Hi, I’m Teresa; wife, mother, grandmother, country girl, teacher, voracious reader, (or listener, now that I’ve discovered Audible), gardener, crafter, cook (not a chef, but a damn good cook).

I spend way too much of my life chained to a desk grading student work, but when I step away, you can find me out past where the sidewalk ends, so to speak. I adore travel, and have visited some of the largest, vibrant, and beautiful cities in the world; it is to the country I always return. Big city life is invigorating, but I enjoy my home, where traffic means you’re about to have company. I’d rather be outdoors than in, so I’m something of an anomaly; on the one hand, a “girly-girl” who loves to shop and dress up, on the other, a “tom-boy” who’s not afraid of getting dirty working in the yard, around the farm, fishing, riding our horses and four-wheelers and wresting with livestock.

In case you were wondering where I came up with the name of my blog, here’s the story. I’ve been contemplating starting a blog for over a year now, and yesterday I finally decided, “Come on, stop with the dilly-dallying and just do it already!” Of course as I’m giving myself this talking to, a girl in the front row of my Senior English IV class raises her hand.

I walk over to her group (Yes, I’m SOOOO Common Core! We do EVERYTHING in groups!) and she states, “This question says, ‘Name three things the Danes do after Beowulf kills Grendel.’ Well, how are we supposed to know exactly when Grendel dies? I mean, it only says that Beowulf tore his arm off and he ran off to die, but we don’t really know when or if he actually died!” She ended with an accusatory look at me through her lashes as she batted them at me coquettishly.

Come on, sister! DontBeSoLiteral!