A Year of Firsts

Rediscovering magic in the everyday.

life

  • With Autumn Comes the Fall

    Hey there! It’s been a minute. I hope you are doing ok.  The fall and start of school completely kicked me in the behind. We spent several weeks with someone in the household sick at all times. My daughter is dealing with some acid reflux that is (according to the doctor) probably the aftermath of… Read more

  • Apathy is (not) hot

    I have not been able to help myself from looking at the endless internet discourse on Taylor Swift since the release of her new album. My Lord. People have some VERY serious opinions about these 12 pop songs. Some people think it is her worst album ever. Others are scanning her yearbook to figure out… Read more

  • Thanks for Trying

    A few times in my life people have told me I was “really brave” for doing something that I didn’t find particularly brave at all. It was just….what I did.  My brave actions have included:  I’m sure there are more – these are just specific conversations I remember where the brave word came up, where… Read more

  • Summer Check In: 8 months

    If getting through January is like watching concrete dry, then August is like pouring honey into a cup of tea; it’s golden and sticky and sweet, and while it looks slow and lazy, it disappears way too fast.  I can’t believe school is starting here in just a few days (I know it’s already started… Read more

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • A Legacy of Just for Fun

    This morning I was getting River ready for the bus, doing a few items on my own to-do list, and mentioned I was thinking about what to write today. River knows I love writing, and that I do it all the time, and she is aware of the blog, but hasn’t read it.  Without missing… Read more