Looking back at 2018

Yes, I somehow failed to write anything between November and now, despite the fact that I can list off a good number of 'happenings'!  While I'd like to sit back and reflect on those events and also on the year as a whole, I think that summarizing might actually be more helpful to me and …

A return to the mountains

This has been a long time coming, talking about how unhappy I was for the past two years.  Last fall, I decided that teaching middle school was just NOT the right fit, so I made the decision in November (if not before) that I'd end the year but not return.  It was a weird situation …

¡A San José! ¡Pura vida!

Or: The way to San José, Take 2 I'm embarrassed to say that I was NOT looking forward to returning home, unpacking, packing the same bag with an entirely separate set of clothes, and heading back to the airport for a pretty rough schedule - all within a week of my first trip in May.  …

Looking back at you, 2017!

I'd rather not gloss over 2017 and make it look like a banner year, since, well, it wasn't.  Not that it was the annus horribilis of 2016 (personally, one of the worst years on the books), but I can't say that it was *awesome*.  However, there were definite highlights amidst a sense of "what am …

Spring highlights

Now that summer has "officially" begun - at least for me - I feel compelled to take a moment and look back on Spring 2017.  I would describe it as a bit of an emotional rollercoaster.  Let me say, that mid-life crisis thing is REAL!  One thing that is contributing to some of the emotional …

That commitment piece

With 2017 well underway at this point (hello February!), we've officially hit the mid-winter doldrums at school.  Still, I'm looking forward to a break coming up, and a short month will probably feel better too, especially as the days grow longer by small increments. I've mentioned time and again that a full embrace of life …

2016: The annual year-in-review

I've read some great "16 in '16" posts, and I like the format but can't bring myself to motivate THAT much, but a look back is still in order.  Just a few thoughts about the year as a whole - I'm too lazy to burn the year in effigy, but I have already done so in …

Hitting the reset button

Seeing as I've fallen off the interweb 'face of the earth', it seems that a renewed commitment to blogging would be a good shift.  I have the time these days, but finding the energy, focus and, most important of all, the content has been elusive.  As Michael and I have shifted from a life of …

Fun employment and (f)Unemployment

While it seems, based on recent posts (hello Thailand!), that life has been one adventure after another, the day-to-day has actually become much more grounded in the past 6-8 weeks.  A necessary but rather painful "face-the-music" experience as we settle into Colorado and search for jobs and also our souls.  I never expected that leaving …