Slice of Life Challenge

    • Thought partner

      Ever since I was 16 years old, I’ve had a at least a part-time job. I’ve never not worked. When my peers were taking trips to sunny beaches, I was picking up extra shifts. Although I’ve continued to be employed, the pandemic changed the pace of my work schedule. Suddenly…

    • Commencement ceremony in a car

      Last Saturday I attended my oldest step-son’s commencement ceremony…sort of. Because of social distancing guidelines here in Los Angeles county, students were only given two tickets to commencement. Unfortunately, there were three of us that wanted to attend–my husband, my other step-son, and me. I knew it was important for…

    • Something old is new again

      This morning I woke up extra early; I was going to do something I haven’t done since March 2020! I already had my outfit ready to go. I checked the directions the night before so I’d know where I was going. I nervously got ready with lots of questions and…

    • Writing equations

      I was inspired by this blog post by Nawal Qarooni Casiano to write some equations today. (If you haven’t already read this post, go there first!) Here are some drafts in no particular order:music + movement = joy mid-afternoon nap + dog at feet = bliss clouds + Saturday =…

    • Mother’s day reflection

      I recently made a TikTok to encourage people to read a blog post written by the founding director of the organization I work for. It was about reconsidering spending time on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day projects in the classroom and instead leaving that up to families. I’m sure most,…

    • Belated birthday celebrations

      {This is a short one since I don’t have time, but I want to keep the streak going!} Last August my sister turned 40. She wanted, or at least thought she wanted, to run the Sea Wheeze half marathon in Vancouver to celebrate. Her friends, our other sister, and I,…

    • What does America mean to you

      While many have written essays, created art, recorded documentaries, et cetera, answering this question, I’ve never really tried to answer it myself. This weekend I was asked that question after a heated discussion about whether or not it’s divisive for grads to wear sashes that represent different racial/cultural/ethnic identities like…

    • Appreciation or appropriation

      It was recently the 25th anniversary of No Doubt’s song “Don’t Speak” and in it’s honor a TikToker posted a series of videos calling out Gwen Stefani for her long history of cultural appropriation. In the video for this song and at other times, she can be seen wearing a…

    • Dance it out

      My early childhood years were the opposite of overscheduled. My brother, cousins, and I were left to our own devices to play and entertain ourselves more often than not. Sometimes there was adult supervision…and sometimes there wasn’t. There was a brief stint at weekly piano lessons, but they didn’t last…

    • Protected: Belonging

      There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.