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I think I was about ten when Grandmommie taught me to embroider. We went to TG&Y, to the department that was called Notions, to get me some pillowcases with a pattern stamped on the cuff. We also picked out embroidery thread, needles and an embroidery hoop. By age twelve I was working on a large project…

If you ask Google, “why do people write?”, the AI overview provides a list of reasons. Some are internally focused such as processing emotions, finding clarity, healing, reflecting. Many people write poetry, short stories, entire novels for their own pleasure with no intent of ever showing any of it to anyone else. Some people write…

(Grad Student Life, Part Two) I love the start of the school year. New classes, new colleagues, new school supplies! First day of class pictures were not a ‘thing’ when I was in school, but I got this picture during New Graduate Student Orientation so I thought it use it as my back-to-school picture, even…

If you went to elementary school in Oklahoma City in the 1960s, you learned three important items. 1. Football was very important, particularly OU football. When I was in seventh grade, the principal interrupted morning classes to announce over the loudspeaker that Steve Owens had won the Heisman Trophy. Cheers rang out through the school.…

I’ve been thinking a lot about what it was like to start college, about being a “new kid” at anything, really. I was so concerned about my appearance and thought so hard about what I should wear to my first class as a freshman at the University of Oklahoma, that I know exactly what I…

Where Did the Time Go? Surprise! The last time I sent out an email and posted in Substack, was May 2025. I thought I was going to write semi-regularly, but then all of the sudden, a lot of time had passed. There are multiple reasons for that of course, but here a couple of them.…

It took me forever to learn to waterski. My high school boyfriend’s family had a boat and one summer we’d finish our summer jobs at 5:00 and join a group of friends to drive to Canyon Lake. There, since very few people were on the lake, we would take advantage of the long days and smooth…

I’ve always loved to dance. You know that little girl at a wedding out twirling on the dance floor? That was probably me. I have memories of dancing in front of the television to any music show that happened to be on. From Porter Waggoner (country) to Lawrence Welk to American Bandstand, I danced to…

I often joke that people have two different responses upon learning that I have a law degree. One is “Oh, you went to law school? That’s so cool!” The other is, “Ugh, lawyers are the cause of everything that’s wrong in our world.” What I always find interesting is that they are sincere in each…

Where I live, oak pollen is as high as it has been since 2019. All sorts of us are having allergic reactions. I may be having one, but it also may be a plain old cold. I never know. Regardless of the cause I have almost no voice, a foghorn cough, and brain fog. It’s…