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a good idea. that wasn’t mine.
Do you know what this is? Yeah, it looks kind of gross. But it’s more than a bowl filled with sticky red goo. It’s kind of a miracle and a time saver and a taste of spring with a stroke of genius. Yep. It’s that big of a deal. Well. It would be if your last name was Keigley and…
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your vote counts. or other such political rhetoric.
Kevin likes coffee. We both like local businesses. Our town has a great little coffee shop in the emerging downtown area. And that great little coffee house held a contest recently. People were invited to submit ideas and the winner’s artwork would become a t-shirt. Well, Kevin likes coffee and our children like art. Piper Finn, London and Bergen all…
Keep Reading . . .
motivation. can you locate it?
Guatemala: Day One
five finds friday (silly and sweet)
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reminded.
I abhor watching the news. Fear-based reporting. Sensationalizing the vulgar, the mediocre, the irreverent and the irrelevant. It’s a wasteland. Mostly I’d prefer to bury my head in the sand. Focus on the lives in the view finder of myself and ignore the rise and the fall of all that is outside of my realm or reality. However. I know…
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night song to piper finnian willow
The distance from your bedroom door to your bed is about two yards. Max. I step lightly, working to miss the squeaky boards. Climbing up the ladder to your bunk, your breathing lets me know you’re already asleep. I love you. Brushing the hair from your eyes and gently tucking it behind your ear, I’ve loved you and your tiny…
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Time Has Never Been On Anyone’s Side
Is there an opposite to writer’s block? I’ve got the ideas. I’m just so lacking in the time. And, some days, the focus. Scattered. Full. Divided. Distracted. These are the running themes of my days as of late. Phrases from songs, like anthems, play through my brain. “All I want is nothing to do.” Standing in the kitchen this afternoon,…
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along with the age, the birthday meals have changed.
Nineteen. The number takes my breath away. (Every year – it always does.) She’s nineteen today. Last night we all enjoyed Riley’s birthday dinner of choice. (Long standing tradition in our family. Probably in loads of other families. Birthday person picks the meal. No matter what it is. We eat it. No matter what it is.) Steak! (Yeah – who…
Keep Reading . . .
making music (and art) accessible
Parenting Teens: Say Yes
an apology/not an apology
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my boy . . . .
He laughs at Shel Silverstein. Laughs loudly and deeply. Tugs on my arm and says, “Listen to this one.” Reads the funniest poems out loud and waits for my response, blue eyes staring expectantly. Playing a geography game he announces, “Mom – we should visit Iowa. They’re for me – they’re the Hawkeyes.” And then this ….. “Mom –…
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My Pinterest Test Kitchen. (Don’t) Cook This: Mini German Pancakes
In case you are delusional or I have misrepresented myself or you have never actually dined on fare I’ve prepared or all three – I’m letting you know – I am not an expert chef. I’m just this person who is nearing forty and has been in a kitchen since I was maybe eleven, prepping both boring and exciting dishes…
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publicly thanking my husband.
I love my job. I’m so grateful. So grateful I didn’t renew my teaching contract ten years ago. Said “no” to the pleas of several of my favorite students to just stay “one more year” to see them through until graduation. Those same students who are marrying and giving birth to babies and who will begin to understand why…
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a writing exercise. sort of. or something like that.
I am sitting down tonight to type with absolutely no plan. (Is that free writing or free verse or something?) I have Pandora streaming “The Avett Brothers Station” and I don’t know why I’ve never done this before. Beautiful sounds from Old Crowe Medicine Show, The Wood Brothers and some lovely band called Dixie Hummingbirds. (The commercials are a real…
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Tricks of the Trade. 5.
Six kids. Twelve hands. Even though we have vastly downsized our children’s toys, there’s still a lot of little hands with a lot of little playthings. Besides, you can take away the plastic dolls and the metal trucks but kids are still going to create entertainment out of nothing at all. Cardboard boxes into airplanes for their big-eyed animals,…
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moments
It was a day made up of moments yesterday. (Like all good days.) One. The expectation of the breakfast schedule was actually met. Kevin with us. Bible read. Copywork completed. Times tables reviewed. Verses said. Maple muffins baked the night before (by Scout, my favorite fourth grader). Served beside strawberries. Two. School completed and done efficiently with pleasant attitudes. Early…
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I’ll Call It A Craft.
The bare bobby pins had been resting in a wooden bowl on a stand in our bedroom for months. Purchased at Hobby Lobby in the fall or before for certain. The earrings were clip ons that belonged to my mom that belonged to her mom that maybe belonged to her mom, but no one remembers for sure. And I’ve loved…
