Under Construction...

Notice anything different? I’ve been having an existential crisis of sorts, with what and how and why I blog right at the center.  Sure, I’ve been writing and taking photos and doing stuff, but I haven’t felt focused.  Maybe I needed something new – you know, since everybody else around here has a new job or school… So here it is: a new design.  I chose this the me because the thumbnail feature will prompt me to include photos with every post – something I love, but am sometimes too lazy to do.  I fiddled with my categories to...

33-11: Winterfest...

This town is ridiculously idyllic. If you don’t believe me, just wander over to the most beautiful library you’ve ever seen, and walk around the stone amphitheater in the park next door.  I hear there are concerts and movies there in the summer, but this time of year there’s Winterfest. We were in Portland last weekend, but the ice sculptures are still nestled in the snow, ready to be admired. So we oohed and ahhed and noticed the way the afternoon light glistened through the ice.  And then we warmed up in the library, where Miss Amy had pulled a stack...

33-10: Happy Birthday Calder Mac!...

Happy Birthday, my sweet boy! Thanks to dedicated tutoring from your big sister, you’ll finally admit that you’re TWO.  For a while you’d just shake your head in confusion and insist, “No, I Calder!” whenever we mentioned the big 0-2. I spent your first birthday reflecting on your birth and reveling in my accomplishments as your mother.  I wrote about early birthdays being more special for mamas than babies, and your birthday celebration was definitely for our benefit, not yours. This year is different. You have so little in common with...

Packed in Paper…...

Six years, six months ago, we set up the air mattress and camped out in the empty rooms of our house.  It was just the two of us – no dog, no kids, no furniture for half the rooms. But that didn’t last long.  The dog was our housewarming present to each other, the kids came along, and somehow we filled 2200 square feet with family and friends and so.much.stuff. Yesterday, we packed it in paper. We stacked it neatly. We watched three strong men move it away. And later on, while the kiddos watched movies and ate pizza with their best friends, we slid the...

These Women: for you...

It’s a school day. Calder sang a little song about his teachers this morning, and when he spotted one of his friends he called out, “Oh, NORAH!  HI!”  As soon as his boots were off he gave me a hug and said, “Mommy go car now!” It goes without saying that this newfound independence – and the three hours a day, three times a week, all for me – comes with mixed feelings. Here I am: sun pouring through the windows, coffee by my side, all the time in the world to read some blogs and do some writing.  To say thank you to the women...

These Women...

Pour yourself a cup of coffee, pull up a chair.  I want to talk about these women.  Well, not those specific women, though that’s one of my favorite clips. No, I’m thinking about this woman.  I saw Ani at this wonderful little theater Saturday night.  DAMN that woman can play the guitar.  And write the songs.  Really, I couldn’t decide whether to dance and rock out or hang on every single word.  I loved Ani back in the day – when we were all 32 flavors and fuck-you-and-your-untouchable face – but I might love her even more now....

All in a Day: for you...

When I’m a big-time blogger I’ll probably have to disqualify friends and family from this kind of thing, but right now that would limit the pool a little too much… True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:4Powered by RANDOM.ORG For those of you keeping track, number 4 is my cousin Brenda. Brenda and I were the first and second granddaughters in a family with way more boys than girls.  By the time I was born, the next granddaughter was on the way, and soon the three oldest boys had three baby girls, each six months apart. Our fathers had grown up in...

33-9: Snow Day...

We’ve been stuck in the house for three days. Monday was a holiday, and snowy.  Tuesday, more snow.  Wednesday should have been a school day, but instead it dawned with more than a foot of new snow. So here we are.  There was nothing to do but go...

All in a Day...

Do you know this book? I was so excited when it came out – I love Cynthia Rylant, and I love Nikki McClure, and this book doesn’t disappoint.  It’s simple and beautiful and inspiring.  Just listen: The past is sailing off to sea, the future’s fast asleep.  A day is all you have to be, it’s all you get to keep.  Underneath that great big sky, the earth is all a-spin.  This day will soon be over and it won’t come back again.  So live it well, make it count, fill it up with you.  The day’s all yours, it’s waiting...

Zen and the Art of Freaking Out...

I’ve been here before. I’ve been new and lonely and unsure – in a new community, as a new mother, in a new job.  There’s a lot that feels familiar, and a lot of my knee-jerk reactions are the same. I’ve found myself thinking particularly about the months after Calder was born.  It was so hard, and I was at such a loss.  Everything had changed, and I was glad because I love that little guy so much, but something I also loved – our magical little family of three 0 had ended, and it broke my heart.  And that storm of emotions knocked me...