This summer is…different for me. Here’s the thing: I operate on “high speed” most of the time. I have for years and years. The first part of the summer had me burning the candle at all the ends–we’re obviously not talking about a regular taper candle here–for a few key reasons: 1. We’ve been settling into a new house in a new-to-us-again town. 2. Listen To Your Mother season came and went, and due to #BlogHer17 being moved up by six weeks I didn’t have my normal month-long cushion of part-time rest before conference season got crazy. 3. Conference season was REALLY crazy. It was actually the craziest ever, for…
-
-
Community Yesterday, Today, Always.
I’ve been thinking about “community” a lot lately. Rather, I think about it all the time but lately I’ve thought about it more than usual, probably because it was conference season and my main job is to maintain and inform the BlogHer Conference attendee community on Facebook. I spent hours upon hours (as I have for the past four years since we started the group) reassuring “newbies”, what we affectionately call our first-time attendees, that they’re going to learn/make friends/have fun/come away inspired. In part due to my involvement and in part due to our conference veterans being the best, most helpful people ever and in part due to other…
-
The Dining Room and Other Ways We’re In Sync.
I figured a month was long enough to have my toilet paper obsession have center stage. Actually, to be honest, I’ve been too busy even to think about blogging. It’s all good, though. I’m in the thick of LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER CHICAGO season (13 days until the show! Need tickets? Go here.), work is gearing up to Level: Crazytown (#BlogHer17 is only two months away! Need a ticket? Go here.), and Jim and I are busily working on our new house in Knoxville. The house thing? It’s been awesome. As unhappy as I was when Jim and I were hanging in that special kind of limbo that occurs when…
-
10 Things That Made Me Happy This Holiday Weekend
It’s not even Sunday yet and this long holiday weekend has been packed enough for a whole week. It’s been great, too. In fact, I’m wishing it wasn’t ending tomorrow. Anyway, we arrived home after this evening’s festivities a little late and I need to get to bed soon so I made the executive decision to write up a listicle so I can check “Write today’s blog post” off of my to-do list. Ten things that made me happy this holiday weekend? Let’s count ’em down. 1. Jim and Jason came home for the holiday, so all four of us were under the same roof, yay! 2. Thanksgiving was gloriously…
-
Thirty-ish.
I remember when I was a kid I was fascinated with the year 2000. It didn’t seem real to me that in my lifetime, all of a sudden the years would begin with “2”. I figured out that in the year 2000, I would turn thirty-two. When I was doing that math, thirty-two seemed a million years away. It also seemed SUPER OLD. Tomorrow I’ll be sixteen years past thirty-two, and there’s really no need to do that math because in addition to what they say about fifty being the new thirty and forty being the new twenty (or something like that), mentally I honestly still feel like I’m half…
-
The Comforts of Home
This morning, exactly two weeks to the hour after I was at O’Hare airport and getting on the plane that would take me to Jim after his cycling accident, I was at McGhee Tyson airport and getting on the plane that would take me home. In the past two weeks I covered every single emotion under the sun as I watched Jim’s condition go from only being able to speak one word at a time, having practically zero memory, and needing assistance walking to a state I would call “100% back to normal other than the residual bruises and healing wounds”. The fact that this happened at all was tragic…
- Amazing People, Best Thing Ever, Blessings, Fun in Chicago, My Friends Have Mad Skillz, Proud Moments, Something That Could Change Your Life
Five.
Sunday was a great day. On Sunday Tracey and I, along with our incredible cast of ten other women and one Pete, brought the fifth annual LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER CHICAGO show to the stage. I don’t write as much about LTYM here on Suburban Scrawl as I used to. I’m not sure why that is, because it really has become a part of my practically-daily life all year round. Being involved with LTYM on a few different levels is still a life highlight, and it just keeps on getting better. Like Sunday. Our fifth show? Wow. Time flies when you’re having fun. Five years in and it’s still a…
-
Day Four.
Roxie has been gone since Friday morning. It’s been so difficult, but bits and pieces of my days are getting easier. On Friday I cried and cried and cried. On Saturday I cried and cried and slept, mostly unable to get off of the couch. Yesterday I didn’t cry at all, only becoming a little teary-eyed when taking my first walk without her. Today, Day Four, I was fine until the vet called to let me know that her paw print was ready, and when I drove over I felt my chest tighten and all of a sudden when I parked the car I was hardly breathing, trying to push…
-
Quality of Life
Advance apologies: this might be difficult for you to read, but I had to get it out, for myself. This dog. Twelve days ago I was walking her down the street, both of us happy as could be. Today, we said goodbye to her. She was happiest when she was outside, running down the sidewalk. Actually, she was happiest when she was eating any kind of food: hers or ours. (Beagles, man.) But getting out on the leash was a close second. She was only eleven, one month short of twelve. Our beloved vet, Dr. Withers–who has seen Roxie ever since she was getting puppy shots–has been telling me for…
-
So Long, 2015!
Another year is gone (I think I have whiplash!) and Jim and I will be spending another New Year’s Eve like boring older people. In fact, last night as we were discussing our exciting plans (basically watching movies on Netflix), our older son, who is headed to Wisconsin to do a bar crawl with friends, was sitting there thinking, “That is such a LAME New Year’s Eve.” No, I’m not a mind reader but his eye roll and head shake told me all I needed to know to make a good guess regarding his thoughts. Good thing he won’t be around, I guess. I mean, Netflixing IS a really good…