Winter even blows through Austin, Texas. You might not have known that. My blood has thinned through summer or so folks say, and I am consistently cold, buried under layers of blankets, two pairs of socks on, and an extra sweater. The rain keeps falling down and down and puddles around tree trunks and along curbs. The kids keep forgetting it’s not 100 degrees. Just yesterday, Asher came rushing back inside, bare feet and a t-shirt and shorts. It was 30-something out there and he was flushed and shaking. We hadn’t seen his exit, just agreed to it from the other room and off he went. We just assumed he had on shoes, and pants, and a jacket. But assuming with little boys is for the birds. This calls for hot cocoa, just like Minnesota. And a talking-to or seven, about the benefits of dressing for the weather. All of this makes me […]
{these Collections have been curated as a part of my collaboration with eBay} I’ve gathered some truly unique, hilarious and just plain FUN gift ideas all in one spot for you, friends. Collections on eBay make it easy for you to look up specific categories of items and keep them all in one place, while also getting them at the great eBay prices we all love! Everyone knows someone who can’t put their smart phone down for fear of missing a tweet or comment on Facebook. I found some hilarious gifts for just that person and called that collection: hashtag holidays: gifts for the social media addicted. I add things as I find them, and I’m having so much fun searching and refreshing the collections. Feel free to follow along. Here are just a few of the great gift ideas I came up with: Gifts for the Social Media Enthusiast […]
I felt myself going numb, shutting down, the thing I do with too much stress. I was driving the kids to school, and Miles had started a kitchen fire and we all smelled so much like a kitchen fire. Thank God nothing horrible happened, somehow he stayed calm and threw water on the fire. I was upstairs. What if, what if, what if…. I turned the radio up because it was U2 and also, I just didn’t want anyone to talk and talk and talk. I just couldn’t. Sometimes I feel like I’m being so dramatic. Like I can see myself in the song after the U2 song, like I’m in the video, with the sad and romantic lyrics and I’m so affected, seeking, philosophizing, Staring at the bottom of your glass Hoping one day you’ll make a dream last But dreams come slow and they go so fast I think that was […]
Elsie was emptying all the cards and pictures from my Bible on the floor, away from the places I’ve tucked them, marking pages or time. Miles was on the bed with the rainbow loom next to Asher who was listening to me read. Ryan is out of town. I was trying not to lose my patience over chaos and how we’re always behind at bedtime but it felt like deep breaths were expensive. After we did so many things, the four of us, and they were all finally quiet with sleep, I sat stunned by the exhaustion and numb. There was more work to be done, lunches to get ready, dishes, laundry, writing deadlines… Then I put this note on Facebook – I wish there were some sort of motherhood gang sign, or a common phrase we whispered to each other as we walk by–in the store or on the street, at the […]
{This post is about our bedtime routine and there’s a good chance it could help you with yours. It is a sponsored post in partnership with Smart Electric and the words are all mine.} The doctor brings it up, it’s in all the parenting books, and your friends ask when you’re having trouble getting your kids to go to sleep: Do you have a consistent bedtime routine? “They” all bring it up, because a consistent and predictable routine works. (True, so much of what “they” say is just opinion, but this routine thing totally has proven results.) Our kiddos need signals that become ingrained in their little noggins., so this is one bit of advice we’ve actually stuck with over here at our house. Our boys have never known anything other than “same bat time, same bat channel” bedtime routines, and then Elsie came along and BOY OH BOY does she ever need […]
Are you a Mommy? I turned around and realized she was talking to me, standing up in the back of the cart her grandma was pushing. Are you a Mommy? Yes, I am. I have three kids. One is 8 years old, one is 6 years old and one is about your age. She’s two and a half, her grandma said. Oh yeah, you’re the same age as my daughter. Her name is Elsie! She said her name then, in a cute little toddler way, and I couldn’t understand her. She said it again. I looked at her grandma. “Her name is Sapphire” she said. She calls herself Sapphi, because well, her mom didn’t know how to spell Sapphire entirely, so she only wrote Sapphi on the birth certificate and it just kind of stuck…now I have her. All the time. She’s mine. Sapphi bounced a little from the back of the cart […]
The car is totaled and my right side is tight and stiff and stubborn. I saw him coming, in my rear view mirror and I knew. He tried to brake at the last second but he’d been going so fast and the impact was great. I hit the car in front of me and then we all sat stunned. He took off, and the woman from the car in front of me stood on the sidewalk with me and I saw her beautiful big eyes and jet black hair and her fear. Her sari’s colors were bright and she said she had been on the way to temple. Oh bless you, sweetheart. He took off and we were shocked. We found out soon enough that he went on to create another accident, sending one woman to the hospital and many witnesses into a confused lack of control. Just like that, a drunk driver […]
I had this dream last night that I had a really thick (and totally forced) southern drawl and I kept embarrassing myself with it. I hope that doesn’t become a reality on November 17th because how predictable… On Tuesday, November 19th, I’ll be attending the Texas Conference for Women. If you’re from these here parts, don’t miss this! Keynote speakers include Rachael Ray, Jenny Lawson–The Bloggess, Nobel Peace Laureate, Leymah Gbowee and many more. There will be a Career Pavilion, Exhibitors Hall, Round Tables and over 100 experts speaking on various topics that empower women to live and work with intention and success. For more information, visit the Texas Conference For Women’s website, follow #TXConfWomen on Twitter and Like the conference page on Facebook Let me know if you’ll be there so we can bump into each other on purpose!
I have vivid dreams, every night. I don’t know if they’re in black and white, like people say, about dreams and their muted tones. I don’t remember them like a movie, but a memory. I’m revisited by people from the long ago in my dreams. So often there are people I haven’t seen in years, interacting with me like we’re family. Their faces and voices and the stories we’re playing out are so vivid, I’d bank on neon colors over black and white. I talked with a friend, standing out in the sun, about watching old videos of our kids. Those same kids played nearby, the boys knocking each other down and laughing and Elsie Jane watching and shriek-giggling and hopping around them. Outdoor toys were scattered all over the driveway. My friend said that she had forgotten exactly how her daughter was at age four, but they just watched a video and her little […]
