Skip to main content

Intentional Living

Last night, my son had a track meet in a city about an hour from home.

With my younger son's schedule, and the fact that it was a school night, I decided not to go to the meet (which kills me) and pick up older son when the bus returned to school.

My husband was at work (he works 48-72 hours at a time) so I was the one doing all the picking up.

At 9:45 when older son texts me he's near the school -- when I'm sort of grumbling to myself about how late it is -- I get in the car and head over to get him.

This is when the self-pity can worm its way in. Easy to do when driving, looking like this.

← I mean, you're focused on driving, kind of.

But thinking about everything else.

(Admit it, we all do this).














Why do I have to do this?
Why can't my husband be home?
Why this and why that?

I stopped myself. Nope. Not gonna do that. Feeling sorry for myself was getting old, like, annoyingly old.

No. I would think about other things. I would think about how I was hungry. 

I brought some Fritos with me and opened them.

No.  Let's be really awesome here and be happy, I thought, crunching into a chip.

I should've brought coffee, was my next thought.  Where was my brain? Not so awesome of me.

























I wondered if my dog was doing this as I drove away. On my bed. Happy as can be.

Undoubtedly, yes.


























Instead, I said to myself:

I get to do this!
I get to do things on my own and be capable and cool and unneedy.
I get to be in the car with my first born.
I get to eat chips --while wearing my slippers and listening to jazz music -- and no one is going to complain about that. Very cool.

Best of all, I get to see this face when I get him.








This post has nothing to do with writing, or books, or anything other than me being a mom.

And that's cool, too.

Yay for being a mom.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Characters That Work

I’ve heard countless times that agents, when looking for the next great manuscript and readers, looking for the next great read, want compelling characters. But, what does this mean? Compelling? And why have I never thought of characters as compelling when I can’t put the book down? Sure, these characters are amazing, and sometimes I want to be in the middle of the stories as if they were my own experiences. But why? Compelling characters make me --force me-- to be in love with them as they find their way through trials or charge fearlessly down hidden hallways and dark forests. This makes for wonderful literature, and for fascinated readers. But how do we do this? How do authors create compelling characters -- ones that not only we want to read but others too -- and convince our readers that they should care about them? Here’s a tiny list by which I try to strive: Make them human: This is a given. And most writers would tell you this is. Give your character flaws that lots o

Increasing Your Vocabulary │ Overused Words

My husband and I have this running joke that if we played a drinking game for the first -- and only the first-- five minutes of any news segment, anywhere in America, we'd be under the table in two. Why? Because this drinking game is based on the repeated use of the word "impact." It's okay if you can hate me now. Because after this post, you will notice this word EVERYWHERE and how overused it is. I get it. The word is impactful. It makes a point. Pulls a punch. But ... it's beyond this, my friends. It's overwhelmingly beyond this now. I also understand that each decade has it's colloquial and trendy words. Totally understand that. I can dig that, yo. But, there's an all-out assault on this word. And most of the time, it's used incorrectly. Do you know what the word impact means? Per Merriam-Webster, it means 1.   a.: to fix firmly by or as if my packing or wedging   b.: to press together 2.   a.: to have a direct effect or i

Make a List │ Getting Things Done

Like many of you, I am a list-maker. I find them to be one of the most rewarding things I can do in my little life. Well, that and drinking coffee and wearing vintage. But, I digress. List-making really only consists of three things: paper, a pen, and your brain. While there are myriad articles and books on tidying up and minimal living (both of which I fully embrace), living a simple and minimal life can also start just by making a list. So, why should you write a list? Three reasons: it's simple, it's in front of you, and anyone can be master of their world with one. Yes, dare I say master of your universe. Pretty amazing, right? That little list holds your sanity, order and clarity. And those are all we really need. Check out this list I wrote the other day: I listed the errands I had to run (go to post office, then to Salvation Army and Goodwill to find my vintage to sell). I listed the work I had to do (list two items items for sale on my vintage Etsy site,