Restart

Two years and two kids later…

Hello, poor neglected blog. Life has been full.

Repeatedly, the busier my schedule, the less writing I accomplish. One of my goals this year is to get back to writing regularly, beginning with reviving my blog. I’m starting small, aiming for at least one post a month (sneaking in at almost the last minute, January). I’ll be wrapping up topics and ideas started before my break and am considering a fresh look in addition to new content.

Although a brief check-in to start, I’m back.

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How I Voted

Deciding to vote early, my husband and I head out on a sunny, quiet Saturday afternoon with our little one. We’re happy the polling place is uncrowded when we arrive and our baby loves any reason to be in the carrier, observing the world while snuggling his mom.

We’re directed to our respective voting booths, the curtain is closed, and the dance begins. With all my preparation, I neglected to consider the height of the voting machine and the obstruction my son’s head would be to checking off my preferred boxes. I alternate making quarter turns to the left and right as I page through the selections and my son watches the sunlight filtering through the curtain. Can I touch it? he wonders. Yes. Continue reading →

One Year Later

Last year on Mother’s Day I got to give my mom the news that I was joining the ranks of motherhood. As a woman who adores and spoils (in the best possible way) all of her grand-babies, you can imagine that she took the news all but jumping up and down, shouting for joy rather well.

That technically first Mother’s Day for me was full of excited anticipation for the little one who might one day proudly gift me handprint crafts, weed bouquets, and sticky breakfasts in bed. Now that he’s here and though a little young for those things yet, he leaves me no less in awe of the fact that this is my life now. I am a mom. I get to be his mom. I could not be happier. Motherhood is awesome.

But it is also hard. Continue reading →

Vacation Hesitation

P1010929Who doesn’t love vacation? Traveling somewhere new, seeing the sights, relaxing without paying heed to a clock all make for a fantastic experience. As a kid who loved to read, I imagined one day I would grow up and travel around the world to some of the places in my books. A few of my childhood travel dreams have come true, but I’ve discovered it was a lot simpler back when I had parents in charge of all the details to make a trip happen. Though I haven’t yet refused to travel because of the more stressful parts of the process, there are a few things that can make me hesitate to venture far.

Continue reading →

Plodding Through the Pages: Review of Smoky the Cowhorse

When writing a review, even if I don’t particularly care for the book, I try to find something nice to say. So when the only thing that comes to mind (as someone who appreciates the fragrance of a book) is that it smelled good, well … yeah. It was that bad. Continue reading →

Lackluster Lore: Review of Tales From Silver Lands and Shen of the Sea

During my preschool days I went through a phase where I would pretend to be a princess. In my best English accent I made morning announcements like, “Father, I am ready to get out of bed.” My dad, being pretty awesome, played along by carrying me out of my room because it was too strenuous for a princess to walk herself to breakfast.

Which is a long way of saying I was really into fairy tales. Continue reading →

I Forgot the Title of This Post

Among the many books from my childhood was a Sesame Street one where Bert ties a piece of string around his finger to help his memory.* I think I tried it out for fun, but the string kept slipping off and I lost interest. No matter, my youthful mind didn’t forget much — other than when my mother told me to clean my room.

These days, I could use some help remembering things. Especially since the things I’m forgetting are sometimes bizarre. Continue reading →

Aside

Newbery Update

I am a little disappointed not to have read through all the Newbery books in a year. (Technically, the year isn’t up yet since I didn’t get started until mid-February, but I don’t think I’ll be finished by then either.) While I’m not expecting less distractions in 2015, I plan to continue reading and catch up on reviewing. Although it may take me two years instead of the intended one, or even if it ends up taking three, I won’t be giving up.

Yuletide Mystery: The Case of the Disappearing Doll

“You better watch out, you better not cry, better not pout, I’m telling you why…”

Christmas: That magical time of year when we bribe children into good behavior under the watchful eye of Santa Claus and his army, a.k.a. the Elf on the Shelf. As children discover whether their efforts result in toys or lumps of coal, parents will search for new strategies to coerce them into being good during the off-season. Or, if they’re anything like my parents, gift-wrapped reward or no, they’ll have the audacity to expect good behavior year round. Still, if it was Christmas-related, my parents weren’t above playing the Santa card. Which brings me to a tale of one of my Christmases long, long ago. Continue reading →

Deck the Halls (And the Blog)

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Readers of my blog around this time last year likely caught on to my love of the Christmas season. (There may have been an overabundant use of exclamation points.) Well, Christmastime is here again and I am at my traditional level of excitement with decking the halls — and the blog.

While last year I went for a festive header (and started with the same idea this year), I decided on a temporary change of theme. Perhaps inspiration came from the annual WordPress provision of falling snow on my page. Maybe the emailed pictures of my niece today brought out my love for all things adorable. Whatever the reason, it’s been an extra dose of fun to decorate my little corner of the Web this December. Continue reading →