Christa Allan

During our recent trip to Vegas, I watched the intense focus, the sagging milky-faced desperation, and the frenzied pushes of the slot machine buttons by the motley crew littered through billion dollar casinos. Towers of chips trembled their way from player to dealer. Were these people completely oblivious to their surroundings? How did they think [...]

“Questions About Angels”
by Billy Collins
Of all the questions you might want to ask
about angels, the only one you ever hear
is how many can dance on the head of a pin.
No curiosity about how they pass the eternal time
besides circling the Throne chanting in Latin
or delivering a crust of bread to a hermit on earth
or guiding [...]

I’m a visual learner; this learning style inventory verified it. In fact, if you’ve not ever taken one of these, click on the link and find your learning style. I actually have my own microwave version: When you need directions (let’s pretend you don’t have a navigation system in your car), do you want them [...]

Written while wearing my “teacher” hat, I’ve listed several suggestions [in no particular order] for parents of high school students…
1. Some kids think whatever they wear the first day of school will mark them for high school life. Probably not, but unless Princess wants to wear spike heels and a tube top and Prince has [...]

Oxford Word Challenge
Hidden Word Squares: Answers
1. Marianne stood on the train,
Wringing her hands with glee:
Soon she would arrive in town,
A go-go dancer she would be.

A
R
I
A

R
I
N
G

I
N
T
O

A
G
O
G

2. The moon shone on the village inn,
But no pal could Nellie see.
She climbed upon a nag so fair:
A novel setting for a love story.

H
O
N
E

O
P
A
L

N
A
G
S

E
L
S
E

3. Getting rid of [...]

The Oxford Word Challenge

A Fiendishly Difficult Word Game
Hidden Word Squares

The origins of many word games are hidden in the mists of history: nobody can tell who invented them. However, we know that the game of Hidden Word [...]

Friday morning, at 7:25, I will begin meeting the 125+ teens who will spend five hours a week with me. Some of them won’t spend that much time with their parents in a week, but that’s a story for another post. In addition to the six classes I’ll be teaching (one English I Honors, one [...]

If you’re the mother of a teenager daughter (or daughters–mercy), and you’re wondering why God hasn’t extended you the offer of a sacrificial altar, sit on your hands until they reach their 20s.
The day will come when you find yourself no longer dreaming of buying them one-way tickets to a deserted island. In fact, the [...]

This seems to be God’s recurring message to me, which is a clear indication that I’m not following directions.
Being still is contrary to my nature. Even when I’m still, my foot’s tapping, my leg’s swinging, I’m doodling, and/or counting ceiling or floor tiles. Sitting in a movie theatre can be excrutiating because a) I can’t [...]

Note to those of you who subscribe: Sorry about the blooper half-post! Arrived home later than I’d anticipated. Here’s the real thing:
Over a week ago,  I wrote about the necessity of organizing my blog life. Ever-awesome website designer Natalie Jost linked Fictionary, my blog tour/book review/author interview blog, to this site. That smoothed another wrinkle [...]

Stay tuned. Blog to come.
My root doctor appointment (Landy, my stupendous hairdresser) rescheduled an hour early, so I’ll be back later on this afternoon to write my blog.
In the meantime…don’t run with scissors.