This is my baby brother.
And by baby brother I mean 21 year old college junior who can totally take care of himself and vote and hold a job and probably (but maybe not! probably not even!  we’re going with highly unlikely!) have sex baby brother.
I’m 9 years older than him, which has made me more [...]

We call ourselves The Orlando Mafia.
And every time we do, one of us invariably rolls rolls our eyes and laughs, “man we are douches.”  And then another one of us laughs too and agrees, “I know!  I can’t imagine why anyone would ever want to hang out with us!”  And then we all laugh some [...]

I don’t remember what day it was when my mother called. A week ago, I think. I don’t remember what I was doing at the time. Something in my kitchen, and I was smiling. It didn’t occur to me that it might be inappropriate to be laughing when I answered the [...]

I keep thinking about how I want to come here and tell you thank you.  I want to express how grateful I am for the kindness of loved ones and strangers and how all of it has reminded me that there is good in the world.
And then, before I get a chance to flex my [...]

I don’t know where to start.
I should start at the beginning, but I have no idea where that is.
What I know, is that in the paper, there is this:
“IOWA CITY — An Iowa City man arrested Thursday night following a robbery has confessed to a series of other robberies stretching across Eastern Iowa, according [...]

I am absolutely over the moon that today is Christmas Eve.
Jared and I both have to work today, but tonight we’ll go to church with the kids and Hilly.  After church, we’ll come home to have chilli and appetizers, just like we do every year on Christmas Eve.  Of course, this is the first time [...]

As of about two o’clock this morning, I am officially the mother of a ten year old.
Ten.
One Zero.
It now takes two whole digits to accurately describe him.  Or rather, his age.  It obviously takes more than mere numerals to describe the rest of him.
As we drove to Walt Disney World yesterday to celebrate his birthday [...]

We never believe our own mothers.
She tells us the world is round, and we roll our eyes at the very idea that she would know anything about the size or shape of the world.  But when Mrs. Smith shows you a globe, you believe, and you run home to tell your mother what you learned [...]

My family is having Thanksgiving dinner without me today.
My mom and my brothers, along with the rest of their families, will gather around a table and turkey, 1400 miles to the north of me in a small ranch house in Iowa.  They’ll laugh and they’ll eat and they’ll make fun of one another.  They’ll take [...]

On Sunday we – meaning me, Jared, Devin and Emma – set out for a day of fall festivities at a local pumpkin patch.  The temperatures  here in Florida were actually fall like, and it was the first family outing we would all be on together since before Hell Month.  I grabbed two camers to [...]

This is what Emma looks like when she needs a haircut:

This is what Emma looked like last week, when she was way beyond needing a haircut:

This is what Emma looks like after she has finally gotten her hair cut:

And this:

And this:

And, OK, actually more like this:

Oh, so cute!  So short and not tangled!  So “yes, [...]

Jared is moving home today.
It’s taken me 12 13 14 tries to write that sentence out.
Actually, I’ve written that sentence over and over and over again – it’s what comes before and after that sentence that keeps tripping me up.
Before
Almost everything that has happened over the last few months has led directly away from this [...]

When I was growing up, I wanted to be my Grammy.
Actually, when I was first growing up, I wanted to be my Nana.  As far as my preteen eyes could tell, Nana was rich with money and royal blood.  She was fashionable and commanding.  She knew things that no one else in the whole world [...]

There is no good way to ease into this.
My husband, Jared, and I have decided to separate for 3 months.
No, we’re not getting divorced.  Yes, I understand that separation is, in many instances, the “first step towards a divorce”.  And it is, if I’m being honest, a possible outcome here.  But it is not, by [...]

I actually missed the anniversary date.
That in itself is a sign of progress, I think.
August 10th, two days ago, marked two years since we moved to Florida.
Last year, I marked this date with a resignation and acceptance of homesickness.
This year, I spent the day working from home, my boss and best friend sitting on my [...]