Tina Altum

When I made the decision to leave the classroom at the end of last year, I knew it was the right decision. I still do. I was able to find a job after many months of looking, and while it wasn’t the perfect set-up, it came at exactly the right moment. I’m so incredibly grateful that God blessed me and my family with my job. It was a wonderful opportunity…until it wasn’t. The job I took was a hybrid position that required me to drive to Irving, TX, three times a week. That’s about a two-hour commute through both Ft. Worth and Dallas County traffic. It’s not pleasant by any…

I think there is often a general assumption that because you make a decision that you’re at peace with, all is well. You’re happy you made it, so move on along now. Change is a death, really. And it’s hard. Even when you know it’s what’s best. Even when you know good things are approaching. Coming to the decision to leave the classroom was not made lightly. It had been building for some time and became clear to me over the past few months. Sometimes you just know a door is closing and you have to lean in and listen to what God is directing you to next. There was…

What is it about the human condition that causes us to focus on the anniversary of the death of a loved one? I understand that we feel the need to mark significant happenings in our lives. Birthdays, for example, are joyous occasions that denote milestones and maturity. We celebrate the lives we live and watch with hope for whatever the next year brings. But death is another story. I don’t want to mark it. I don’t have to mark it. It became a part of me each time I lost someone I loved. It isn’t even something I have to be consciously aware of. It hits me at the cellular…

I feel like I shouldn’t be surprised at what happens in the classroom anymore. To say that I shouldn’t be surprised is an unrealistic view, however. There’s no way, no matter how many years a person devotes to education, to have seen it all. Or heard it all. Not when people are involved, anyway. Today, my students surprised me. I had finished grading the most recent review they had completed over chapters three and four of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This is my smallest core class, with only 11 students. Of the 11, only four had not copied the answers from their classmates. You know…

Contrary to appearances on my website, I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I said when I started this page that I would post every couple of weeks or so. Didn’t happen. By a long shot. My last post, I believe, was nearly two years ago. Ugh. Well, there’s no time like the present to get back up on the horse (notice the ranch metaphor). My reasons for not posting aren’t entirely laziness, though that has definitely played a role. Life has been a bit challenging in the last year or so. I have no doubt all two of you that will read this will agree. You…

It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly a year since I posted on the blog. This whole getting older thing has completely thrown me for a loop. I not only lose track of time, but I can no longer gauge it. We met last week, you say? That can’t be right. Wasn’t it Monday? Or was it a month ago? I don’t know. The calendar on my phone has become my lifeline. I don’t just use it to see what’s coming, I use it to see what I’ve done. It’s like I’ve stepped into some kind of time warp that I can’t keep up with. I’m not likin’ it.…

I am so behind!  I’m sure “thousands” of you have been sitting by your assorted instruments of technology waiting for me to publish my latest blog.  I’m a terrible human being. I’ve let my life take over…well, my life. Unacceptable! It shall be remedied – pronto!   As the title suggests, I’ve fallen in love with yet another one of our animals.  This time it’s a heifer calf who lost her mom. That in itself causes my heart to break for her.  She’s only about three months old and very small for her age. I went back in my phone and found a couple of pictures and a video I’d…

I’m an animal-lover.  Always have been.  Not the throw-fake-blood-on-the-fur-coat-PETA-member type, but a lover of all things fuzzy (and lizards) nonetheless.  When I found out that we were going to keep up the ranching tradition of Lawrence’s father by moving and raising cattle, after I got over the shock and grief of leaving West Texas and a job I loved, I was pretty happy about getting to be surrounded by animals all the time.  And cows are cute.  They are like full-sized teddy bears, without the threat of being eaten (like a grizzly full-sized teddy bear).  And the babies…I.can’t.even!  Just the most precious. But my love of animals does present a problem…

Nearly every Monday, around 11:30 a.m., you can find me at the Honey Bee Ham store in Weatherford, TX.  I teach for Weatherford College all morning, and then later, work a shift at TCU, so I grab a bite there before heading to Ft. Worth.  Why the Honey Bee Ham store, you may ask? There are several reasons: the amazing food – wraps, sandwiches, salads, bee-nana pudding, etc., the Christian music playing over the speakers, and the inspirational, faith-based sayings on the walls, but even more than all of that – the people.  The workers are all ladies either around my age or slightly older and they are the happiest…