Some days I wish I was one of those people who kept personal information private instead of giving in to some insane urge to share anything and everything with anyone who will come close enough to listen.
Today is one of those days.
If I was one of those people with a good sense of proprietary and [...]

I used to update my blog regularly so that my mom wouldn’t freak out over whether I was dead or depressed or something.
But now she just calls me most of the time if she’s worried about me and she’s pretty much too busy to read my blog now anyway.  And if your mom is too [...]

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 [...]

You know why blogs are better than babies?
Because you can ignore them for days and days and weeks and weeks and they are still here.
Don’t try that shit with babies.  Seriously.
I plan to tell you all about our New Year’s Eve party – including the part where Jared showed up without a shirt on and [...]

“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Nothing,” he says.
And we both know that he’s full of shit, although only one of us has any clue to what extent.  And it’s not me.
He folds his arms across his chest, a visual cue that he’s closing himself off from me.  He smiles a little to reassure me, but he doesn’t [...]

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 [...]

She calls them “appreciations”, and we have to do them every day.
“I appreciate that…” and once a day your spouse comes up with something, anything, about you that is worthy of being appreciated.
Some days are harder than others.
“I appreciate that you finally decided to drop it.”
“You should appreciate that I didn’t kill you.  I appreciate [...]

We wiped away our tears, signaling the end of our counseling session.
“I just want to say,” her voice was the exact same tone and volume that it always is, “that you guys make perfect sense.”
My eyes flew from my twiddling thumbs to his face.  His lips twitched as he tried to suppress a smile.  We [...]

My husband and I did this exercise during last week’s marriage counseling session.
I thought it was interesting, and announced mid session that I’d be featuring Marriage Mad Lib on my blog.  My marriage counselor laughed and Jared shook his head the way that he always does when I announce that something is going to show [...]

We pulled into the parking lot for our counseling appointment last week and I noted that our counselor’s car wasn’t there yet.
“Ohhh, shit,” Jared and I realized in unison that we had scheduled the appointment for a half an hour earlier than usual, and that we were late rather than a few minutes early.
We stood [...]

We’d spent our first session introducing ourselves and covering our individual backgrounds and medical histories while sitting next to each other on a small couch.  When we walked into our second marriage counseling session, we found two chairs set up a few feet apart facing one another.
This was, apparently, the proper setting for The Dialogue.
That’s [...]

Sent at 10:16 AM on Friday
Jared: Hey miss writer
brittmariereints: miss writer?
wha?
are you mocking me?
Jared: Don’t think to0 hard but
no
asking for help
brittmariereints: oh
ok
Jared: tamieka is trying to write something for her grandfather that passed yesterday
she is writing a poem or whatever you call
it when you
Say like
G – is for giving
R is for
brittmariereints: oh jesus god
corny is [...]

“Are you nervous or excited?” I asked.
Jared looked up from his half of the admissions packet we were filling out for our new marriage counselor.  He shrugged one shoulder and contorted his lips the way he always does when he doesn’t want to talk about something.  If he could have disappeared into the brown paisley [...]

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 [...]