There have been moments in my life when I have missed the joy. Raising three children can be a blur of responsibility, expectation, and endless compromise. While there are lazy Sunday moments, so much of it is confusing, terrifying, and exhausting. It would be foolish to say that I packed every lunch with care…
Why does it seem there are those who have it their way and those who accommodate? More importantly, how do I train to be the former? This isn’t going to be a snarky post where I bitch and complain that I have to adapt to make nice with those who either can’t get their…
Poke is raw tuna cut into small cubes and mixed with different spices. My current favorite is dynamite because it has avocado. It’s a big deal in Hawaii and we have eaten it for lunch pretty much every day since we arrived on Kona. It’s delicious and so fresh here. But there are other restaurants,…
I am white. It is the skin I was born in. It’s actually kind of peach and sometimes blotchy in the sun, but in society, I am classified as—white. I’m married to a man with similar skin, and all three of our children are shades of us. We are a white family living on…
If I were a mechanic, I would bring my lunch in a paper sack. During the winter months, I’d take a thermos of soup to chase off the cold. My garage would be a small two bay place, painted white with blue trim. Outside would hang a sign in dark blue script that read Mechanic on Duty.…
I haven’t made a wish in a while, not an official one anyway. I didn’t blow out candles last year for my birthday and I can’t remember the last time Michael held out one of my fallen eyelashes. I have not closed my eyes on the stars, tried to channel a genie, or played tug…
My manuscript is officially late. I had to send a sad little pleading email to my editor who is far too nice to me. She graciously gave me until Monday to finish. As of this morning, that was three extra days. Three full 24-hour cycles. So, naturally given this extra time I got right to work.…
Show, don’t tell. It’s a common phrase among editors and high school English teachers love to write it in red pen on a student’s paper. In writing it means instead of telling the reader a story, let them feel the story, invite them in to sit with the characters through dialogue or setting. The first…
We have one of those flip out ironing boards in the laundry room. It’s on the wall across from the cat box and above the laundry basket area. We have two large mesh baskets and they fit neatly against the wall, under the illustration of a basketball hoop that’s hanging on the wall. Basketball hoop, laundry basket,…