Home. It's good to be home. Last week, after a glorious, extended July 4th weekend, I found myself standing in a hot, dry wind in the parking lot of an insurance office -- or possibly a bank, I'm honestly not sure -- in Travis, California. My heart was beating in my ears and every inch of me was sweating as I stared at our crumpled hatchback and (perhaps slightly hysterically) instructed the agitated children in the backseat to PLEASE AFTER EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED JUST STAY IN THE CAR. I was breathing hard, trying process all the thoughts and questions stacking up in my mind. In no ... [READ MORE]
Love…ish
July 8, 2016 by Leave a Comment
It is Saturday morning and I'm making Star Wars pancakes in the kitchen while the kids wait expectantly in their chairs. They both want Yoda, of course, but there is only one Yoda mold, meaning I have to do two batches before we can put food on the table lest I be accused of the heinous crime of serving one of my children before the other. (As an aside, do your kids like Star Wars? Have you seen these? I bought them on a whim four years ago, thinking the whole time, Ugh, I am such a sucker, this is such a frivolous splurge, but you know what? Roughly 200 Saturday mornings later and it's ... [READ MORE]
Being There
June 9, 2016 by 1 Comment
I'm feeling a little bit under-appreciated by my kids lately. Can I say that? Is that selfish? It's summer vacation, and unlike past years when I froze in the face of tackling childcare/camp/travel for twelve weeks, this year I stared it right in the face and planned -- if I do say so -- a pretty fah-bulous summer break for my kids, complete with Lego Camp for the kickoff, a camping weekend, and no fewer than 3.5 weeks in Tahoe including 4th of July fireworks. BAM. I am #winning at summer. Except that we are, oh, 4 days in, and my kids are not sharing the feeling. Instead of being ... [READ MORE]
Recipe Roundup No. 4: Summer Loving
June 6, 2016 by Leave a Comment
I was just remarking to someone that I'm super getting into cucumbers lately, and that is, of course, a kind of ridiculous statement. In my defense, we were eating cucumber salad at the time, but still. Who gets into cucumbers? I'm going to start this recipe roundup by getting real with you and owning the fact that all my efforts at self-care went flying out an 8th-story office window for the better part of April and May. Last week I stared in the mirror and realized that I looked a lot how I felt: creatively & professionally fulfilled, totally exhausted, obsessed with red lipstick ... [READ MORE]
Nature
June 3, 2016 by 1 Comment
LittleMan and I announced our arrival at Mother-Son Scout Weekend by nearly killing some people and damaging Boy Scout property. In a move that would elicit more than a few "Oh, that was YOU..." comments in the ensuing 24 hours, we (and by we I mean, ahem, A Scout is Helpful) lost control of the steel wagon we had used to haul our two bags up a bumpy hill from the fairgrounds to the campsite, sending it rocketing back down the hill, scattering 7-year-old boys and their already-kind-of-skeptical mothers in all directions before it hurtled into a creek bed about ten feet deep. As I ... [READ MORE]
And…LICE
September 17, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Of all the things that have happened in the past seven years, I can honestly say that the lice ranks in the Top Three events that really sent me around the twist. Like, the lice almost did me in. It wasn't me that got the lice (thank goodness, which I know isn't totally altruistic but...thank goodness). It was poor Babygirl, who took those bugs LIKE A CHAMP. And though I did not get the lice (thank goodness - oh, God, I said it again), I did sit by Babygirl for the entire week she was getting treated for the lice at the Lice-Infested-Family Extortion Company. (Also known as Hair ... [READ MORE]
Safe House
September 4, 2015 by Leave a Comment
It had been a long afternoon, back in early July. Time-outs. Sass. Tongue-sticking-out attitude. One of those afternoons where you hear yourself getting more and more shrill as you try to stem the tide of Bad Behavior that seems -- mystifyingly -- to be sweeping your little family away. Finally, we broke. After a long dinner of stand-offs, LittleMan threw his napkin in my face and clambered out of his seat. I grabbed his arm. "That burger was disgusting," he muttered, and attempted to turn away. I held fast. "What is going on? What is this?" I snapped. I used the napkin to ... [READ MORE]
