Just Because
Lucky Us
Twenty years ago, only a week and a half after 9/11, I made my way to my first ultrasound. Since this was my first pregnancy, and everything had been progressing as it should, my ultrasound had been scheduled for 19 weeks, almost halfway through the pregnancy. Thanks to the events that occurred earlier in September,…
Read MoreTalking to the Animals
When the girls were around six months old (or maybe a bit younger), one of Tim’s fellow graduate students bought them an extra large Pooh Bear. By extra large, I simply mean he outranked them by quite a bit. (Pooh never outweighed them, but he certainly stood taller, since on his back paws, Pooh stands…
Read MoreThat Season
It’s that season again: twice a day soccer practices. One at six in the morning, the other in the evening. Which means its the season of morning disruptions. My morning disruption. Aaron is old enough to get himself to practice now, but having another human being up early puts me in a mood. A funk,…
Read MoreIdentity Crisis
One of my personal Gmail accounts has been in existence since January 4, 2005. Since that time, I’ve entered that address when I shop online; I’ve given it to schools, churches, sports teams, and music teachers; it finds its way to contact forms for nonprofits and other organizations I support. And since that time, I’ve…
Read MoreSpeaking of Dog Days of Summer…
Let me preface this post by saying, MY DOG IS ALIVE AND WELL. Imagine this: your dog has died in your home, and you do nothing about it for several hours. What sort of callous and uncaring person does that? Apparently, I do. Because one morning last week, as I crept past the dog lying…
Read MoreVacation Days
Vacation. She smiled when she said the word out loud. Uttered it again into the breeze, tasting the word as it floated back in her direction. Vacation. So much potential in one eight-letter word. Ice cream. Sand. Taffy. Long walks up the hills and down again. Bullfrogs at the pond. Grilling on the patio and…
Read MoreCelebrating Women’s Fiction Day!
UPDATE! Sally S. and Jennifer S. are winners! I’ll contact them via email. Thanks for participating! Welcome to Women’s Fiction Day! In 2019, the Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) established the day “to celebrate the authors, stories, readers, bookstores, and fans of the women’s fiction genre.” I’m a grateful member of WFWA, and I am…
Read MoreDays Like This
Days like this— after a surgical procedure routine for the surgeon but not for you when your belly is swollen and sore and you’re moving slowly slower than you have in years— are good days to speak to your mom. What other person will let you vent the exact way you need to? What other…
Read MoreApril Challenges (April Love 2021)
April, with its robust arrival of spring, is a good time to challenge myself. A few years ago, I took on a fitness challenge and added in an extra mile of walking each day in April. That lasted throughout the year, and it’s carried over to today—I still try to walk an extra mile when…
Read MoreTaylor Swift-ed
Taylor Swift’s music has appealed to me in the past, and I consider her album Red pivotal in bringing Rewrite the Stars to life (I listened to the album on repeat during the writing of my first draft). While I don’t listen to much of her current work, the twins and I attended a concert of…
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