A Work in Progress

I tend to use this title a lot, Seasons of Change . I mean, I haven't scrolled back to look, but it feels like I either use this title every year in one of my blog posts, or want to use this title with each post I write. Either way, here it is again. It's only July 1st, but I'm sitting at my computer trying to go back through the last four weeks, and they have been some of the most transitional "seasons of change," yet. This last May was by far the busiest May I can recall. There was virtually no down time for weeks ... and it's fine now. But for all you parents of soon-to-be Senior High School students, who work and run a house, best of luck. You will lose your sanity. You will lose patience. And you will look back and wonder how you made it through. Well, here's a glimpse of the last four weeks in my world. For starters, I had a story of mine published and that was a great way to begin the summer. It's via Guideposts, the story is true, and

I'm writing this for myself as much as I'm writing this for you. Think you didn't get done, or didn't accomplish, or didn't make, or didn't have, or didn't overcome -- fill in the blank, this year? Don't give up. Time is just time. And all things are possible outside of time. For me, the end of year always culminates in me wondering what I wrote, if anything and did I have any of these writing published? Of course, being published doesn't equal success ... and yet, sometimes it does. There's a ton of writing I do that no one will ever see. Not just because I didn't send it out into the world, but because no one wants it. Yep. It isn't the right fit (or it really isn't any good) and I have to keep looking for the right home for the piece. I'm always, always reminding myself I'm in the rejection business. Because it gets old, this whole rejection thing. Yet, if you know it's part of the job, it's manageabl

I'm not sure if you remember, but a little over a year ago, I wrote a post about Pennies. ◄ (not just) Penny Jar  Namely, finding the small -- very inconsequential -- things of life and not only making them an intentional part of your life, but making them a gift. To yourself. These gifts are everywhere -- if we're willing to look past our own negative expectations. Here's the jar today. After a year of doing this, of not passing up a penny when I just happened to walked by one, or picked one up at my feet as I got out of the car, I've changed. Here's how: 1. Expansion : It didn't just stop with pennies, it became dimes and nickels and quarters. And then it became dollars. And then jewelry and keys! There were more gifts around than I thought. I began to find dollars and five dollar bills in the vintage clothing I sold at my Etsy shop. It became comical. My oldest would walk to his car after school and pick up dollars on the ground in front of

Life is full of seasons, even in sunny northern California. Which is remarkable. Maybe we don't get all that cold here in Sacramento, but some mornings are below freezing and I know for a fact we'll have days this summer hovering close to 110 degrees. But, life is full of emotional and spiritual seasons, too. Change, growth, loss, newfound passions, love, or jobs.  All of this is -- and will be -- a part of our lives, whether we like it or not and whether we admit it or not. The latest season of mine has felt difficult, for lack of better wording. Maybe the hardest it's been since I had a my first born, over seventeen years ago.  Back then, I felt alone and was dealing with a huge responsibility that I knew nothing about -- raising a child! Today, there's me pursuing writing, which is always a constant struggle ( Am I good enough?) There's me wondering how I let go of my son who will be graduating high school next year. ( I don't want to let go. )

Ah, the mother's life. For you ladies who work outside the home, I honestly don't know how you do it. My work -- writing, (soon teaching) and selling vintage -- ALL can be done from home. I'm lucky. Actually, luck has zero to do with it. I chose these things so I could be with my kids. But, that I CAN do this -- work from home-- is a huge blessing. Obviously, not every woman gets to choose their working life specifics, due to life's curve balls and what not. But, for the moms who do everything and work outside the house, I'm sure something's got to give. I was thinking more about this, while I pondered our living room and dining room. It looks pretty clean because my boys don't hang out much in there. I like this. When the rest of the house is a mess, I can always stand here and pretend the whole house looks this spotless. So, what has to give? 1. An entire spotless house. I guess Cheerios on the floor for many days isn't awful (or the res

I would try to list all the things we did with the kids this summer to keep them and us busy alongside work and everything else, but instead, I'm just going to show you last week.  Had to get a Rivercats game in. Our local AAA team is pretty amazing. And even if our season has been less than stellar, we won that night. So there you go. It wouldn't be summer without a trip to the optometrist, right? My eyes are slightly worse in the first time of EVER. (I turned 40 recently, that was definitely a summer event ... that I don't want to talk about. You understand). But, my wonderful father is said optometrist, so it's always a fun visit. Thanks Dad! We usually squeeze in a trip to IKEA. Random trivia: We bought this exact table and chairs 10 years ago as a "temporary" fix for the dinette until husband made a better one. Here's a couple other trivia things to note: 1. We paid $120 ten years ago. Woah. Infl

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 thi