I have two distinct memories of my dad crying during my childhood. He had to cry more than that, but these two are anchored into my brain. The first time occurred when I was in kindergarten. I was called home early from school. My dad was already home from work, sitting on our couch crying. […]
I’m a big fan of music variety when I drive. Today, I’ll probably listen to two podcasts and an assortment of mix CDs. My latest mix is a collection of some of my favorite songs from musicals (probably influenced by my absolute love of the new show GLEE). As I went through iTunes and selected […]
A few years ago, I worked at a leadership conference in Santa Barbara. I was standing at the on the beach with a few people, and someone asked me what direction I was facing. Having grown up in California, I felt pretty confident that if I was on a beach, and I was directly facing […]
I call my youngest sister “Munchkin.” It’s a nickname that developed after college when I moved back into my parent’s house. I came back to California for my teaching credential, and I didn’t really want to take out any loans, so I returned to the nest. While living with my parents didn’t exactly expand my […]
“You can use this color.” She handed me the black crayon, and I proceeded to color the zebra. I was about halfway through a cool volunteer experience with Generation United at a nearby learning center for kids under six. I had already spent some time chatting with two boys on the swings, singing the alphabet […]
My favorite excuses: I’ll get to it later today. I just need some food in me. I really need a nap first. The day is just too busy. I’ll make up for it tomorrow. The gym is about to close. I fell to a few of these this week. Out of the seven days, I […]
President Obama is delivering the commencement address at my alma mater tonight. As a lifetime member of the Alumni Association, I could have had four free tickets, but I’m flying out just hours before the event in order to get to my Thursday morning presentation location. As excited as I am to speak at the […]
I don’t watch a lot of basketball. Don’t get me wrong, I love March Madness, and I was a proud season ticket holder for my Sun Devils this year, but other than that, it just isn’t my sport. I prefer full court basketball and single elimination playoffs. Most NBA games lack that, and quite honestly, […]
“Do any of you have asthma?” I realized it was a bit of an odd question, but I looked at our seats, and I thought it needed to be asked. “Uh, no.” “Okay, good. Because they’ll do some cool stuff with brooms for the first few minutes and it might get a little bit dusty.” […]
So I feel like I’m in Disneyland circa 1993. The park is cool. I’m excited to be there. I see some of my familiar favorites, but there is no FastPass, and I’m stuck in line for Peter Pan. I love the Peter Pan ride. It is the very first ride I remember riding at Disneyland, […]