Getting Finnegan

I’ve never gotten the whole pet thing. I mean, yeah – I had them growing up and I was pretty into it. But now that I’m an adult, pets = pet hair everywhere + unplanned vet bills + cleaning up poop. And I was kinda optimistic that my poop-cleaning days were behind me.
Once I called [...]

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Busy Looking Busy

Finally, he’s out of the house. My adorable husband. Nice company, but he is in my way, man — and so are his shoes, empty Diet Coke cans, 300-pound Franklin Planner and little post-it notes that are everywhere.
The first week of unemployment was honeymoonish. We went for walks, went to Chipotle for chips and [...]

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Waiter, there’s something in my glass.

My husband lost his job last week…
…the job that was slowly killing him. He was on the road, commuting across state, eating fast food, sleeping in hotel rooms, missing time with his doting daughters, and stressed in such a way that I really feared heart attack.
And then I remember that a year ago [...]

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Offending My First Rock Star

My friend keeps telling me to be “careful with my blog.” As I’m trying to be brave, she’s trying to stop me from being a word-slinging idiot. As it turn out, she’s right…maybe not about the blog, but about the word-slinging idiot part.
Two nights ago I went to my first author reading. Shauna Niequist suggested [...]

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A Revealing Me-me

Karen, a very ‘appy and lovely British blogger, over at If I Could Escape tagged me with this blogging award and guess what the prize is? I get to write about me! In my first me-me-me meme. Hooray.
Okay, first I must tag seven new award-winners. And the awards go to:
1. Alias Mother (I know [...]

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Brave New Writer? (First Draft)

Chapter Two has started out less efficiently than I expected. It’s been 3 weeks and I don’t have a job, my closets are a mess and my triceps are still drapey sacks of useless flesh. But I’ve been having fun going out for lunch, drinking coffee, browsing at the bookstore, and playing a lot of [...]

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Chapter 2

Today I dropped off two daughters at school. One begins her last year at elementary school and the other begins her first. When we got within sight of the playground, my fifth grader (!) ran off. I never saw her again – confirmation that indeed, her friends are preferable company.
I walked my first grader in [...]

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Fall Preview

I got nuthin’ to say this morning except that it’s raining — and I’ve turned every light on in the house even though it’s only 9:00am. This reminds me that fall is coming and after that, eight months of darkness. The ladies of Jcrewville will have to pack their Lily Pulitzer away until next year. [...]

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Small-Town Ledger

His periwinkle eyes were my first clue. Standing there alone, clutching a five dollar bill, he looked confused about where the line ended. I motioned for him to cut in front of me.
He moved up to the counter. “Can I have my mom’s drink, please?”
The cashier seemed confused. “What, honey?”
“My mom’s drink.”
The barista looked [...]

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The Short List

It’s an impossibly beautiful morning. The back door is wide open. I’m supposed to go on a walk with my husband to loosen up my sore muscles and his creaky back, but right now he’s reading the sports page so I have a few minutes to indulge in me-me-me-time.
Waltz promised she’d read my grocery list [...]

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