Author Archives: tonydonk

The final exams are graded, all my grades are turned in…and I woke up yesterday realizing that for the first time in my adult life…I will have no more classes to prepare for, no meetings to attend 😱….. All that’s left is my humble attempt to say THANK YOU….to you the people I have hadContinue reading “Hope College Students & Friends….”

….but never really saying “goodbye.” Either way…tomorrow I begin the official period of saying “this is the last time I’ll do that.” Teach that class. Go to that meeting. Advise students. Teach a May Term….the list goes on and on. It’s official. I will be retiring at the end of this academic year! (Technically, I’llContinue reading “Saying it: Farewell…AuRevoir…Adios…Cheerio……..”

So some of you will enjoy hearing about an experience I had the other day. I got to work and decided to run out to my favorite coffee shop to grab a take out cup of caffeine. (What could go wrong?) As I was walking down the street, one of my students rode by onContinue reading “Reach out and touch….”

Okay, okay….if you are one of my UK friends….you know this picture isn’t actually from Liverpool. But here’s the thing…I don’t take very many pictures and this is one of the few “scenic” types I have from the UK – so close enough. (The other one I was going to use was from a beautifulContinue reading “Liverpool, England: The “Farewell Tour” Begins…”

Moving on…it’s always so hard to do. It seems like just when you are in a place “where everyone knows your name”….it’s time to leave everything behind and head in a new direction. New people, new places, new bathrooms to locate……..Oh wait, I should probably clarify here that we aren’t moving to a new house!!Continue reading “Update: We’re Moving!”

Picture this:  The clinician spread the gel over my abdomen.  “This might be kind of cold,” she said.  It was.  Next she started moving the ultrasound wand over the same area….(okay…maybe you don’t want to actually picture this!) Somehow the experience wasn’t nearly as fun as it was when Tee was on the table andContinue reading “It’s a Boy!”

Okay….full disclosure….this blog post has almost nothing to do with crock pots.  I was just sitting here thinking about how to start this….And since I’m also still in shock about this week’s episode of “This Is Us”….all I can seem to think about is crock pots.  And there you have it.  A cheap shot titleContinue reading “Seriously? A Crock Pot!?!”

Spoiler Alert:  Treatment is WORKING! I am now five weeks into treatment.  The first day started with swallowing three pills from a medicine container with two color coded labels.  The bright yellow one said “toxic.”  The bright orange indicated the contents should be treated as a “biohazard.”  Comforting.  (For those who don’t know me well…readContinue reading ““Toxic” and “Biohazard” – and that’s the treatment!”

Okay…13 is often maligned as an unlucky number. (Apparently, by tradition, there were 13 steps to the gallows.  Thank you Wikipedia for that little upper!)  No longer. I went to see my oncologist last Friday.  My white blood count is at 13.1 (thousand).  Normal is 4 – 10 (thousand).  What does that mean in theContinue reading “Lucky Number 13!”