I’m home safe and sound. Or rather, I’m at my parent’s home safe and sound, currently. After 2 flights and a 2 hour drive home from the airport, I pulled in the driveway last night and wondered how in the world I was going to carry my bags inside the house…in my condition. My condition = utterly exhausted. I have so much to say. I can’t even begin to decide how to narrow it down. For now, I’ll just show you a group of some of my favorite people. We visited The LDS temple in Salt Lake City, taking a break from the Casual Blogger Conference to see some sites. * Then I made everyone leave right after we arrived because I was all paranoid I was going to be late for my keynote. Yes. I read one of my posts in front of everyone as a “keynote.” Who really knows what keynote […]
I wish I could show you Allison’s shoes and her cutest ever Gussy bag.And then maybe I would describe how fast Jessica Bern can type. (She’s doing that right next to me.)I wish I could tell you how curly in the most perfect way is the hair on my roomie’s pretty noggin.I wish I could put words to the rockin‘ bangs on Kristen Howerton, my other roommate. They are so swoopy and gleamy (see? no words). But even more than those very important things, I wish you could meet them (and the many of others I’ve come to know and love at this conference and online and at other conferences). I wish there were a way to wrap up a post in such a way that would make blogging/online relationships make sense in words. But these relationships that are based on words can’t be described with words. Oh, the irony. Let me just […]
You guys. I’m hopefully not slipping or sliding, but I am going away today! CBC ’10, here I come! (And I’m extra excited about the conference now because I’m part of a surprise and that is so fun and exciting but I can’t tell you because it’s a surprise and so you will know later-not now.) I kissed and hugged my boys like crazy last night and sent them to Nanny and Bapa’s house. I will not see them again until Sunday or maybe even Monday, if they’re in bed when I return on Sunday night. Weird. I’m quite in love with them and will miss them with my heart panging around. Here is one of them, the Asher variety, having some summer fun (which must always include water guns and Oreos, in my humble opinion)… The cheeks. La sigh…. Alright, Peeps. Lots of love to you. Can I tell you how glad […]
I am currently eating a bagel just as fast as I can. Dear Digestive System,please don’t be mad, I’m in a hurry.Love,Overwhelmed I leave for Utah in just 2 days. There I will be attending the Casual Blogger Conference and also doing a little speaking. Today I am kidless and working hard at preparing for the speaking and whitening my teeth. Because, you know, people might think my teeth are yellow while I’m waxing philosophical about blogging in front of them. Or something. I’ve printed out my itinerary and the conference agenda and tickets for this and tickets for that and apparently this is really happening. I shall now sit back and tell myself (burp) that everything is going to be just fine. Yesterday I went to get loads of groceries in an effort to continue my job as wife and mother while I’m away. I was starting to feel the stress of […]
For those of us who try to keep remembering,Try to do our better than our best.Think of all the children in the drifts of snow.Winners never quit, but winters never rest…No, this is not a test. Taking numbers never made any sense.Cause you can have it if you want it, anyways. ~She & Him {This is not a Test} ~~~~~~~~~~ I’m going to stop doing that. Today I’m not going to do that. I’m going to start doing that. Today I’m going to start doing that. I remember when I used to do that.One day, I’ll start doing that againor I’ll never do that again.Doing. I put so much weight on what I’m doing and not doing.I carry so much weight, thinking about what I’m doing and not doing.RightWrongToo muchNot enough It is good to strive to do the right things and not do the wrong thingsand it’s defeating to strive to do […]
And he surrenders to the artistic spirit. Good boy. (And after that, it’s possible that I let him keep the paint on his face while he took a nap.And then the paint moved itself to his soft blond hair. That was pretty.) _________ Also.My friend Sabrina (from Superfluous) got engaged!!!Since I first met and then got to know this lovely lady,I knew she’d make someone very happy one day.Honestly, her guy could not have found a morepatient, understanding, fashionable, kind, hilarious, beautiful and talented girl.(Seriously. The cooking and baking and gardening! Oh my!)Congratulations to you both! Sabrina,you rock the BumpIt Bride Party.__________ That is all. Thank you for allowing me to pop up in your inbox and for reading my words, silly or serious. I appreciate you. ~Heather
I’m a big fan of owls. The other day, my friend gave me a big fat owl to sit outside my front door. He greets people.(He’s not a real live owl, he’s a decorative one.) I would have taken a picture of him to show you, but it’s pouring outside right now, so he’s busy. I don’t know what I mean by that.Owls can turn their heads all the way around, isn’t that mind blowing?They’re like mothers. I’m also a big fan of garage sales. Yesterday we found an area rug that’s just perfect for our family room. It has orange and gray in it, and so do our family and dining rooms. So it matches.But my socks don’t.I’m not a fan of matching clothing. Ryan is not a fan of germs and so he’s a bit concerned that something horrible is lurking in this garage sale rug. He just told the boys, […]
You know that rumbly sound of slurping the last of your drink through a straw?I can’t decide if I love or hate that sound.Maybe I should decide to like it because it’s a satisfying sound of finishing, being sure to get every last drop of something tasty. And maybe I should hate it because it’s a belchy kind of irritating satisfying sound. I feel this way about sobriety. Some days I’m absolutely in love with its satisfaction, and other days (ahem, yesterday) I hate the itchy irritation of it. When I was drinking I was trying to take the edge off. What I’m learning is that it wasn’t working, not at all. My edges are more rounded now than when I was pouring glass after glass night after night. I’m softer and lighter and different. The thing is, sober or not, alcoholic or not, life is covered in itchy irritation. So when I’m […]
Today has been a day of nothing. Really. It feels like nothing. I feel like nothing. I have floated through it numb and brimming over with tears and heartache at the same time. If that’s possible.Things have happened. Waking up and sipping coffee and walking around kinds of things. It’s the most beautifully perfect Midwestern spring day and I’m resisting it. I’m holing up inside the house while saying over and over that I need to get outside, for vitamin D and fresh air and fun. But I just can’t. It’s hard to describe it because I don’t even really understand it myself. And tomorrow will be different. I might spend all day outside, like yesterday when I sat with the sun on my skin and then put the boys in the stroller and ran and ran and felt so good. It’s like I spend all my energy in one day and then […]
A long long(ish) time ago, in a cyber-land (exactly) like this one, two young(ish) mothers of two came to know one another through their words. One is me, the other, Aidan Donnelly Rowley of Ivy League Insecurities. She left a comment or two, and I, in my usual eager curiosity to meet new friends, visited her space. And I was intimidated. (Aidan, stop laughing.) (It’s true. Your writing astounded me and also, you’re reeeaaal pretty.) Later, I would come to find out, through an email, that she had felt “like a rock star had visited” when I left my first comment. (This made me laugh and say WHY?) We simply admired one another’s writing (and I could not be more humbled by the fact that a woman with such a writing gift as Aidan’s would find my words appealing at all.) And today, friends, is a very good day. Because today is the […]
He says, wash mine hands, Mama. So I hoist his nearly three year old booty up to my stomach and we lean in over the sink. The water is shivery cold and so we hurry and he starts to force exaggerated shaking and teeth chattering, dramatizing as he has a tendency to do. I grab the towel from the oven handle and we wipe wipe wipe together until I can’t help anymore because he’s got both of his little arms wrapped tightly around one of mine, one of his little legs following suit as he lifts it up off the floor to try to add it to the arm hug party. A chubby cheek presses the side of my wrist and he makes sounds that say he’s warming up with my arm’s willing assistance. Which is good because the other arm is busy reaching for coffee. My heart is filled with the goodness […]
The last time I drove byit hurtto think back on her,on menot so long agobut so long ago I came that way againturning my eyes to the laketo see the changesthe new housesthe remodelsthe spaces wherecabins once stood In came a hundredmemoriesof a twenty-somethingparty girlwho lived on the great wide andgreen lake What would she ask me?I thoughtWhat would she want to knowabout who she would become,who she would be becoming? You’ll be okayI’d tell her,then. now.but you are taking a terriblylong wayto okay.It’s starting nowand you knowbut you don’t know You will have a new lifewhile you’re still both youand a wife and a momand you will feel like bothand carry too muchof the now with youthen The pit of your stomachmay never forget thisversion of yourself,brokenby yourself,and not yourselfby he and themand her and him But your heartwill start to heallong from now,the nowon the lake,and you will seesomehowin the blue […]
He is so often carefree and unaffectedso sure of loveand centered in fatherhood He is quirkyin the best possible waysand he has too many watchesand I roll my eyeswhen he dons the hatand the penny loafers He thinks every man should mow inpenny loafers He’s my friend and my support andmy laughterAnd today is his birthday I love you, Taco Headyou are so good to me And really, who am I to call him quirky? Like my shoes and socks,we’re a match madein Heaven. Thank you for allowing me to pop up in your inbox and for reading my words, silly or serious. I appreciate you. ~Heather
I pretty consistently feel peaceful with a dash of joy and gratitude and maybe even a little serenity these days. But that doesn’t mean I’m always happy. I’m often irritable or tired or just plain out of it. My happiness is fleeting because I believe that’s what happiness is. Fleeting like a caffeine high or that little lift in your belly when you’re on an elevator, maybe after some good news or an achievement or a hormonally good day. This is why they say that happiness is a choice. It’s sporadic and temporary and we want it so badly we choose to force it in the midst of fatigue and the hard things of life. We chase it like a drug and believe we’ve failed if we don’t feel it all the time. I used to expect this fleeting feeling to stick, and then I’d grow frustrated with myself for not being able […]
“I didn’t want to get well, because if I got well, nobody would come and save me anymore. And I didn’t want to get well, because while I could not control my happiness, I could control my misery, and I would rather have had control than live in the tension of what if.” –Donald Miller in A Million Miles in a Thousand Years(This post is brought to you by the fact that I finished this book last night and my mind is reeling with good thoughts to think. Thank you (again), Donald Miller.) _______________ We need breath-taking stories in our lives. We’re made for these stories, and too often we don’t choose them. We don’t write the book or apply for the job or propose or adopt that child or take that trip or dance because we’re scared. And then we stay just where we are and wonder why life is boring and […]
There is so much fun to be had in a cabinet.You can even pretend you’re a really meantrapped and angry bear But then you might start thinkingAm I really trapped in here?I’m actually just a person I might want to get out sometimetaptaptap…helpHI-YAH! Oh my…one of the terrible bearshas escaped! And the other bear is…astonished!Brother Bear, I shall FREE YOU!!! AAATTTAAAACK HER!!!!I love being attacked. It is a privilege and an honor and a joy to call these two bears mine… Happy Mother’s Day, friends! Thank you for allowing me to pop up in your inbox and for reading my words, silly or serious. I appreciate you. ~Heather
Numero Uno:Trust me. If you live near me, you want to come to the multiple-fabulous-women garage sale that I’m a part of this Saturday. Seriously. If I happened upon this sale instead of schlepping my own lovelies in it, I would FREAK. Email me for details if you’re interested. P.S. The hard thing about garage sales is that marking your things is a lot of work. But you knew that. Numero Dos:Ellie (gosh, I love that woman) sent me my sobriety necklace a number of days ago and I wear it every day. I’m in love with it. And the one day I did forget to wear it, Miles said, Oh Mommy, you forgot to put that necklace on you that reminds you to not drink wine. Oh my heart. (Yes, my 4 (almost 5) year old knows about my wine issue-in terms he can understand, of course.) Numero Tres:I was asked to […]
So. The assignment for You Capture this week was Spring. (Yes, the same as last week…you are not a time traveler. This is not last week.) And while Miles was at school, Asher and I went on an adventure in the woods. Or the frorest, as Asher prefers calling it. I took 129 photos. I wanted to show you 129 photos. I am not.Ready? GO! scroll, scroll, scroll…. Phew! You made it!I’m a maniac, a maniac, I know. And I have some exciting things to tell you tomorrow. Just.so.you.know. Thank you for allowing me to pop up in your inbox and for reading my words, silly or serious. I appreciate you. ~Heather
UPDATE: I fixed it-it’s full length now!Color me proud. Except now I’m not that proud becauseWOW, wait until you get to the end and I do a random and disturbing impression.Seriously. WHAT is wrong with me? I really can’t believe I did this. I’m so not a vlogger.You can tell by the horrible lighting and all the fidgeting.I must really love you.Here goes…nothin‘… Thank you from Heather King on Vimeo. I know. I know. That thing at the end. I don’t know…And what? You callin‘ me a sappy sapperton?Well…yeah.Word. The Maggie I speak of is Maggie Dammit, of course. Just sayin‘. And the post I speak of is here, at Missy’s place. The End. Thank you for allowing me to pop up in your inbox and for reading my words, silly or serious. I appreciate you. ~Heather
A fellow Minnesota blogger, Missy the Marketing Mama, is doing a health and wellness series on her blog with all kinds of information on varying topics. Today’s topic is motherhood and addiction, and when Missy asked me to share my story, I was happy to do it and I’ll tell you why in a sec. If you’ve wondered at all about what my drinking was like (as in, the details) and what happened to get me to stop, I’m over at Missy’s place today sharing the specifics of my story. Please know that I agreed to do this because I think Missy is doing an amazing thing with this educational series, not because I want you to sit riveted in front of my sad addiction story. Actually, I don’t. I hesitated before saying yes for that very reason. I don’t want this to be about me. I wanted to do this because it’s […]
This is a tiny little corner of the old house turned coffee shop where I love to go and sit and write in the quiet. Then other times, it’s louder because Jen or Mackenzie or Annette or Lana meets me there and we laugh. Loudly. I hope Heaven is like LuLu Beans with its peaceful quiet and then happy loud. (Minus the blisters from the ruby red slippers-I could do without those. I hear there are no blisters in Heaven anyway, so it’s really not a worry.) Happy Sunday. P.S. I guess they’re more like fire engine red, but let’s just pretend I’m Dorothy in LuLu Oz. Thank you for allowing me to pop up in your inbox and for reading my words, silly or serious. I appreciate you. ~Heather
