I am in the throes of end-of-the-semester grading. Oh joy. I am not a huge fan of grading, but I am an educator at a higher education institution and with that identity comes grading. I wish I could just give all my students a simple pass or fail based on their commitment and effort, but [...]
The second coming of the Wild West…
I was not surprised, but still unhappy to read that criminal cases in the oil patch are skyrocketing. We probably all knew that would eventually come to pass. Let's face it, we have the second coming of the Wild West out in Western North Dakota. It just isn't the same place as it was a [...]
Personality +
Every class has its own personality and its own set of personalities. Over the course of a semester the personality comes into its own and by the end of the semester it is typically ripe. Today was the last day of my regular classes this semester. On the last day of my classes the students do a hot wash [...]
The 5 stages of morning…
If you have ever read anything on serious illness, loss or grief you have likely heard of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. Kübler-Ross introduced the Five Stages of Grief a few decades ago. The stages are: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. Kübler-Ross' model has been heavily critiqued over time, but it is still frequently referenced. There have a number of variations on [...]
Fledgling hope…
Yesterday when I backed out of my driveway to pick up Cheyenne from school I saw a small bird sitting on the driveway in the space that my car had covered moments before. I found it curious that it didn't move away from the car as I was backing out. From where I was in [...]
If you give a plant lover an employee discount…
Believe it or not, I had never visited Baker Nursery in Fargo until today. I have passed it a hundred times, but I never stopped in. Today I stopped in for what I thought was going to be five minutes to look at a tree that Mike wanted me to look at. I emerged two [...]
What I learned from Mike’s injury…
I often say, "Be careful what you wish for!" I say this because things don't always play out in practice the way we think they will. When Mike first hurt his knee three months ago I was appropriately horrified. Horrified for him as the extent of the injury was unknown; horrified for me because Nurse [...]
THE NEW FORTY 