My dear little one, Every month you inch farther away from “little” and closer to “big.” Now you are two years old. Big brown eyes, mouth that laughs readily, fingers that point and poke and touch, hands that clap and nestle inside of mine while we walk together. I’ve watched you learn your first words. I’ve seen you glow with pride as you identity the “moo”…
Productivity is "my thing." I wake up with my to-do list spinning in a loop through my mind. I often try to knock off a few things while my son eats his breakfast, so that I'm set up in the lead for the rest of my day. I'm often a few minutes late to an appointment because I've tried to squeeze in *one more thing* before…
Hello friends! My third and newest book, Guardian of the Gold Breathers (a Middle Grade fantasy) is entering the early stages of pre-release. I have need, as always, for a loyal group of friends who are willing to read the book and post a review (on sites such as Amazon. Goodreads, and Barnes and Noble). Think you might want to help with this? I will gladly send you…
I learned today that the author under whom I studied last summer did not offer the same high-intensity workshop this year. A squeeze tightened in my chest as the thought ran through me: Did I attend the last session he will offer? I don't know the answer to this question, but it started me down a path of gratitude. I've sometimes wondered in the time since attending…
My Lebanese grandparents taught me to play Likha, a card game similar to Hearts, but with more ways to accidentally earn unwanted points, and no means to shoot the moon. They taught me to love Greek-style yogurt and spices with olive oil on pita bread for my breakfast. They taught me what lavish generosity looked like. They also taught my mother Middle Eastern hospitality, and she…
My sister was born in the beginning of summer and named after the feminine form of the god of war. She lived up to her fiery namesake and was a fierce little wildcat in her younger years. Later, she poured her passionate dreams into her artwork. I've watched her blow glass fearlessly, sculpt clay into dramatic forms, sketch a story in paint across a canvas and,…
I'm a bit obsessed with prioritizing. Sometimes I divide my life so carefully into priorities, I create a hierarchy of things that are "worthy" and "unworthy" of the time I can presently give. This works fine and helps narrow my focus when I'm in survival mode. It allows me to just do what I can to meet immediate needs and make sure nothing catches on fire…
Wisdom. Do we all want to have it? Some people I know prefer to walk the paths their passion calls them to, even if it goes contrary to advice they’ve received. We all know there’s such a thing as bad advice, but regardless of how good the advice might be, these friends would rather learn the hard way than submit blindly to directions. They want to…
Store-bought Barbie doll houses were often on my wish-list, but never a reality for me. My need for the products I'd seen on TV was the mother of my inventions. I tucked fabric around VHS clam shell cases and stuffed a "pillow" lump on one end to make a bed. I clipped photos of flower arrangements from a floral catalog and taped them to the wall…
Yesterday we buried our dead baby. This is going to be a sad post, so read on only if you choose to bear witness to a grief that is too often silenced. For those of you who know my family, my 18 month old son is perfectly fine and healthy. It's his younger sibling I refer to. January was a dark month for us. We had…