If you’ve been reading this blog at all, you might have an idea. I mean, it spans over a decade of my life, and I’d like to think I share a balanced view of the highs and lows that life gives me. But here’s the current TL;DR in case you want to be my friend. Because I like friends. But I’m socially awkward. So here we are. A random list of things about me: I love this life I’ve built. I’m a born introvert. A shy book nerd who was bullied in school for being “too nice.” I’m an overthinker…
I turned four decades old today. I don’t feel 40. Mostly. I’m still the same person I was at twenty only I’m not interested in after-hours nightclubs and my knees pop every time I sit down. But you know, same. This is my forty, in all its brutal honesty: I wear wrist braces at night to keep my carpel tunnel at bay. I need compression socks and blood thinning medication. I wear contact lenses and slather on wrinkle creams. I consider Netflix and a glass of wine to be a fun Friday night. But here’s the thing. This is also…
My oldest boy has a white noise machine in his room, to help him sleep. It has a large selection of sounds that can be played as background noise: static, ocean waves, frogs, music, etc. The one and only sound that he will let me play is: crickets. So he goes to sleep listening to the soothing chirps of crickets every night. Well, it’s late summer in the Midwest, and the actual crickets are EVERYWHERE. Last night, the kid came into my room at 4am. “Mom,” he says, rubbing his eyes, “I can’t sleep.” “Why?” “There’s a cricket in my…
When we lived in Arizona, Chris was often out of town for work, so the boys and I managed on our own. At the time that I wrote this post (below), I was just grateful for the act of kindness. And now, with a few years’ reflection, I also hope that I set the same example of kindness for my sons that this lady did for hers. Be a good human. Raise good humans. That is all. Here is the story: This evening I walked out of the Costco with my 3 year old, my 1 year old, and a…
We’ve got two Robot vacuums, and we have named them Billy and Winston. Winston works downstairs, while Billy has the main level. Poor Billy really has his work cut out for him: between the cat toys and the LEGO, we’ve had to replace his brushes many, many times. Want to know who wins in a battle between a Roomba and a LEGO? Not the Roomba. They have an app, which gives us notifications like, “Billy is stuck,” “Winston’s bin is full,” or “Billy has successfully completed a job.” But they do a pretty good job, despite their obstacles and the…
The boys are getting a treehouse, and since the goats did some of the preliminary work, now we’ve got to finish clearing a nice spot for their treehouse. So we spent a good portion of the weekend after the goats were gone cleaning up: trimming tree branches, moving logs, picking up sticks, and raking the ground. That following week, the tree house got built. I’m not too old to hang out in a treehouse, right?!
Today I put a load of Connor’s clothes in the dryer. Something was banging against the tumbler and we were taking bets as to whether it was rocks or LEGO. Turns out, we were all right.
One summer when I was fourteen, I decided I wanted to stretch out my school break indefinitely. Make it feel as endless as possible. And I did, actually, succeed. Bike rides, tree-climbing, and nature hikes. Books, board games, ice cream, campfires, swimming, and beaches. Even though there wasn’t actually more time in my summer, I tried to savor every moment, and it felt longer. It was glorious. I have never quite re-created the magic of that one summer, yet it sticks with me to this day. It’s what I want for my children. The truth is it feels like a…
We have quite a bit of Poison Ivy in our backyard tree grove. I am highly allergic. This makes me not want to hang out in our beautiful creek area. But when you have it carpeting the ground like grass, taking over small bushes, and winding its way up trees in arm-sized vines, the task of getting rid of it seems daunting. Where would one even start in eradicating this invasive vine? As it turns out, the answer is: This year I learned that you can rent goats. In case you’re curious, goat rental is priced by the acre, and…
Day 51. This quarantine has been, more than ever, a time of high highs and low lows. While I recognize the immense privilege that enables me to stay sheltered at home, that does not make it any less isolating. That does not mean my longing to return to normalcy is diminished. I can recognize both the beauty that has come – quality time spent with my family; and the hardship – the isolation, the fear of what the future might bring, what it might look like. The joy of slowing down, the fear of the ultimate slowdown. And on a…