This time of year, everyone’s talking politics, campaigns, amendments. There are debates, both on tv and in the office, and more political advertisements than a person could possibly need. All to get your vote. And sometimes it seems like one vote is just a drop in the bucket. Sometimes it is.
But sometimes one vote is the pebble that tips the balance.
It was just an ordinary school election. As Student Body VP, part of my duties included counting the votes for the Freshman President election. There were two people running. It was a simple enough task. Being a good little organized student, I developed a chart so I could keep the votes divided by homeroom before I tallied. (more…)
Sometimes I think, Huh, nothing odd has happened to me lately. Which is, of course, a dangerous thought, but I think it anyway. Because if odd happenstances don’t occur in my life, what am I going to write about?
Don’t worry. Odd things have happened.
For one thing, there are at least seven deer who reside in our neighborhood. Three of them like to hang out in our yard at night, especially when I’m coming home in the dark. Not when my husband’s home, though. They like to make me look like an idiot, talking about the deer that keep hanging around while my husband looks outside and goes “uh-huh, and what did these deer look like?”
Thanks a lot, deeries. I may not have known what a groundhog looked like, but I know deer, okay? I watched Bambi. (more…)
Halfway around the world today, a 14-year-old girl was shot. Not because she was hanging with the wrong crowd. Not because she did drugs or anything like that. It was because she dared to stand up for something, because she dared to say education is important, even for women.
She was shot by the Taliban. Once in the head, once in the neck.
A 14-year-old girl.
Her name is Malala Yousufzai and she is Pakistani. She’s in stable condition, but the Taliban warned that “if she survives this time, she won’t next time.”
I’m tall. Well, not freakishly tall. But 5’8″ is somewhat tall for a woman. (Two inches more and I could’ve gotten a scholarship.) You can imagine how tall I am when I wear heels. And my height didn’t come suddenly from a growth spurt in high school. I was the tallest one in my kindergarten class. I was taller than my mom by middle school. I’ve always been taller than most of my peers.
And while many people (read: short people) think being tall is a great advantage (sometimes it’s useful), it also comes with more than its share of annoying comments. Like . . .
“What’s the weather like up there?”Yeah, that ceased to be funny after the first time we heard it. Honestly. We get it. We’re so tall, we’re in a different atmosphere. Ha. Ha. (more…)
In every task, you have a choice. Do it the hard way, or do it the easy way. The option is always there. Hard or easy. Most people choose the easy way. It’s smart. It makes sense. Why make things harder than they need to be? Conserve your energy.
I like to do things the hard way. Not because I don’t see the easy way. Not because I’m bored and have nothing else to do. Not because I’m a glutton for punishment.
It’s because I like to do things well. Because details matter to me. If you’ve ever owned a house, you can imagine what this means for me lately. See, I could just wipe down the baseboards and call them good. I could just put some things in a cabinet and be done.
Except that I can’t. I’d never forgive myself. (more…)