prowl; on the concrete path every step of my boot heels rings… Read full post »

Episcopalians can be creatures of habit, so I was surprised this past Sunday to see Tom in the church Parlor before the 8:30 a.m. service. Tom is an 11:00 a.m. person, while I am an 8:30, and it is rare for the twain to meet. 

Tom is a tough, gruff older… Read full post »

The evening of the day Jeff died I walked Tasha along the creek, and we spied a tall sunflower stalk that had once sported two blossoms. One flower was spent while the other was still vibrant if a bit past it’s prime. 

This past Saturday was the memorial service for Jeff.… Read full post »