We had breakfast in the mountains Saturday morning. We packed our chairs, and the Coleman stove, and the little cook table, the night before. We rose at an indecent hour for a Saturday to bake a casserole and fill thermoses with coffee. Then we drove for over an hour as the sun began to lighten… Continue reading Breakfast in the Mountains
My husband and I just had our 29th anniversary. It’s a little bit shocking. I don’t see how I’m old enough to have been married for that long, but there it is. We didn’t do anything big to celebrate. I mean, 29 is not a big celebration year. At this point it’s more about the… Continue reading What We Didn’t Know
“That makes my tummy red.” This was one of my daughter’s favorite expressions when she was a toddler. Having to pick up her toys made her tummy red. Having to sit down and eat made her tummy red. Correction or discipline definitely made her tummy red. Being told to do something that she didn’t want… Continue reading Little Speakers with Big Thoughts
“And then, one day,” she whispered to herself, “all the things will be easy. All the distractions will be less distracting, and all the worries will be less worrisome. The path forward will be open and clear. Then,” she said to herself, “then, life will be wonderful. And also,” she added, “I will be wonderful.”… Continue reading Some Days
James L. McTeer, Jr. passed away on July 2, 2020. But for just over 51 years, I was fortunate enough to have him here on earth as my father. The past two weeks have held a great deal of sorrow, but they have also held so many blessings. Blessings of love and support. Blessings of… Continue reading When I Get Home
I never like to admit this. But I am trying to get better, and I certainly can’t think of a word that more clearly fits the way I’ve been feeling. Lately, I’ve just been grucible. Excuse me, you’ve been what, now? You mean you’ve never heard that word? Please allow me to introduce it to… Continue reading Attitude Adjustment
My husband and I are a team. A detective team. We’re not licensed investigators or anything, but we have some skills. Within just one 24-hour period, we were faced with the following cases: Who dumped our laundry out of the dryer? Who was cooking and didn’t clean up their mess? Why is GrubHub at the… Continue reading A Winning Team
How long have you been waiting? However long it’s been, it probably feels like forever sometimes. You wake up, day after day, and nothing has changed. Or it’s changed for the worse. Or it’s reached a crisis point, again. And it feels like the waiting will never, EVER end. Some of you may be thinking,… Continue reading Waiting
I’d like to start a program. I’m going to call it Parenting Performance Review (PPR). It would be a time to sit down with your child and discuss how well YOU’VE done with THEIR current developmental phase. You could review all your hard work and get a real sense of accomplishment. Two-year-old PPR would be… Continue reading Performance Review
There are times when I suspect that my coworkers don’t even like me. It’s generally those times when I’ve just handed them one of my monthly reports, and they’ve said, “Michelle, I don’t even like you…” But I’m an accountant – you get used to it. Despite our warm and fuzzy reputation, despite our contagious… Continue reading A Balanced Account
