In my twenties, running as fast and hard as I could seemed like the best way to ensure I was climbing my ambition in the right direction. But now, more than ten years past my college graduation...I'm seriously assessing the cost of such behavior and asking myself, What do I pay for in mental fragility, depletion of emotional reserves, temper with my kids, and closeness with…
Having the second baby has made me slow down. A lot. My new normal has squeezed me toward ultra-focused sessions of writing and drafting in the afternoon and a running list of priorities that I update daily. My household chores have been broken down into a monthly and weekly rotation. I prep my dinners on one particular afternoon a week, and I plan-plan-plan so that the important…
I’ll rush to defend a friend, but cringe and sometimes fall silent when it comes to defending myself. I once loved to argue. I am still easily riled up. When it comes to protecting time to myself, to write, to sleep, to speak to no one, I am apologetic yet fiercely determined. I explain to my husband that my attitude of distant exhaustion is not so…
What would you do over, if you could? My husband and I were recently talking about things we truly wished we could do over again. He’d wished he’d attended high school prom with the girl who’d asked him. I wished I’d actually dated a particular boy in my senior year of high school, despite my parents’ objections—because, looking back, I’m pretty sure he was my first…
Beloved, I see you. Up in the morning with the little one smiling on your shoulders as she rides through the house in the hiking backpack carrier that you wanted for your birthday. You yearn to bring our babies along on your outdoor adventures. The beauty of that desire does not escape me. I see you. Curled up on the couch in the morning light with…
Home. I've wrestled with this word over the years. I've defined "home" as the haven where I felt safest, the circle in which my siblings and I received our first years of schooling, the nest I made with my husband after our wedding, the sacred cradle that my babies entered a few days post-birth...and on it goes. Living in Seattle and yearning for a larger home…
Welcome back to my exploration of humor and what makes things funny! Ha! My current head-scratching surrounds the what, why, and how of making a scene that causes the audience or reader to laugh. My last post explored humorous elements found in The Wise Man's Fear. You can read Part 1 of this series here. This time, I'm investigating some humorous parts of the Disney-Pixar Film,…
Humor. A thing worth officially studying, per a recent decision of mine. And I'm going to share my notes with you. Warning: This is a somewhat nerdy post. In my attempt at efficient observational study, I've selected the novel I'm currently reading, The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. This isn't a particularly comedic book, but the three friends Wil, Sim, and the main character Kvothe…
Hey there. Sorry I haven't kept in touch. My excuse is seven weeks old and, in this mama's star-struck eyes, she's absolutely perfect. She arrived on a November morning a few weeks before Thanksgiving. I can't stop feeling thankful for her. She's all I wanted for Christmas this year. A friend mailed me a little box with a bracelet in it for me and a pair…
A beautiful Japanese maple preens its Autumn plumage in my parents' front garden. A larger version of this tree, but with bright green leaves, had filled the broad multi-paned window of the Shoreline house where my parents first brought me home as a baby. And, to continue tradition, in the small triangle of soil that borders the edge of my townhome's communal courtyard grows a little Japanese maple…