My teacher that I work mostly with is having a lot of problems with, with one of the new hires, and every time the administration comes in to observe this person, they do exactly what they're supposed to do. And when they, they are not being observed, then they just really don't do anything and they sit on the phone and they don't really help kids and, you know, they'll do what they're forced to do, but they just don't -- they're just inactive. So, this person -- so, this person got observed several times and he did not know that he was going to be observed. But when the administrator showed up he instantly got up and did what he was supposed to do. And my friend, the teacher I work with, when I -- I caught her later on that day, and when nobody else was there in the room, and she said, "I yelled at him today." And I'm like, "Well, why did you yell at him?" And she said, "I told him you do exactly what you are supposed to do, you do a really good job, when you're being observed. But when you are not being observed, then you, then you, you don't. I need you to step up and, and do what you're supposed to do all the time, not just when you're being observed." And she was just falling apart with guilt and she was so upset because, because she doesn't like being mean. She doesn't like to be that supervisor and it's a hard conversation, but she kind of did it out of anger and frustration without really planning it. So, a couple days later, when I was talking to her -- well, I told her at that time, when she told me, I said, "It's okay to be clear. You, you are doing him a favor. You don't need to feel guilty because what do you -- what's going to be the result if you don't? He's gonna get fired. He's gonna get transferred. Or it'll just be an awful work situation, and you'll talk behind his back. But you're -- if you don't talk to him, that's not fair to him." So, I, I keep using the expression "clear is kind" that comes from Brené Brown because, you know, you have to have those difficult conversations. So, a few days…

Okay so I used to have this skirt that looked like a skirt from a kindergarten teacher. It was like a jean, a denim skirt, and it had like an apple -- it had like some fruits that had been cut from a different color fabric. Like, I don't think it was felt, but it was like different colored fabric had been cut into the shape of fruits and then sewn onto the bottom of it, so it looked like it had a little fruit basket at the bottom. It was very homemade looking and I found it at a thrift store and I thought it was really ugly, and of course, that -- when I find something that's like uniquely ugly and hideous, like, I want to wear it. So I was wearing it. And I knew I just looked really stupid. And I don't know why but I really like that. I like to look stupid. And I was wearing it, and I went, I went to a restaurant and I was standing in line at this -- like, the counter and there was like a man there and he looked like he was like a construction worker type of a guy. And he looked at me with like scoffing, like ridicule in his face, and he goes, "What are you, a kindergarten teacher?" And I'm just like, "No, I work, I work in a bookstore." He was like, "Huh. Well your skirt looks like a kindergarten teacher." I was like, "Well, okay." And then I kind of just ignored him. And the way he said it, with like disdain, I was like, "Oh, oh, man." Like, "I'm so embarrassed." He's -- like, I knew I looked dumb, but like, he's over here pointing it out and like, that's not cool. Like I'm supposed to be subtly dumb-looking not like obviously dumb-looking. And not, not that being a kindergarten teacher is dumb. You know, what the hell? Um, I have nothing against kindergarten teachers, but like, the way he said it made me feel really stupid. And so I like never wore that skirt again ever. Yeah. Thanks, dude. Made me feel really dumb.

When I was probably in second or third grade, my dad had just moved to an apartment that had a dishwasher, previous apartment was all hand-wash and I mean like just moved probably within a week or two. And I was there visiting and his girlfriend lived with him at the time A.K.A. soon to-be-fiancé. I can't remember where they were in their progress there but, my dad was gonna go out and run some errands with my brother and before he left, he turned to my stepmom and said one way or another basically was like, "All right. Heading out. Do not use the dishwasher. We don't have the right soap for it. You can't use dish soap. Don't. Run. The dishwasher." So my dad left and almost just like a, like a, was gonna say like a movie but almost like a Curious George book in a way. The minute he left my stepmom was like, "You, you want to try the dishwasher?" And second or third grade me was like, "Yeah let's see if it works. That sounds fun." And so we went over to the island where the dishwasher was in the kitchen you had to the walk around the edge and you know dishwashers on the opposite side, from the living room, facing the opposite wall so you can't see the dishwasher from the television. And she went ahead and made sure that thing was loaded up, put a little bit of dish soap in there and let it loose. And came back over and we watched television for a bit. And then she's like, "I'm gonna go ahead and uh, I probably should check and see how things are going. Make sure everything's okay."  And she went over, around the island to the opposite side to check on the dishwasher. I don't remember what she said, but there was, she was aghast. Probably something like, "Oh my God," something very similar. I was like "What?" and I came skittering over. And there were like, bubbles waist high just forming in this very narrow kitchen between the island and the opposite wall. We found out really quickly why you don't use dish soap in the dishwasher. We had a real problem on our hands. We didn't panic but my stepmom's like, "Oh my God, I'm so dead. This is a problem."  And so we tried…

And I'm going to talk about hats, I love hats! I'm so glad you thought of that subject because that's one of my favorite things is hats. I have lots of hats, in fact, after I saw that, I wonder how many hats I have, and I went around and counted my various stashes of hats, and I have between 40 and 45 hats and I love wearing hats. And right now, I'm wearing my winter hats. I have about eight winter hats, some of them are dressier than others but there is no stocking caps among my winter hats. Oh I take that back. There is one stocking cap. I do not wear it but it is one that was made for me by a friend, probably fifty-some years ago and I call it my life saving hat because I was wearing it on a dark stormy night. It was January 2nd of 1973. I was walking home from work in Eaton Rapids and crossing the street and I got hit by a car, but he said that he swerved at the last minute because he saw my yellow hat, and that he didn't hit me full on because of that and I was I was not killed obviously because here I am, I was injured but not killed. And so, anyway, that's the only stocking cap I have. 

So, I’ve made a lot of hats in my life. When my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002, I learned how to crochet beanies. And I gave her some and I donated a bunch to people who lost their hair because of the chemo. I did that for a little while. And then my mom's hair grew back and I stopped making hats. And then, I stopped doing any sort of -- I didn't really do any crochet for years and years and years and years and years.  And, fast forward to must have been 2021, I learned how to knit. And one of the first things that I made, when I learned how to knit was a beanie, and then I remembered that I had made beanies crocheting. And I had no idea how to crochet at the time, but I started making hats, knitting them. And one of my favorite books that I got was -- or is called “Knitting the National Parks” so, there are 30 -- no -- 63. This is my dyslexia coming in through right there, 63 patterns. One for each of the national parks. And they're very cool hats like really, really cool hats. So I went through and I picked out some that I liked and I gave it -- the book to my sister, or she got it from her library, and she picked out some that she wanted and her husband picked out one that he wanted and I've given some to friends and I’ve donated some and have made lots and lots of these “Knitting the National Parks” hats.

So actually, funny story. Last week, I went to go get the car and per usual like our apartment doesn't have like a good place to park your car. So we usually just like keep it idle behind the -- or in front of our apartment doors. Um but last week, unfortunately, little to my knowledge was the big MSU vs U of M basketball game. And so everyone was trying to like be on our street and the parking police were like out on a craze. And of course, right when I need to start moving again, the car didn't start. So, I had to go up to the apartment to get like our jumper. And by the time I got back downstairs to the car, we had a ticket on the car. And this is really stupid, like I really hate East Lansing for this because MSU is like the perfect place. We're right in between the MSU parking police wrath and then also the wrath of the East Lansing parking police. So we get like double whammied with the amount of parking tickets that I get. And I have like an employee permit. So, it's not like I'm just visiting and trying to get out of like paying the parking ticket. Like I paid over $200 for this parking pass that's supposed to get me into like a bunch of different parking lots and yet I still get ticketed by both parking police. Like it's just absolutely horrible. I feel very devalued as like an employee and student of MSU. And I just feel like in those cases, the basketball games, or like just the games in general at MSU, have more value over me as an employee here, which is kind of sad.

My son's obsessed with hats. He only pretty much wants hats now for presents. Well, that and a few other things, but he has like a hundred hats, and he wears a different hat every day. And today, he -- today, he wore the weirdest hat that he has. And I really wonder what they said at school. He's in eighth grade, and he has this shirt that has a picture of a man -- a corn on the cob man. Like, and it says, "I am corn man", or no "I am corn on the cob man" or something, I'm not sure what it says. And so he was wearing that shirt and but then he also has this hat that is like a corn -- corn, the top of a cob of corn, like in the field, and it's got the leaves on it that kind of flop out, kind of like big ears. Or the leaves, the shucks, whatever they're called. And then there's like, actual straw, or hay like sticking out of the top of the corn, and it's a hat and it -- and he, it's like, you know, yellow and green with like pieces of straw sticking out of the top. So it looks like he has corn on the cob on his head.  And he wore that to school. Um, yeah. And he also has a broccoli hat that he's going to be wearing soon. He like just really likes to wear crazy looking hats and then everybody thinks he's a big weirdo, and -- but they also think he's kind of cool and so, I think whatever he wants to do is fine with me. I like that he's embracing his weirdness and not ashamed or afraid or self-conscious at all. I think that's great.

When I was a little girl, my parents took us to the beach quite frequently. It was a freebie and we would go in, and into the parks and go to the beaches. There was this one, it said no swimming because of the undertow and I got in it. I had to be four or five years old, old enough not to be able to read the sign and I got into the water and I got pulled into under the undertow. Thank God my brother was there to see me. He was two years older than me so he had to be nine. If I was seven, if I was five, he was seven. And he could swim and he swam out to get me and he got caught in the undertow but he was a strong enough swimmer, he swam out of it with me in tow. Ugh, talk about scary, I thought I was gonna drown that day and my parents were on the edge of the beach waving and clapping their hands and encouraging [my brother] to keep going, and he got me out of there. 

I sit down at the end of the table and was eating my lunch and I glanced up and there was a window just on the other end of the table. There’s a window and outside the window is a maple tree that this time of year, of course, is completely devoid of leaves. It's just a kind of gray, bare branches. But when I glanced up, my heart almost stopped. It was, it was an entire flock of cardinals in that tree. And it was like, “that is amazing!” It was so beautiful. The red was so astoundingly beautiful, the sun was shining on them and the snow in the background and it looked like the tree had been decked out in the brightest red ornaments you could find, and the thought popped into my head that somebody just said to me this last week, they said, “When you see a cardinal, somebody you love is near you.” And so, here I had a whole, I was like, I have my whole family was out in that tree. So, that was just a little something I wanted to share that how God gives us those moments to cheer us and to let us know that we're not alone.

When I was a kid, my mother was heavily into antiques and she did -- she had furnished our house in completely, for the most part, antiques. The chairs were not very comfortable and it was -- very much a lot of antiques in this house. Anyway, she didn't want a regular grill in the backyard because it bothered her look. So, she bought a big giant kettle and got ma- had a stand made for it and she got a grill for the top of it and then she put the wood, or the charcoal in the, in the kettle with the lid, and that was our grill. Okay, fine. It was kinda dorky, but it was okay. My dad grilled. My mom did not usually do the grilling. My dad did, but my dad couldn't really cook.  So anyway, one Friday night, it was kind of late, and my mom had gotten home from school late, and my dad had gotten home from work late. And it was probably in May or June, it was fairly warm outside. Not much was going on, but it was starting -- looked like it was going to rain and my father said, "Oh, I'll just go out and I'll cook some hot dogs on the grill." And my mom said, "Well, you better hurry up ‘cause I think it's gonna rain." Well, my dad took lighter fluid out to the grill and doused the charcoal with, with lighter fluid, stuck part of the newspaper on top of it, and lit the match. It kind of exploded. He bounced back very quickly and he was not hurt, thank heaven. But the fire that it -- the fire in, from that grill went very, very tall and went up the tree that was next to where my mother had parked this grill. And, fortunately, the hose was there and my father put the whole thing out with the hose and was running around. Everybody was running around, my mom was screaming. The hot dogs are, you know, just sitting on a plate. Everything is running around like a, I don't know, circus. But the tree was kinda severely damaged through this and eventually we had to have a tree person come and eventually that tree had to be taken down. And it's one of those things that I always -- I never really…