A Year of Firsts

Rediscovering magic in the everyday.

  • Death on Vacation

    It’s been challenging to write weekly over the summer. Partially because my daughter is home with me everyday and alone time is more scarce, and also because my brain is constantly boiling and after using it for the non-optional tasks, there is not much left. And yes, I do have AC, but somehow while that… Read more

  • ‘Tis of Thee

    There was a very specific moment in my life when I formed my idea of what America means – what she is.  I was a junior in college, and because I was almost done with all of the requirements for my major, I decided to register for an Alternative Spring Break course. It included a… Read more

  • Big Spring Project

    Of all my firsts, my big clothing drive was the biggest, and I just finished it. It was a massive commitment. I started collecting in May, and finally delivered the goods on June 21. This all started because I thought it would be fun to host a book swap with some friends, get some free… Read more

  • Knots

    I remember my dad packing a bunch of something in the back of a truck with me. I don’t know if it was one of the many times I moved, or a vacation, or some other occasion where I was moving a bunch of stuff from point A to point B. He would remind me… Read more

  • Tangibles and Intangibles

    This week, my husband pointed out that our kousa dogwood had its first ever blossoms. Several years ago my mother-in-law, knowing that I really wanted one, came to visit and presented me with a long stick with a root ball that she had placed in her trunk. When I asked her what it was, she… Read more

  • Evolution of Grief

    This week has been a hard one. I saw this picture of the evolution of grief. It’s just meme psychology, of course, oversimplifying something really complicated. But the idea I liked was this: grief never really goes away, but we build our lives around it and learn to live with it. In this book on… Read more

  • Such a friendly person

    The other day, I was grabbing a coffee with a mom friend of mine. I got into a conversation with the woman behind the counter about eyewear: contacts versus glasses, bifocals, the cost of all this, etc. The barista had a lot to say, and she had a method she had discovered for stretching her… Read more

  • Collecting a Pile of Stuff

    I have meandered back and forth from my original intention here – which was to document the new things I do this year.  One thing I was interested in was planning some kind of event, and doing something fundraiser-y that wasn’t my job. For those who don’t know, I have been a non-profit fundraiser for… Read more

  • Pastry cubes and the Art of the Little Treat

    Let me begin by saying congratulations to Pope Leo XIV! I’m very excited to see our new American/Peruvian Pope in action and I wish him the best. I’ve been having trouble wording today, so I will keep it short (and sweet). Last weekend, we watched this video about making cube and sphere shaped croissants at… Read more

  • Spring Check-in: Four months

    In February, I posted a two month check in so I decided to try that again. It was a nice mile marker for me. I used to really love doing my annual review at work. Not necessarily for the accolades, but I always enjoyed the exercise of reviewing my goals, writing down what I had… Read more