It’s so strange how much of a dichotomy we can be. How many different and disparate feelings can exist inside of a single person at the exact same time. I’ve got all of these conflicting emotions going on right now. Let’s start with the good: Joy because my wee lassies are back at school (and loving being back at school). …
Total eclipse of the sun…
Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of My Heart is on our family road-trip Jammy Jam’s mix, and we all belt it out at the top of our collective voices whenever we hear it. Such a fabulous example of an 80’s rock ballad – an epic song, sung without irony. The music video is even better, because it’s so damned big (and …
Eight (!!)
I am now the mother of an eight-year-old. Wow. How can that be? I feel like it was only a minute (and a lifetime) ago that I found out I was preggers. And then there was the long being-pregnant situation. The newborn fog. Watching her learn to be a person, to crawl, to walk. Experiencing a second pregnancy with a …
Book it: December 2015
Nine books this month, although many were quite short. They ran the gamut from young adult to end-of-the-world to connection to business. A great way to end my year of reading, and it brought me to a grand total of 66 books for the year! My goal for 2016 is 60 books, and I’m planning on reading my way through …
Happiness, Thankfulness, & a sale still going strong
First of all, the Happiest of Days to you all. Today is Thanksgiving, which to our family means time with loved ones, lots of food, and appreciation of all that we have. We are hosting this year, so I don’t have much time – lots of party-readiness to do – but I wanted to pop over here and express my …
A shared obsession
When you have kids, you wonder how much of you is going to transfer to them. You hope that they get your good, and that your bad is skipped over (or, maybe not your BAD, but those parts of yourself that aren’t your favorites – even something as simple as, “I hope my kids don’t have my super dry skin,” …
Summer Road Trip, part 5 – heading home
And then that was it. It was time to head home. Well, right before we headed home, we celebrated 9 years of marriage. Bonkers! On our way home, we took a small trip down memory lane, in Williams, California, to the place we spent one crazy summer, living at a tomato processing plant, hauling tomatoes from 8pm to 8am every …
Summer Road Trip, part 4
San Diego was, as San Diego can’t help but be, amazing. We played hard and slept hard in Southern California. Auntie Jill taught Hazel how to sew, and they made an adorable quilt for lovies. (She made one for Astrid, too, but we wisely did NOT allow Astrid anywhere near the sewing machine). Both girls got to ride on a …
Summer Road Trip, part 3: Legoland!
After LA, we headed down to San Diego to spend a few days with more family. Cousin Maggie works at this magical place called Legoland, and, together with her mom and sister, took us there for the day. It was so.much.fun. Stefan fulfilled his life-long dream of flying an airplane. I fulfilled my life-long dream of eating fried green apples. …
Summer Road Trip, part 2
The second part of this Road Trip Travelogue takes place in the city of angels, where we spent 5 days with college friends and family, and at an amazing and beautiful wedding of two very special folk. Is there anything in the world better than grandparent snuggles? These two certainly don’t think so. New friends on a beach so much …
Summer Road Trip, part 1
We had a big trip at the end of June – we drove from Portland, to Coos Bay, to Sacramento, to Los Angeles, to San Diego, visiting loved ones along the way, and then we drove the whole.way.home in three long hot days. It was a great trip – the girls played with so many kids, we reconnected with so …
What’s round on the sides and HI in the middle?
oHIo!!! I had a stellar time in the heart of it all, visiting family and having so much fun that barely any photos were snapped. Lots of catching up, laughs, hugs and yummy food. The time with my sweet nieces was particularly special – I don’t get the chance to see them that often, and spending so much quality time …