Life Is Good | My Job

"The beauty of mathematics shows itself only to more patient followers." -Maryam Mirzakhani

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The following images may be shocking, disturbing or downright triggering for certain math-phobic individuals.

I, however, find them delightful. 

^ This is a distance problem, closely related to the iconic "two trains left the station, one traveling north and the other going south" style of problem. In this story, Charlene has been handed a 20-mile head start on Larry who, apparently some kind of speed demon, eventually catches up. I call this a Robin Hood-style problem with mad respect to the Disney movie of the same name, in which the characters are constantly chasing each other to and fro.

^ Welcome to the glorious world of trigonometry and yes, we are finally going to bust out the calculators! Though I'm vehemently opposed to using calculators for almost every other form of high school mathematics, solving most trig functions simply can't be done with pencil and paper. Here we unlock the secrets of pushing the buttons in the proper order.

^ Let's start with two similar triangles and solve for the missing parts a, b, and c. 

^ Thankfully, we have a number of tools to throw at the challenge and each variable requires a different strategy. 

^ This problem cheerfully integrates geometric reasoning with some algebraic chops and in my mind, serves up the best of both worlds of mathematical thought. 

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Four mornings a week, I roll out of bed and set my feet on the floor in delicious anticipation of another busy day of math.

I love teaching math.

I delight in breaking open the secrets of two new lessons of Saxon Math in an hour of face-to-face time with my homeschooled high school students, usually while comfortably seated at their dining room tables. Sometimes, their dogs sleep at my feet while we work. 

I enjoy sharpening my students' wits with a weekly review problem, which gives them a chance to prove their progress to me, and reveal how their mathematical reasoning is coming along. 

But most of all, I adore answering their questions. Throw me any ol' problem from the hundreds provided for homework, and give me a chance to wrassle it to the ground.. My adrenaline surges as I stare down a challenging problem, and do my best to not just stumble through it, but clearly and articulately narrate my journey, because after all, my task is to teach. 

Often, just as our time is expiring, one of my students will say, "Umm I actually have a few questions on the homework..." And with some trial and error over the years, I've learned that the best response is to quickly gather up the specifics of which problems are causing the confusion, bid the student adieu, then go home and work through the problems on my own. Once I finish, I snap photos of my work and text them off to the student in question, who can usually then find their way through to understanding what's going on.

We compare notes when we meet again, just to be sure.

My students often apologize for asking me these questions. But they don't understand.

Answering their questions is about the most fun I can imagine.

And I'm insanely thankful for my job. 

* * * * *

Life is Good Challenge: A series of photos that depict joy in my life. No words or explanations necessary, but I really can't help myself. 

Day 1 | Light

Day 2 | Fresh Air

Day 3 | My Job

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Read more stories about my life as a math teacher lately:

Life Is Good | My Job

Test Drives

Bringing Joy

Math By Phone

Yabba Dabba Do

Eccentric Connections

Math Mammals
Socially Distant

Life Is Good | Fresh Air

"I love the feeling of the fresh air on my face, and the wind 

blowing through my hair." - Evel Knievel

The calendar says mid-March, but those misty Pacific Northwest skies 

send a different message. And we don't mind one bit. 

I could easily rattle off hundreds of reasons why I love having my girl, Gracie, in my life. 

But easily in the top five is this: fresh air.

Yes, a dog as energetic and playful as my Irish lass needs exercise every single day. Without it, she - and therefore, I - would feel cooped up, over-excited, and done in with cabin fever. Not only does a dog like Gracie crave physical action but her hunting-bred brain longs for the varied scents and visual stimuli of the greater world. 

In other words, it's essential to get my redhead outside every darn day.

So we walk. 

Every darn day. 

Rain or shine, snow, sleet, or hail. 

Now I have no complaint with our daily walks. Because I need that fresh air in my life too. Especially in the gloomy, wet months of the year. Sure, there was a time many years ago when I was tempted to cut our walks short if:

the rain was falling hard, 

or the winds were gusting, 

or the heat was overbearing, 

or the snowplows had once again buried the sidewalks in a layer of icy mashed potatoes.

All it took was a mental reset: one day, I simply decided I owed my dog and myself a daily walk no matter what.

And with that new attitude and a bit of thoughtful dressing, I am now ready for anything.

Gracie always wears her same fur coat. She's not fussy about the weather.

So the two of us make a great pair. We are always up for a good time, and our best adventures happen when we are out in the fresh air. 

* * * * *

P.S. For safety's sake, there are a few conditions that even we do not take on.

Lightning storms. 

High winds capable of blowing branches out of the trees. 

Dangerously high levels of wildfire smoke in the air. 

We're adventurous but never reckless. 

* * * * *

Life is Good Challenge: A series of photos that depict joy in my life. No words or explanations necessary, but I really can't help myself. 

Day 1 | Light

Day 2 | Fresh Air

Day 3 | My Job

Life Is Good | Light

"The sun is gone but I have a light." -Kurt Cobain

Day begins

Hope soars

Smiling and optimistic

We feel light.

Day ends

Contentment soothes

Relaxed and satisfied

We feel light.

Troubles come and go

Panic rages

Fighting for breath

We seek light

Choose peace

Settle into now

Daring to trust

We become light. 

* * * * *

Life is Good Challenge: A series of photos that depict joy in my life. No words or explanations necessary, but I really can't help myself. 

Day 1 | Light

Day 2 | Fresh Air

Day 3 | My Job

It’s What’s For Dinner

I wish I had a nickel for every time a member of my family has asked me, "What's for dinner?"

I mean, shoot. I wouldn't mind a nickel for every time I've asked myself that question.

In either of those cases, I would be a very rich woman who could gratefully pay a staff of nutritionists and chefs to take this daily and desperately onerous task off my hands. 

But then again, I'd probably miss my forty-year foray into meal planning if it was gone. So instead, I've found the next best thing.

My daughter's copy. I may need to buy another for myself. 

It's a cookbook.

Scratch that. 

It's a really well-designed and incredibly practical cookbook. 

I bought it on a whim for my fourth-born's Christmas and we've been putting it to hard use for the past two months. 

Christopher Kimball's Milk Street The New Rules

Christopher Kimball is a world traveler, Vermont native, chef, and media personality who believes that cooking is community, and food brings us together. Milk Street is his brand, named for the building's actual street address in downtown Boston, where Christopher and his team hold their cooking school, record television and radio shows, and presumably, write killer cookbooks. The New Rules references Christopher's conviction that the world's ordinary home chefs have a lot to teach us that we may not already know. 

The book is peppered with tips and techniques for upping your own dishes from good to great. For example, Christoper patiently reminds me not to fuss with or start flipping my fried potatoes until they have had proper time to brown. K this is not rocket science and I do know better, but I confess to a trigger-happy spatula hand and I appreciate the reminder to lay off. 

I love that The New Rules is filled with varied and interesting recipes on a world-flavor theme. Sometimes the ingredients are a bit out there - uh, pomegranate molasses?! - but honestly, that's been part of the fun as my family helps me comb the shelves of our local grocery for these elusive items or perhaps quickly Google for impromptu substitutes as dinner is coming together. 

Spoilers: In a pinch, lemon juice and honey can stand in for the aforementioned pomegranate molasses. Who knew. 

But what I love most about The New Rules is that the vast majority of these recipes - all of the dozen or so that I've tried so far - come together fast. Thirty minutes max of hands-on prep and cook time is pretty typical, and for banging out a high-end, full-flavored entree, that is darn fast. 

In fact, our meals have been sliding onto the table so quickly that I have not had time to snap my own photos of these creations before the others start loading their plates. So let me lean into the gorgeous photos from the pages of my new favorite cookbook to show you just what I mean. 

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All food photos are the property of Christopher Kimball's Milk Street The New Rules cookbook. 

^ Stir Fried Green Beans with Pork and Oyster Sauce 

This was the first dish we tried, and we raved about the rich, tangy flavor - thank you, oyster sauce - and the dish's versatility as a vegetable-heavy entree or a protein-enhanced side dish. Win/win.

^ Spaghetti with Cilantro Yogurt

Several of my daughters are dairy sensitive so I have to be careful with cream-laden pasta sauces. But this one gets its smooth rich texture from yogurt, which they find much easier to digest and honestly, I find much more fun to work with and just ridiculously yummy. 

^ Toasted Pearl Couscous with Chicken and Chickpeas

We eat chicken on the regular, but even though I keep them on hand, we don't often dip into our couscous and chickpea pantry stock. This dish changed all that, and reminded me of how easy it is to introduce some fresh shelf-stable ingredients into my old tried-and-true recipes. 

^ Flatbread Pizza with Pancetta, Fig Jam, and Blue Cheese

This flatbread pizza dough requires a bit more lead time, but we are regular yeast people who subscribe to the theory that the extra steps are worth the delicious fresh-rise flavors of homemade dough. The toppings are fresh and creative, though we would do with a bit less fig jam and a bit more pancetta. Those fresh sage leaves, however, are to die for and just the right touch to make our Friday night movie pizza just a bit more swanky than usual. 

^ Smashed Potatoes with Soft-Cooked Eggs and Mint

These flatbread wraps took me back to the streets of Hyderabad, India and while they may not be legit Indian food, they certainly capture the same spirit. Simple, inexpensive food cooked with love and plenty of seasoning. I skipped the flatbread and ate mine off the plate with a fork; still delicious.

^ Omelet with Mushrooms, Mustard and Gruyere

Oh, my word. I wish I could give you a bite. Because what you might be surprised to learn is that this omelet's secret ingredient is whole grain Dijon mustard and it infuses every cheesy, fluffy bite with a tangy kick that made me swoon. If I could convince you to try any recipe in this post, I'd recommend this one. 

^ Pan-Seared Halibut with Spicy Mint Lemon Sauce

And this fish dish is what I'm serving up tomorrow. The halibut at my store was astronomically expensive so I'm serving this sumptuous green sauce on fresh cod, but I expect the substitution will work out just fine. 

In any case, at least for tomorrow, this dish will answer the age-old question, "What's for dinner?"

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All food photos are the property of Christopher Kimball's Milk Street The New Rules cookbook.