Unconditionally

I can’t remember when I stopped trying to change you.  Stopped trying to get you to commit to plans days in advance.  Stopped trying to slow you down.  Stopped trying to get you to fall asleep when I did.  Stopped trying to make you into someone you’re not, someone more like me. I can’t remember when…

The One. The Only.

It wasn’t until about a year ago that people stopped asking us when we were having another baby. Growing up, playing house, I always imagined two children.  My mother would say it’s so you can grab one in each hand.  When I outgrew playing house and discovered a home of my own, I still envisioned filling…

Nothing.

Nothing. For some, this response to the “What do you want to write about?” question might bring about signs of sympathy.  I’ve seen it time and time again:  a tilted head, a furrowed brow, a slump of the shoulders.  An assumption that this unfortunate soul sitting in front of me hasn’t had many experiences to write…

Bombed It!

Bombed!  That’s how I would describe the lesson I taught this afternoon.  And I know exactly when it went awry.  It was the moment that 19 second-graders raised their hands at once, claiming pepperoni pizza was their favorite.  “I know it sounds silly,” I tell my husband in the car on the way home.  “But let…

Space Made – #sol15

It’s always been about Making Space. Space in every day to write. Space on the desk beneath the picture window, Space in my notebook on the right and left sides. Space in the Dandelion fields for my “Love Story.” Space in my mind:  For telling the story of how Journey lets me know my dad is with…

The Laughter of Generations – #sol15

You played games with me when I was little and Now I look at yours; I played games with them when they were little. Now they look at mine; They’ll talk games with her while she is little. Someday we’ll look at theirs. We’ll surround them with The laughter of generations.   I’m participating in the…

I Get it Now- #sol15

“I can’t talk to you while you’re bouncing,”  I tell my daughter.  She sits across the living room from me atop my grey balance ball.  In my head, I rattle off the other things that are hard for me to watch her do: spin, jump, twirl and any other variation of the same innocent moves.  Her personal…

Sights and Sounds of Sunday – #sol15

It starts with snores, sighs between snores. The sun rises shuffles us out into the shade of the shadows. Shawnee and sagebrush separate us from sunny-side up and syrup-soaked slices. Shoveling in and spacing out, slowing savoring the sights and sound of Sunday. I am participating in the Slice of Life Challenge 2015.  Thanks to…

An Open Letter to Spring Cleaning – #sol15

Dear Spring Cleaning, It’s finally Spring Break.  And I know that you know that because you’ve been hanging around more and more.  With every “I’ll get to that next week,” and “I’ll tackle that over Spring Break,” you’ve made it known that you are just waiting for me.  Pining for me. But here’s the thing:  I’m…

My First 5K – #sol15

Tomorrow at this time I will have run my very first 5K. I have jogged before, even sprinted short distances. But I have never trained like this.  Never anything this intense, where for a time every day, I am committed to building my endurance, my stamina, and the habit of coming back day after day.  I thought that…