Posted in Everyday, Things on Aug 24th, 2010 1 Comment »
This is not my giant bucket of peas. This is my neighbor’s giant bucket of peas. She is the better gardener, as indicated by her giant bucket of peas vs. the brown and shriveled leaves on my bean and strawberry plants. This happens to me every summer – we go on vacation late in July, [...]
Posted in Everyday, Startup Mom on Aug 18th, 2010 No Comments »
I came home the other day to this freshly painted line on the street in front of our house, and I cried. For seven years we’ve laughed about this line. The city comes every few months to repaint it all the way down our street, but because our car is always parked out front they [...]
Posted in Everyday on Aug 12th, 2010 2 Comments »
dirt & bows Yesterday I spent the evening weeding my much-neglected-yet-thriving tomato plants. Yes, like my great hair, friends are jealous of my tomato plants. They are AMAZING. Do you see them there behind me? Nearly UP TO MY HEAD. So anyways. I was weeding, and Bryan was reading, and the kids got a bee [...]
Posted in Everyday on Aug 10th, 2010 1 Comment »
crosses Oh Christian sub-culture, I know you mean well despite your fumbled execution. This week I’m hosting a children’s Bible camp in our back yard, led by teenage girls. Ten kids and four teenagers are chanting Hebrews 9:22: “WITHOUT THE SHEDDING OF BLOOD THERE IS NO FORGIVENESS OF SIN!” Which sounds like we are sacrificing [...]
Posted in Everyday on Aug 8th, 2010 1 Comment »
Tonight I feel awake enough to relax without dozing off, but I’m also feeling antsy and don’t know what to do with myself. Do I work? Do I organize something? Do I watch tv? HOW DO I RELAX??
Posted in Comfort & Control, Everyday on Aug 5th, 2010 1 Comment »
“DOH!” I’m co-hosting a baby shower tonight at a friend’s house. In the planning, I offered to create a hand made paper garland and bake a dessert, in addition to collecting up other various supplies and running errands for the event. What was I thinking? I didn’t create hand made paper garlands or bake desserts [...]
Posted in Everyday, Ruthie on Aug 3rd, 2010 No Comments »
In life with Ruthie, every morning is a do-over. No matter how bad it was between us yesterday, today is our Memento moment – we just don’t remember. Almost every morning Ruthie wakes up around 5 or 6. Many times she’s like a bathroom light switch – ON and a little too bright. But lately [...]
Posted in Everyday, Thomas on Jul 29th, 2010 No Comments »
Thomas treats any camera like it’s wielded by the paparazzi – any time you get one out he’s covering the lens, his face, or running for cover. The boy is so against being photographed, we’ve taken to calling him Sean Penn. But yesterday he was so proud of himself for spelling his name in sticks [...]
Posted in Everyday, Startup Mom on Jul 16th, 2010 3 Comments »
Yesterday I made myself take a break. I’d worked the amount of hours I’d set aside to work, and there were no pressing issues that couldn’t wait until the next time I clocked in. I cleaned the kitchen, pitched some clutter, and managed to keep five kids happy and entertained. At 4:30 I finished a [...]
Posted in Everyday, Thomas on Jul 8th, 2010 4 Comments »
Me: “Thomas, be sure to tell your friends to stay out of the blueberry bushes.” Thomas: “What blueberry bushes?” “The three blueberry bushes we planted in the garden.” “We don’t have any blueberry bushes.” “Yes we do. They’re the bushes next to the big hole you’re digging to the center of the earth.” “The strawberry [...]
Posted in Everyday, Fun Pile on Jul 6th, 2010 2 Comments »
This was me waiting for fireworks on the 4th of July, though it looks more like I’m waiting at the finish line for the Iditarod. As it goes in Seattle, it rained and it was cold. We tried to convince the kids we’d be better off snuggling under a blanket watching Where the Wild Things [...]
Posted in Comfort & Control, Everyday, Getting Things Done on Jul 4th, 2010 2 Comments »
There are better house cleaners than me. This is fact. I’m not in denial of it anymore, either. In fact, I wear this badge proudly. I see it as one of the benefits of approaching my 40′s – I really don’t care what you think about me anymore, because I know I’m awesome. And if [...]
Posted in Comfort & Control, Everyday on Jun 30th, 2010 1 Comment »
There are people in this world who go through life with very few regrets, and I’m not one of those people. My inability to make a decision or figure out what to do next paralyzes me, and I find myself under the constant pressure of wondering whether I should be doing something different than what [...]
Posted in Books, Everyday on Jun 26th, 2010 No Comments »
With everything going on lately, I’m reminded of a book I read a few years ago by Chris Rock’s mom. I don’t think I appreciated it is as much when I first read it, as my kids weren’t in school yet and we lived a pretty isolated, preschool-mom life. Now that my kids are in [...]
Posted in Everyday, Living In Community on Jun 24th, 2010 2 Comments »
The drama next door has proved to be excellent fodder for teaching my kids the benefits of discipline. I mean, nothing says “I do it because I love you” better than observing the neighboring teenagers swear all day long, come and go whenever they please, and threaten your dad. “Do we let you get away [...]
Be warned: what you see here is not my best work. It is what Anne Lamott describes in Bird By Bird as a series of “shitty first drafts.” Blogging dragged me kicking and screaming out of creative constipation by getting me to actually write. So I do that. A lot. Without worrying about every word choice or comma placement.
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