Category: Blog
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Monsoons
Every summer in Arizona there comes a time when the long summer days with their unrelenting 100+ degree temperatures become tiresome if not nearly unbearable.And even though it’s “a dry heat” and the lack of humidity makes 110 degrees feel like 90, by July, Arizonans are ready for a change when it comes to the…
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Don’t Miss The Moment
I am blessed in my life, if I haven’t shared that before. I am healthy, I have a wonderful partner and a great family. This spring, I was fortunate enough to travel internationally with my mother and sister. We went to London and Amsterdam, visiting museums, shopping, and eating delicious food. At one point we…
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Moderation
“Everything in moderation,” my father said, sitting in his chair behind his desk, raising a glass and sipping at the three fingers of a single malt whiskey he poured only on special occasions. It was both the second and the last time I witnessed this ritual. I had just graduated from college and I was…
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Unplugging
Anne Lamott, a favorite writer of mine, describes what I call “spontaneous electronic regeneration” by saying, “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” We live in a society that expects the response to the simple question, “How are you?” to be “Oh, I’m so busy!” or “There…
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New Year Reflection
The new year is typically a time of self-reflection. We often focus on what we may or may not have accomplished in the past year, and set goals for what we hope to achieve in the year that lies ahead. Somehow this feels a little self-involved. So, this year, I’m going to do things a…
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Working the Polls
A few years ago, a friend posted on Facebook that she would be working for the county elections office and that they needed just one more person to work on election day at the local vote center. Being the “helper” person that I am, I contacted her and said, “I’ll do it!” Little did I…
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In a room with a mosquito
Like millions of others, I have a Facebook account. I scroll fairly quickly, reading my “friends’” posts, sometimes playing a game with myself to see if I can tell who posted a photo or an opinion before I confirm who actually did…and I’m getting better at answering correctly. I’m sure that’s because each of us…
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Food for Thought
My uncle Mike came to visit last week. We went to dinner and afterward (at his insistence), we ended up at a little place to sing karaoke. Uncle Mike is a big man in his 60s, who looks a bit like Santa Claus—with a round belly, blue eyes and a white beard, so his low,…
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Am I Culturally Sensitive and Aware?
When I first arrived at Arizona State University, I was amazed by and curious about the students I encountered from different states and countries. And they were curious about me. Being born in one country (Sweden) and raised in another (Spain) allowed me to meet people from many different countries and from all walks of…
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Thank you, Ms. Uhlir
Most women can remember their high school years being full of good times with best friends, crushes on boys, and the occasional heartbreak when something didn’t go exactly as planned. I know all of these memories resonate for me. I also remember being disrespectful to my mother and feeling life just wasn’t fair. I’d pour…