Mari Ruddy In 7th grade I attended a two week summer swim camp at Hobart and William Smith College in Geneva, New York, where my father was the vice president of fundraising. (It wasn’t exactly his title but that’s what he did, raise a lot of money!) Love of swimming That swim camp was a transformative experience … Read more
Paul Huttner, one of the meteorologists on Minnesota Public Radio, recently talked about how this will likely be a cold and snowy winter here in Minnesota. Considering that earlier this week, on October 20th, 2020, we got one of the biggest and earliest snowfalls in Minnesota history, this coming winter has us on our toes. … Read more
I found my scale in the back of my closet a few weeks ago and got on it. When I saw the number I almost passed out. I was so surprised and disappointed. I currently weigh more than I have ever weighed in my entire life. The number on the scale was 180 pounds. I … Read more
Breast Cancer Awareness Month has arrived in one of the weirdest years ever. We are still in a worldwide pandemic and it’s not safe to gather in groups. This is the first year since 2013 that I have not spent most of the year and the month of October organizing Personal Ink Tattoo Day. Like … Read more
As I mentioned last week, I’m now officially training for a 10K. I’m amazed that I’m doing a 10K run race two years in a row. I might fall in love with running one day still! In fact, my triathlon friend Jenny, who I’ve mentioned in quite a few of my posts, she got the … Read more
School started this past Tuesday, and as are many college instructors across the world, I’m teaching my classes via Zoom. All this Zoom time makes it even more important that I schedule movement EVERY day! Otherwise, it becomes nearly impossible for me to stay calm and focused. I mentioned last week in my Triathlon Race … Read more
My sprint distance triathlon race report for this summer is quite a bit different than previous race reports. Coronavirus pandemic and all changed things up quite a bit this year. In fact, it might be a while before there’s another in-person race. I’m hopeful races will be back in my lifetime, as I do love … Read more
In May 2019, I told you my suicide attempt story. In that story, I confided my massive struggles with finances. I carried in me wave upon wave of shame about my lack of knowledge and understanding of how to live within my means, how to create and maintain a budget, how to understand my finances. … Read more
Pandemics mess with goals. No two ways about it, our world has spun out. I am a very goal oriented person, but being goal oriented when things keep shifting and changing with this COVID-19 situation is NOT easy. I’ve had to readjust and modify, over and over again. Can you relate? I set goals in … Read more
I’m a BIG FAN of magic, and today I just had to share ultradian rhythm awareness with you. For my day job, I teach an internship reflection class at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. At the end of the class, students write a reflective “My Career Future” paper where they think back on what … Read more