The Perfect Puddle Fail.

I’ve been a bit obsessed with puddles lately. Which is convenient, since we just had a Tropical Storm come all the way up the middle of our state. (Granted it wasn’t a Tropical Storm when it reached me, but it was still pretty dang wet.) I don’t usually get hung up on getting a specific […]

The Long Haul. With Kids.

This past weekend, while on a hike, Ali and I were talking about our Hiking Club Summer Bucket List. I told her I’d asked the other moms what they’d wanted to do this summer, and asked her what she wanted to do. She lit up. “I want to hike farther than I’ve ever hiked. I […]

The Prodigal Fitbit Daughter.

I had been a happy FitBit wearer for three years. It motivated me, gave me beautifully geeky tracking tools, created new friendships, and fed my obsession with statistics. Yet, at the beginning of October, I replaced my FitBit with an Apple Watch. And then, on December 22, I found myself 126% overjoyed because I convinced […]

A Journalled Year.

This delightful kid turned eleven yesterday. Ali recorded her year much better than I did, so I thought we’d tell the story together. January 2017: her tenth birthday, and when she finally allowed me to start calling her a tween. Also, she made sure to record her little brother’s fairly impressive abilities. February: She’s always […]

The Highs and Lows of Winter.

When you live in the south, you really don’t expect the freezing point to actually mean something. To me, it’s always felt more like a guideline. “Water could start freezing at 32 degrees.” But no. I really actually means that water freezes. And as such, it’s been freezing around here, so we’ve been experiencing the […]

On Proving that The Mayflower > The USPS

November First. That’s where this story begins. It was the day I received an order from England for one of my Roadkill Calendars*. I have shipped plenty of things overseas. I’ve shipped to China – with the endless label written in Chinese. I’ve shipped to Africa. I’ve shipped to England. I’ve shipped to many random […]

The Seven-Year-Old Silver Screen Star.

Noah turned seven today. And it’s been a long, arduous, lifetime of work for him to achieve his (not-so-much) dream of being a television star, which also happened this week. All because being a blogger has weird side effects. Such as your images being super searchable, and sometimes your most random image can be the […]

Surgery, Snow, Smoothies, and The Senate.

All The Laws of Physics were contradicted this past week. 1. It snowed, in Alabama, in early December. Significantly (for Alabama) – 4-12 inches. 2. Said snow stuck, stayed around an extra day, and some snow is still on my yard as I type. 3. I had my uterus removed yet came home looking four […]

On Building Ones Own Race Car.

Noah is six years old, and this year was his fifth year to attend the Petit Le Mans race. My dad is a Tech Inspector for the Le Mans series, and the importance of being related to such a cool guy might have gone to Noah’s head. Granted, I don’t think most kids would blame […]

A Week In The Woods

From Monday to Thursday evening of last week, I was in the woods. No wi-fi, perilously spotty cell service, and all the fallishness I could ask for. (And Ali didn’t mind it, either.) We rented a cabin at Oak Mountain State Park, which is close enough for Chris to commute to work, and the children […]