(re-run) While student teaching in Venezuela, I learned how to have fun with not much money. One of the American teachers had stolen a couple of striped beach towels from an upscale hotel, and she had been sneaking into the hotel pool for years. “Just carry the towel and act like you belong,” Linda said.… Continue reading Worst Weekend Getaway Ever
One Night, Seventeen Babies
When our daughter came out, covered in dark hair just like her dad, the nurse slapped an i.d. tag on her tiny little foot. For some reason I reached over to read it.
Spear Fishing, Anyone?
(re-run) Aaron and Katie decided to go spear fishing. He had just bought her a wet suit, and he was looking forward to introducing her to hunting in the ocean. The pair had been to Fort Bragg, where they dived for abalone. This time, Aaron took Katie to Monterey Bay, and they went through the… Continue reading Spear Fishing, Anyone?
Remembering my Gay Boyfriend
(re-run) My little beach house is kind of magical, in that I can get away from the rat race and think about stuff I haven’t thought of in a very long while. It’s partly due to the fact that my beach house is my dumping house, where everything to be sorted goes to live until… Continue reading Remembering my Gay Boyfriend
A Great Dane Story
(re-run) When I was almost thirteen, I hung out at my neighbor Bonnie’s house, just one block away from mine, but it was different world. Both her parents worked full time, so we teens could hang there with no parental supervision. We were supervised, though, by the family’s Great Danes. I remember three dogs, but… Continue reading A Great Dane Story
Creative People Make Messes
(re-run) If you’re an orderly person like Monk on the TV show of the same name, this column is not for you. You crave things in place, all the time. Otherwise, you get agitated. The other side of the coin is the person who is so busy creating that he/she doesn’t notice the mess. When… Continue reading Creative People Make Messes
I Wish You Would’ve Died
Imagine a white woman from Iowa teaching Spanish in a town that was one fourth Latino. Imagine coming into the classroom mid-year after a string of substitutes. On my first day, a student said, “You’re our 12th sub. How long are you going to last?” It was a brand new middle school in Ramona in… Continue reading I Wish You Would’ve Died
Build Me Up, Buttercup
(re-run) There’s a Geico commercial for motorcycle insurance that starts out with the introduction to one of my favorite songs – Build Me Up, Buttercup. Of course, I have to sing along. Buh, buh-duh, buh buh buh-duh, buh, buh-duh, buh buh buh-duh . . . Why do you . . . build me up, buttercup… Continue reading Build Me Up, Buttercup
Teaching in Nowhere-Nebraska Memories
After student-teaching in Caracas, Venezuela, and Des Moines, Iowa, at the local all-girls Catholic high school, I went to Spain for the summer to finish up my Spanish credits for my double Spanish-Elementary Ed degree, with a minor in teaching K-12. Then I was off to my job in Ashland, Nebraska, population 2000. The principal… Continue reading Teaching in Nowhere-Nebraska Memories
Weed Whacker Workout
(re-run) I’ve never owned or used a Weed Whacker. I’m an Iowa girl who pulls weeds by hand so they don’t come back. But this year is the exception. With record rainfall, the weeds are on steroids this spring. See photo. I ordered an electric weed whacker from my local hardware store since I didn’t… Continue reading Weed Whacker Workout
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 