Author Archives: SamMooneyham

There’s been a lot of talk in the past year about how “we’re in this together” and “together, we can,” and it’s less popular to pontificate on the beauty and benefit of solitude. I often find myself trying to make sense of human behavior by comparing it to that of dogs, and there are timesContinue reading “To Thine Own Self be True”

Parenting is not a job for those needing immediate gratification; you have to be prepared to hunker down and play the long game.  As an adult I have had more moments than I’m proud to admit of calling my mom to say, “You remember that time when I was young, and I did/said___________? Well, I’mContinue reading “First Friend, Forever Friend”

There’s no shortage of topics that divide people. No topic is more combustive (okay, maybe only in the teacher workroom of any high school English department) than the “right” way to use words. If you’ve previously characterized your former English teachers as mild-mannered peaceniks, I am here today to spill the tea. Almost nothing getsContinue reading “The Differences That Divide Us”

Today I hurt a dog. Anyone who knows me would likely bet their life savings, or at least a decent cup of coffee, that this is a sentence construction never to be uttered by me. To back up a bit, we share our home with a robust, energetic Dutch Shepherd, Best, who loves nothing moreContinue reading “Today I Hurt a Dog”

Being a teacher is the ideal profession for anyone who is chronically nosy (perhaps “perpetually inquisitive” would be the nicer way to put it). You are surrounded by people (the younger the better in this case) each day in your classroom who mostly don’t mind asking or entertaining any number of off-the-wall questions that wouldContinue reading “You Can Tell a Lot about Someone by…”

This morning as I was cleaning and applying medicine to my dog’s Speedo area that has been irritated for the past week, I was struck by the things I’m willing to do for love. Massaging ointment onto Best’s privates certainly wasn’t an activity I envisioned for myself, not unlike cleaning up the warm, chunky pilesContinue reading “The Things We Do for Love”

In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a user and lover of Peloton. After nearly two decades of being an indoor cycle instructor, my husband grandly gifted me with a bike over three years ago and I’ve been fan-girling my favorite instructors and striving for PRs ever since. I know it’s become one moreContinue reading “Cycling a Mile in Someone Else’s Spin Shoes”

I’ve always preferred the “weird” people—the ones who never had a spot in the cafeteria where “their kind” congregated, the ones who never found their names on keychains in gift shops, the ones who couldn’t, even if they wanted to, typify their age, gender, race, culture, or religion. As a teacher of thousands of highContinue reading “We are All a Little Weird”

An editorial director for the Dallas Morning News, Jim Wright, wrote in 1971 that the burning question of all youth is “How can I be unique like everyone else?” And as I ponder which magic words to use to convince readers that my blog is a more compelling perspective into life’s great mysteries than hundredsContinue reading “The Value of a Big Small Life”