"Good morning, sunshine!" It was my husband speaking. "Shhhhh," I said. Or "mmmmphh." Or maybe I didn't say anything at all. Words are hard. "It's going to be a nice day!" he said. So loud. Why is he so loud? It was my own fault. The night before, I told him I needed to be… Continue reading Morning People
Category: Life
Watching Headlines
I ran by the grocery store yesterday to get a few things for Memorial Day. We're having a pretty quiet day, but my sister takes our boys to the cemetery for the 21-gun salute every year, and we have breakfast when they come back. I hadn't planned a thing, so I was picking up last-minute… Continue reading Watching Headlines
A Box
Some evenings, I work. I'm not home when the boys get off the bus. I have been hesitant to let them stay on their own. It's not that long until their father gets home from work, but it's long enough. I was talking to a friend about this recently, and I paused in my explanation.… Continue reading A Box
Things I Have Learned from Cake
It was my husband's birthday last week. His favorite dessert that I make is red velvet cake, although rhubarb dream bars and any kind of pie are not to be sneezed at. I usually make the cake sometime around Christmas, but last December I decided a lot of things were less important than my sanity… Continue reading Things I Have Learned from Cake
Never
Paul asked me again when I am taking this picture down. He's asked at intervals for years. He doesn't like the answer, for reasons that escape me. Never. I am never taking it down. It used to be above the fireplace in a frame, but the frame was destroyed in a mysterious accident. I wasn't… Continue reading Never
Sneaky Treats
We have received, for I think the third year in a row, a May Day basket on our doorstep. The first year, I thought it was a birthday present for Paul, but it was clearly labeled Happy May Day and addressed to the whole family. A quick Google search informed me that it's an old… Continue reading Sneaky Treats
Slip Slidin’ Away
My children are getting on the bus by themselves now, running down the long lane, shoving and yelling and giggling all the way. I didn't mean for this to happen yet. They are old enough by any objective standard, but people rocket down our rural road like they are practicing for the Autobahn, and mothers… Continue reading Slip Slidin’ Away
Don’t Wanna
I got this in the mail last week. I haven't opened it. I know what it is, and I'm being a brat. It's a nice thick packet. It's all the paperwork that I need to fill out in advance of Levi's annual appointment at the cystic fibrosis center. I've written about annual appointments before. Short version: We… Continue reading Don’t Wanna
Snow Showers and Inside Flowers
I zipped into the grocery store when I left work, because we were nearly out of eggs and completely out of baby oranges, and my people will not put up with that kind of neglect. It is a lovely spring day in northeast Ohio, by which I mean that it's stupid cold and there are… Continue reading Snow Showers and Inside Flowers
What’s Next?
Written yesterday and slept on. I decided it's still what I'm thinking. -- I am not quite home, but it won't be long. I am sitting in a Starbucks with white noise in my earbuds, gathering my thoughts after a very intense three days. I stopped in Columbus to have brunch with a couple of… Continue reading What’s Next?