The Pumper's Wife

Do you have a holiday tradition?  Thanksgiving starts the holiday season of food, family, and all the crazy things families do to celebrate the holidays.  As for our family, we have  a few things we do, but as my kids get older I want to focus more on the time I spend with them and less on the things I get them.  Traditions create memories, don’t you agree?  I know that when I think about my own Christmas’s, I don’t remember the presents I received, I remember Christmas Eve services at my great Grandma and Grandpa Volker’s church.  I remember going to their house after the service and all the family (there was always a LOT of us!) and the amazing food. (My great aunts were FABULOUS cooks!!  They would use Christmas Eve to debut their latest recipe and it was ALWAYS great!)   I remember all the laughter in that crowded house.  My great-grandpa Volker was a character!  He always had some little trinket, mind-scratching game, or gag gift to get the grandkids.  My aunts and uncles wer

Do you have words of wisdom people have given you over the years that has influenced you? Not just the “say please and thank you” kind of stuff – those words that maybe your favorite aunt told you right before you went to college or something you read that has never left your mind.     I mean, if you think of the millions of conversations a person has in their lifetime or the countless things one has read, isn’t funny how a few of them just stick in your head? Do you remember the “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” posters?   I know many of the things on that list were good and sentimental, but you know the one that stuck out to me?   Flush.   (Ironic don’t you think?   Especially considering the business I am in? God has a sense of humor.) When I was teaching school in Kansas I once had a poster above my chalkboard (yes, I am that old…I had a chalkboard not a white board…) anyway, it stated “Attitudes are contagious, is yours worth catching?”   One particular day

What is your opinion on learning?   Does just reading this title get you excited or make you want to vomit?   Personally, I think it matters what you are learning.   For instance, I remember learning to snow ski as a teenager.   I knew how to water ski, but our youth group was taking a snow skiing trip and I wanted to go so thought it would be fun.   I looked forward to the challenge and though it took me a while to get my “snow-ski-legs” I finally did – and I LOVED it! I am a lover of science and history.   Biography of a historic figure?   Give it to me.   New discovery in space?   Tell me more!   Anything and everything scientific or historical is good.   I love it all.   (I will now happily accept my nerd awards.   Thank you.) I LOVE music.   Classical, oldie, country, or pop?   Really doesn’t matter to me.   A new song on the radio with a catchy beat is my kryptonite.     I will listen to it until I know every word and nuance.   (Don’t worry…I stick to the tune only….well