I am still finding it really difficult to write. Countless posts have ended up in the drafts folder, languishing. My mind is too jumbled, my heart too heavy. We all have our periods of challenge and heartache at some time or another, and I am no different. I know how much writing helps me calm … More On the Little Things Lost
I am in a pretty dark place today and I’m not quite sure how to shake it. We had over an hour meeting via Zoom with Dan’s neurology team, followed by Dan doing 2 1/2 hours of cognitive testing. The poor guy was exhausted after all of that, so we went out to enjoy a … More Navigating the Unknown
I was on a dark airplane, finally taxiing toward takeoff and Birmingham after nine hours of a layover in Detroit that wasn’t supposed to be. In a perfect world, I was scheduled to be home by 3:10pm, in plenty of time to walk Marley and settle into being back home with Dan. In my not-so-perfect … More On Appropriate F*#ks
I woke up early to a text from one of my students sent long after we’d turned in for the night. They were asking to reschedule their lesson as they were struggling with personal issues related to anxiety. This is happening more this semester than in anytime during my almost 35 years of teaching- and … More On Living with Anxiety
Yesterday was a milestone in my health journey; one year to the day since I began following an intermittent fasting lifestyle, along with changes to my diet and exercise regime. What a difference a year makes! I am down almost fifty pounds and at fifty-seven (almost fifty-eight), I feel strong and fit again after struggling … More One Day or Day One?
As I’m sure it was for so many this year, Thanksgiving was a bit sad and a bit surreal. I wanted badly to have as normal a holiday as possible after months of living with the pandemic, even though it would just be Dan and I on the guest list. We planned and cooked a … More On Gratitude Between the Cracks
It doesn’t seem possible, but we have finally reached Thanksgiving break after one of the strangest semesters in my thirty-four year teaching career. It’s strange to realize that I’m more exhausted that I typically am during a normal semester when I’m constantly on the go performing and teaching instead of teaching partially online in the … More On Refilling Empty Cups
Dan and I were discussing our life during the pandemic over lunch today…frankly not a topic I ever thought of us having to consider in our lives, but here we all are. Everyone responds to the trauma of these strange times in their own way. For us, it’s been almost like a perpetual weekend in … More On Changin’ During Change
A friend from a creative group I belong to told me she has noticed that many typically positive people seem to be especially struggling these past weeks in particular. I can vouch for that; I feel like I’ve hit an emotional wall with all that has happened since March; being so ill for weeks with … More On Sinking and Swimming
Yesterday was our first full day with Dan home from the hospital. Now comes the work of finding what our new normal will be since everything changed with his health and with our world. I think that both of us are beginning to process the realities of what has happened as emotions wash over us, … More On Finding a New Normal
The View from Here 