Goodbye, House

Yesterday was happy/sad. Happy/sad because we closed on the sale of the house we lived in for 28 years. Where we raised our two girls and a few dogs along the way. The kitchen in which I made approximately 2160 peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches for school lunches. The scene of numerous taco nights with 14 teenagers around […]

Moving: Final Phase

You know how sometimes you are in the middle of something stressful and you focus on one little, tiny thing? Yeah, that. So I splurged on new shower curtains and those cute little rings that hold them up. You can get some really cool ones now. Which I did. One set of rings for each […]

Change: A Catalyst for Blessings

Jim, my husband of 32 years and I are about to start an adventure. Along with our two dogs, and about half of 28 years’ worth of accumulated crap, we’re moving to Jonesboro, Arkansas at the end of July. We’ve rented a small house — and when I say small, it’s half the size of […]

How Not to Be a Jerk When a Friend is Grieving

Warning: I’m only a month out from loss and I’m still raw. So this post is pretty unvarnished, and maybe a little angry. That’s where I am. Please read with that understanding. You’ve just lost a loved one. You’re in shock, reeling, and numb. Just to put one foot in front of the other is […]

How Important is Milk, Really?

Musings of a Bad First Grader I attended a Catholic school in first and second grade, a perfectly fine school. However, in Jonesboro, Arkansas at that time it was the only private school, and 99 percent of all of the children went to the public schools in town. They were creatively named North, South, East, […]

Blue

Just yesterday, I marveled at the fact that I didn’t feel a bit blue this week. The first two weeks in June are always difficult, as the anniversaries of two loved ones lost occur within days of one another; my sister-in-law (killed in a car accident June 9, 1999) and my dad (died of a […]

The Meaning in the Ink

My mother is an incredible woman (This is not her arm). She’s a registered nurse, and was one of the first nursing instructors at Arkansas State University when the program was new. After she left nursing, she was a stay-at-home mother for many years, though active in the community. When the nest was empty, she […]

Being and Becoming

It’s weird when my birthday is on Thanksgiving Day. My birthday is the one day each year when I give myself permission to be a little selfish and indulgent. I get control of the remote, choice of meals, and I don’t do dishes, laundry, or any other housework. I love reading the birthday greetings on […]

Morning By Morning

Tuesday, February 19, about 8:45 a.m. Just a bit more than nine months ago. I was about to leave for work when my phone rang. I recognized the number as Jim’s old cell number and wondered why on earth he was using it to call me. The answer came when I accepted the call. His […]