I have written a few times about my bike ride across Iowa in July, 2004. However, there’s a little more to that story I wanted to share. When people heard I was doing the trip, the first question was usually, “Is it a fundraiser?” As if saying, “Because why else would anyone choose to ride…
Month: March 2010
Signs
A few weeks ago, I wrote about buying some of the first supplies for my Camino trip. I still have not picked dates or solidified anything, but have had a few signs that my timing is perfect. In yesterday’s mail I received the quarterly newsletter from the Congregation of Notre Dame. My first experience with…
A Different Perspective
“I feel like those anemones in that vase over there,” said my piano teacher as she sat in her living room, her rolling walker off to the side of her chair. I looked at the purple, red, and white flowers in the vase behind me. “It’s like they’re imprisoned in that vase,” she went on….
On Waiting
I’m not very good at waiting. I’m an action kind of person. If I walk into a store and the lines are super long, I’ll walk out and come by some other time. I’m also not good at waiting to make decisions. When I need to decide on something, I want to weigh all the…
My “Impractical” Convertible
My father said I should think about buying a new car. My current one was seven years old, and according to dad that was old enough. However, my current car was the first car I had actually paid for with “my own money” and I had never envisioned getting rid of a perfectly drivable vehicle. …
Writing for Public Consumption
On Christmas morning when I was seven, I received my first diary. An avid reader, I loved the idea of writing down my own personal thoughts and what transpired during my days. I never intended anyone to read the words I had written. But my siblings apparently thought I had something juicy in there. I…
On Not Having the Degree
On NPR last November, they were interviewing a guy who made a documentary about what he called “the best high school in the world.” As a math tutor who struggles to understand how it is that I have high school students who still don’t know their times tables, I was curious. He said 85% of…
A Lesson for my Students
While waiting for me to start the review session for their upcoming exam, one student asked, “So why are you a teacher?” “You mean my motivation for teaching?” I asked. “No, I mean, didn’t you say you were a physical therapist? So I’ve been wondering why you’re a teacher,” he clarified. Oh how I loved…
My Folk School Reunion
Hello all – For today’s post I’m going to refer you to two posts I wrote as a guest blogger while at the John C. Campbell Folk School a couple weeks ago. It was my second time the Folk School (the first was in March, 2006 which I talked about in an earlier post). http://blog.folkschool.org/2010/03/08/a-reunion/…
On Affording my Lifestyle
“Do you ever worry about saving up a bunch of money for the day you might retire?” my friend Kate asked me. “No,” I responded. “So you really do just live in the moment?” she asked. “Well, I mean, I do have savings. I try to put the max in my Roth every year and…
RenaissanceRebecca 