By:
On:
In: Life, the tech
With: 0 Comments

I think it’s probably an understatement to say I’ve flirted with depression and have an ongoing relationship with anxiety. I call it being “high-strung,” mostly because that sounds prettier than “I’m a wreck.” My boss and I joked today about how my insomnia is directly related to all the things I can stay up at night worrying about. It’s a fact. I’m always looking for ways to find my joy. That’s another one of those phrases I’ve coined. A person, every last one of us, should work to be happy. Research shows that people who keep gratitude journals were way more awesome, and successful, and etc.Read More →

By:
On:
In: I'm kind of a big deal. Not really., In my house
With: 0 Comments

What do the things in the title have in common? Me, getting sentimental. And overusing Kleenexes. Over at Heart-Shaped Glasses today, I’m blogging about (reflecting on, actually, since that’s our theme this month) the tradition I started for my girls when they were little nearly nineteen years ago. Of course, I got sappy. Because, hello? I cry over commercials. Does anyone remember the Kodak one, with the little girl dancing on her dad’s shoes and then they’re dancing at her wedding? I still remember the song. I think Michael Bolton sung it, but don’t hold that against me. (Tried to embed the video above, butRead More →

By:
On:
In: I'm kind of a big deal. Not really., Life
With: 2 Comments

I have a thing, in life, to be real. That may be ridiculously amusing or crushingly sad or even desperately terrifying–but it’s real. I’ve learned that being fake to please the people around me makes me miserable. So, I’m private, but I’m the real me.

Unfortunately, as I mentioned, I became worried about being really me on this blog. I’m not an easy person. I’m socially awkward, for one. I have an odd sense of humor that, hopefully, seems snarky and clever in my writing but can be a little off-putting in real life. And I have opinions. Strong ones.Read More →

By:
On:
In: Life
With: 1 Comment

No, seriously. Life is a giant jigsaw puzzle. There’s no picture to guide me (because life doesn’t come all neat, in a box, with a promised finished product), but I’m pretty sure it looks like happy. I took a pass last week on blogging. Life has become very wonderful, and chaotic, for me lately as I try to fit in all the new responsibilities I’ve taken on. Things fall to the side, balls are dropped. I made a decision that I can beat myself up for that or I can decide life is like a puzzle. When you get a puzzle (those of you thatRead More →

By:
On:
In: In my house
With: 3 Comments

A word is banned from school? From being learned? Do they think if they don’t write it, no one can grow up to become it? Because terrorists don’t think they’re terrorists. (I am so going on a watch list somewhere.) They think they’re good people, righting wrongs, or punishing the evildoers, or some other naive and fanciful and ridiculous thing. But they don’t think they’re the bad people.Read More →

By:
On:
In: Chatter, I'm kind of a big deal. Not really.
With: 1 Comment

So, it’s anti-bullying month and today is Unity Day, according to the National Bullying Prevention Center. This is an issue I feel strongly about, so I’m blogging today to share my experiences. I don’t specifically remember being bullied in school. I know I had low self-esteem, and I was overweight, and if people were mean to me about that, I guess I sort of believed I deserved it. So, maybe I was and people didn’t talk about it. I remember once a friend of my cousin and a family member (of hers) visiting from out of town rode by me. I was, maybe, eight. WeRead More →

By:
On:
In: In my house, Rules I live by
With: 0 Comments

This is a conversation between my husband and I, and the inspiration for this new series of posts. H: We should buy a boat. Me: We’re not buying a boat. H: You need to sell a book. Me: That’s true. But we won’t be able to buy a boat. H: We could get a sleeper. I don’t think you’d want any other kind, because they don’t have bathrooms. Me: You got that right. So, it’s like camping? H: On the water. [Said with the reverence one might use to say, “On the sun.”] Me: And they lock? Because what if someone tries to break in?Read More →

By:
On:
In: I'm kind of a big deal. Not really.
With: 1 Comment

I drive the dog to the vet. It’s an hour away, but takes like an hour and forty-five minutes since I go slow so as not to alarm him. I talked to him the whole way. And not like, “Yes, well, this is going to be a lovely morning, I believe.” No, it was things like:

“I promise, after this, we’re going to treat you like a king. Totally.”
“Just think, things are going to be better after this. Well, not immediately after this. This is going to suck. But, this is like the first step in things being better. Just think of it that way.”Read More →

By:
On:
In: reading
With: 0 Comments

I grew up, and still live, in a small town.  Not small town like less than 5000.  Small town like… 265 people live in my town.  Not that it’s much of a town.  I have to drive 5-10 miles to the nearest 7-11.  Another 40 to Wal-Mart or McDonald’s. It’s 55 miles to the nearest book store–a chain.  An indie bookstore? That would be 91 miles away.  Sure, we have a library.  Only barbarians don’t have libraries.  But… if I had to guess, I’d say we might have 500-1000 books.  Total. So, I think you feel me now.  Growing up and as an adult, IRead More →

By:
On:
In: knowledge sharing
With: 1 Comment

There was a time when “the Internet” was synonymous with anonymity. You’d read comments like: “Dude, it’s the internet. Who cares?” or “What difference does it make? It’s just the internet.” Usually this was in response to some outrageous bit of flaming or trolling. That world no longer exists. Nowadays, with Facebook, the ability to Google into anyone’s deep, dark past, and online privacy at war with companies’ desires to gather every personal bit of info so they can serve you better ads, we live under a microscope. People lose their jobs because of pictures someone else tagged them in. We check in with ourRead More →