Monthly Archives: February, 2010
Backyard Dreams
How to deal with a winter that seems never-ending? Make warm-weather plans! When we were looking at houses a few years ago, one of the assets we were really hoping to find was a backyard. We were lucky enough to find a house that does have a backyard and were willing to overlook that the …
Punctuation and Etsy
I’m a big theoretical fan of Etsy–crafting, design, whimsy, DIY ethic, empowerment, endless possibilities–what’s not to like? But I’ve only bought one item from an Etsy shop before, a ninja t-shirt for my sister, and I’m not quite sure why that is. It is too overwhelming? Maybe, but I think also I’m still a bit …
Bittersweet
For some reason lately, I’ve been experiencing these floods of love with my girls. Maybe it’s because they are getting so big (8 in May!), or maybe it’s because there seems to be more gray in my hair every time I look, but so many moments with them, mundane little moments, just knock me out. …
Breaking a Streak
After my daily blogging during January, I wanted to see how long I could keep the streak going. I broke it in the past few days with a two-day gap in posts and am feeling a little bummed about it, but also curious to see what my new rhythm will settle into, and wondering when …
Rejection
Every writer interested in publishing knows that rejection is part of the game. I know this, and have heard and read many great quotes and stories from working writers about this unsavory aspect. Kathryn Stockett’s novel The Help is one of the year’s runaway successes, and she stopped counting her rejections from agents once she …
Olympics
I haven’t cared about the Olympics since high school, when my boyfriend and his family were big fans. I remember watching hours of it, but I don’t even remember whether it was summer or winter–spring or summer of 1996, probably? Anyone? Maybe it’s because I’m the opposite of athletic, but the Olympics have never been …
Reading the Bible as Literature
Since I’ve started teaching English, everyone I meet wants to tell me what books they read, loved and hated in high school English. Unfortunately, no one’s ever told me their dream high school English curriculum before, which is a shame! One book I didn’t read in high school English is the Bible, which now I …
Leave to Work
My friend Dawn wrote a great entry recently about work–she’s been through her fair share of work transitions, including full-time freelancing, telecommuting, homeschooling and more. She wrote about what she’s learned about herself and what she needs her work to be, and I found it really inspiring. Here are some of Dawn’s conditions, and what …
Catfish Friend
Maybe you’re celebrating the Chinese New Year with some delicious almond cookies like our neighbors made for us, or maybe you woke up to flowers like I did. Either way, I hope you are feeling loved this Valentine’s Day, wherever and whoever you are. This is one of my favorite unconventional love poems: Your Catfish …
Wishing, Hoping, Listing
In the last week, snowed in and getting antsy, I spent too much time staring wistfully at my Amazon wishlist. Even after I have pared it down semi-ruthlessly, it is still 17 pages long, with about 25 items per page! It was interesting to see what categories emerged as I scrolled through, deleting and yearning. …
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