The other day when driving home from a business meeting, in heavy rush hour traffic, I was stopped at a red light waiting for it to turn green, when a homeless man pacing up and down the sidewalk caught my attention. There was something about the man that made me fixate on him. He turned around and noticed my stare. Without hesitation, I reached into my wallet, retrieved five dollars, lowered the window, then passed the five dollars to him. The man responded by saying “thank

Most of my readers know I teach science to middle school students, and published a blog post some months ago titled Never Say Never. I use to say I would never work with middle school students because of so many negative comments I had heard from various educators. After accepting a position to teach in a middle school, I found some of the comments to be true, and some comments not so true. For an example, yes, it’s true that many middle schoolers blurt out whatever they are

While watching television, my husband will often ask me to come sit on his lap to cuddle. I am always more than happy to oblige. I love cuddling just as much as my husband, perhaps more. My husband has strong hands and arms, and I like the secure and loved feeling that comes over me when he envelops me in them. My husband doesn’t just cuddle with me, he also gets our kids involved in the action. Over the past decade, I have read several articles on children being coddled too

This blog post was originally published on May 20, 2017. I was watching National Geographic last week when I was reminded of a conversation I had with my mother back in my teens. On the particular episode of National Geographic, a group of pride lionesses worked hard to bring down a zebra so the entire pride could eat. While the lionesses were doing the hard work to bring down the zebra, the lion king was laying down watching. When the time came to chow down on the zebra, the

Earlier this week, during my 8th period science class, one of my students asked me if I was mad about something. Before I responded with an answer, I asked my student why she asked me that question. She responded by saying “you look like you’re mad!” Then I responded by saying “no I am not mad.” My student responded again saying “okay just checking!” I apologized for my look and shifted to a big smile. Later in the day, I found that I was unable to let go of the exchange with

Among the many great things to love about living in the United States, is the fact that there is an association, organization, club, or group for just about anything you can imagine. There are people who share an interest in aliens, to people who share an interest in zebras, and people who share an interest in everything in between. The coming together with others who share the same interests can be a great way to make new friends, and a great way to experience the extrinsic

From 1965-1970, I Dream of Jeannie was a popular fantasy sitcom. Jeannie, played by actress Barbara Eden, was a very attractive 2000-year-old genie, who was discovered and released from her bottle by astronaut Captain Tony Nelson, played by actor Larry Hagman. By the act of opening and releasing Jeannie from her bottle, Captain Nelson became her master. As Jeannie’s master, Captain Nelson’s wishes were manifested with the blinking of her eyes. If you ever watched an episode,

The idiom a wolf in sheep’s clothing is typically used to warn that you should be aware of, and not so trusting of someone based on their kind and friendly appearance. A wolf in sheep’s clothing is, by most standards, a dangerous person who is pretending to be harmless, but is actually an enemy who is disguised as a friend. Wolves favorite prey is generally animals that are larger, so the only way wolves can catch them is to live and hunt in groups. A lone wolf spends time al

I grew up in a household with a mother who allowed me the freedom to be fearlessly open when expressing my opinion on matters. I have 7 siblings who were equally encouraged to express themselves. So, on any given day if you passed by our house, it might have sounded like mass protests taking place. I don’t believe any of us were ever been called quiet or timid. We were all just the opposite, loud and fearless! When I look back over my life, particularly the time immediately a

I have had my vehicle for more than 7 years now. It started to show some wear and tear, and quite frankly it looked its age. A friend asked me if I was going to buy a new vehicle. As tempting as it is to have a new vehicle, I decided to perform some cosmetic maintenance on my vehicle by adding some new rims, new tires, new lettering, and new paint. A fresh coat of paint has the ability to transform almost anything. Today I’m having my house painted, I’m getting my toenails pa