Writings

Tag: christmas

A Christmas of confusing and conflicting emotions

I don’t celebrate Christmas. The holiday isn’t full of happy memories for me and, so, my husband and I do other things. This year, I’ll be at work Christmas Eve and Christmas and Paul will likely be finishing The Last of Us Part II and starting Far Cry 6.

I’m still struggling to stay focused. I’ve got an overdue writing assignment I need to write. Well, I wrote it, didn’t like it, and deleted it. Now I have to start over. I am also helping raise another project from its semi-dead state. It’s a great idea and one I support, but when the rug is pulled out from under you, it takes a while to see things clearly again. I had a good doctor’s appointment earlier this week, with everything going mostly as planned. I’ve lost 40 pounds this year and I bought some new pants yesterday. I’ve been going to work the past two months with pants two sizes too big for me, so it will be nice having clothes that fit.

A warm welcome

I have found it rare to have a colleague that is hard-working, but also finds time for fun and friendship. Spike Jordan is one of those people. Spike originally joined the Star-Herald as a copy editor before moving over to reporter. When long time ag editor Sandy Hansen retired, Spike stepped in to fill those shoes. Earlier this year, he moved on to be the editor of the Hemingford Ledger. I’m pretty sure he came back to the Star-Herald solely because he missed my awesomeness.

As a journalist, he has taught me a lot about copy editing, design, and digging deeper in investigative reporting. He has joined me on interviews, particularly one where we got to hang out with yaks, told tall tales, and educated me on the finer points of stealing cake. He has been there for me when my mental health issues strike at work and helped me along the way. So, with the help of fellow reporter Mark Gaschler, we spent several hours creating a welcome back gift for Spike to show appreciation toward him as only a couple of nerds could do.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: A story that promotes bullying, conformity

Growing up, watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was a given in my home each December. While the show appears to be an innocent, fun time, it’s really an average story with a terrible message.

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