It took a week for this story to become untraumatic enough to share. A week and at least ten hot, scalding showers. Finally, at five and a half, I am starting to do “rest time” instead of nap time with Ali. Sometimes, mind you. After the first day, she told me she’d rather have nap […]
A Draw Something Miracle.
After bearing great waves of shame in my Draw Something Tell-All post, I quit playing for a couple of weeks. I just couldn’t bring myself to draw any more of my frighteningly appalling Works of Shame. …Then I attempted to play again, hoping for a miracle in the form of spontaneous artistic giftedness. That miracle […]
A Foodie Conference, From the Non-Foodie.
Last weekend, I stepped out of my comfort zone (which is right here behind this computer screen) and attended the Atlanta Food and Wine Festival. By myself. Without knowing a single soul that would be there. A bit intimidating, but also exciting. I went because I love food. I really love food. But the minute […]
Typically 2,310 Miles Apart.
I’ve had opportunities to get to know several of you a lot better lately, and I’m loving it. …Meridith has been, by request, making me aware of differences in dialect and habits between me and Australia. …EleanorJane, my resident differentialist between New Zealand and I, just moved to England and, therefore, has a whole new […]
She Has a Dream.
“Did you see this picture I’m working on? I’m an artist!” “Yes, you’re a very good artist!” “Well, I’m an artist now – while I’m a kid. But I’m going to be a Princess Ballerina when I grow up.” “Well, you can do the ballerina part, but probably not the Princess part.” I immediately regretted […]
Grounded For Life.
This kid is grounded. Consider these symptoms: For our entire vacation last week, he walked around with his finger jammed in his right ear. …Or if he wasn’t doing that, he was shaking his head out to the right, as if he was desperately trying to knock loose a gallon of water from within the […]
The Vacation Album.
Last week was our somewhat-annual family vacation. Somewhat-Annual Family Vacation: \ noun \ ; what my family does instead of exchange gifts for any holidays or birthdays; a vacation that is supposed to occur annually but periodically gets cancelled for the purposes of birthing babies, during which years nobody gets anything. Except new babies. Last […]
A Serendipitous Friendship.
We live in a metropolitan area with over one million other people. And yet, somehow, Ali and her inseparably best-friend-since-birth, AJ, have always looked oddly similar. ; Bizarre, no? Over the past couple of years, I thought that they had grown out of their identical phase – Ashley (AJ’s Mom) and I get significantly less […]
Text Marriaging.
If I were the Al Gore type, I would definitely proclaim that Chris and I discovered text messaging. Because I kinda feel like we did. It all started in 1999. We were dating, I had just started college, and Chris was in college and working full-time. We didn’t have a lot of extra time for […]
Lessons Learned on Easter, Volume Two.
(Last year’s lessons can be found here.) 1. One Year Old Boys have no appreciation for being dragged into the living room by their sister first thing in the morning. … Until they see that there’s something in it for them. They they’re completely on board. …Until they realize they can’t open it on their […]