“Let’s have a monthly family dinner night gathering!” Ideas. I have so many. And typically they involve quite a few people. And a scope and size that doesn’t scale most of the time. But this one did. I think naming it as a goal and giving it a deadline certainly helped. So we made plans, […]
Big gift in a tiny package
March 30, 2012 By 6 Comments
I look back over the rocky chasms and green fields of the past almost 30 years, and zoom in on those beginning months that were shaping me to be a parent. Yes, we were excited to be having our first, don’t get me wrong. It’s just, well, I didn’t like being pregnant. It wasn’t magical […]
Five Minute Friday-Loud
March 23, 2012 By 14 Comments
Shhhh. Can’t you just be quiet? Are you sure you want to wear that outfit? Don’t you want to be pretty? Don’t you want to be liked? Do you really think that joining that group is a good idea? Uh oh. I can hear my inner child ramping up the volume in response. But I’m […]
Five Minute Friday-Ache
March 2, 2012 By 14 Comments
The ache of motherhood. It’s like being at a banquet and eating the best dessert ever topped with bits of jalepanos and drops of vinegar. Sweet. And oh so very snappy. And also sometimes unpleasantly sour. Bites of deliciously delightful love, that somehow are layered with occasional tastes of hot anger, and sometimes, too, a […]
Five Minute Friday-Delight
February 17, 2012 By 10 Comments
Delight, oh my! Colorful, bubbly, tinkling, shimmering, bright and shiny. Delight… …in my children as they grow and even as they challenge me, for without the difficult times I would not appreciate the absolute wonderfulness of who they are. …in my husband as our love continues to grow, as we realize we have been […]
Five Minute Friday-Trust
February 10, 2012 By 6 Comments
Write. Ding. Toss Write. Ding. Toss. Arggghh. I just have to trust that the words will come one of these times., that they will take shape on the page. I only have five minutes? I guess it’s a lot like parenting. I knew it would be hard, but, well, I knew my hubbie and I […]
Five Minute Friday-Real
February 3, 2012 By 10 Comments
We sit in a circle. Waiting. Watching. Worrying. Wondering how real we can be. Wondering how real others will be. As facilitator of the group, I jump in to break the ice. They’ve heard some of our story, how my husband and I have done a lifetime of stupid. Of how we ran arm in […]
Five Minute Friday-Vivid
January 20, 2012 By 9 Comments
Gray. Washed out. Worn out. Just plain tired. Do you feel as a mom sometimes that you just don’t have what it takes anymore? That between the job, the kids, the finances, the stress, that you have been stripped of your joyful, colorful self? I felt that way last year. You know what I […]
Five Minute Friday-Connected
December 16, 2011 By 8 Comments
Sharing: “Here, this was useful to me, and helped me cope.” Encouraging: “Wow, did I mess up. Learn from my mistake, so you don’t have to go down this same painful road.” Asking: “Help me, please. I can’t find my way.” Across the miles, through the countryside, into the cities and over the oceans, we […]
Five Minute Friday-Tired
December 2, 2011 By 18 Comments
Whew. Some days my load is so heavy that I have all I can do to keep from going over backwards. I feel like the little dog in The Grinch Who Stole Christmas as he works mightily to pull all those stolen gifts up that steep mountain. However, it is no load of gifts that […]
