Float On
Here’s a weird fact about me: I love white water rafting. I do not love lazy rivers. It makes no sense. White water rafting is expensive, requires life jackets, helmets, paddles, and usually scheduling with a company or a guide. It also usually requires travel. Lazy rivers, on the other hand, can be found at […]
Ode to the Girl Dad
My husband and I have three daughters: the oldest is almost five, the next is almost two, and our bonus baby is almost born. He is a certified Girl Dad, and even has the shirt to prove it. I grew up with a sister, no brothers, so a female-dominated household is my normal. My husband […]
Through Her Eyes
My body has been both my friend, my enemy, and somewhere in between. My mind and body are usually at some sort of tense stalemate, like roommates bound by a lease agreement but not much else. I’m proud of and grateful for how my body grew and nourished two (going on three) babies, and while […]
Not-So-Great Expectations
Today was one of those days. Three of the four of us cried. And the only reason the fourth didn’t cry is because, well, it was Justin. Also he was working. It seemed that every little thing caused an argument or a meltdown in our house. Josie is learning what the word “No” means and […]
An Update
This blog has been unusually quiet these last few months–particularly after I declared regular blog writing as an intention for 2021. I told myself that this was my year of celebration, my year of defiant joy and celebration. We’ve survived the worst of it, I told myself. It’s got to get easier from here. Early […]
Crumbs as Confetti: Why I’m Choosing to Celebrate in 2021
This is my year of celebration. I type this even as I jog up and down the stairs to repeatedly put the big kid back in her room for naptime and soothe the teething baby. This is my year of celebration. I type this even as the sky is a dull gray for what feels […]
20 Things I Learned in 2020 (Part Two)
11. Community can be created anywhere We’ve lived in Northwest Ohio for seventeen months now. More than half of that time (almost ten months) has been during a pandemic. And right before the pandemic, I had a baby and was pretty much home all the time. But you know what? Community can be created anywhere. […]
20 Things I Learned in 2020 (Part One)
1. I am resilient This pandemic has not been my first WTF moment of my mid-thirties. Remember the time I left my dream job, moved across the state while very pregnant, had a baby, knew almost no one, and also my dad, grandma, and aunt all died suddenly within six months? Plus an ER trip […]
The Longest Night
Someday soon, we all will be together…if the fates allow.Until then,we’ll have to muddle through somehow…So have yourself a merry little Christmas now. If there were ever a lyric for the holiday season of 2020…that would be it. Sung mournfully by Judy Garland, it brings me to tears every time. Tonight is the winter solstice, […]
Call me old-fashioned, but…
I love Christmas cards. I love sending Christmas cards. I start thinking about ours as early as September. This year I printed ours on November 1. I picked out holiday stamps in person (masked!) at the post office. I wrote out each individual address with a metallic Sharpie on a bright red envelope. I stared […]