Yeah – I’m THAT Mom.
Oh. My. Stars. Seemingly overnight, I became THAT Mom. The working mom. The mom that’s got a meeting and has to miss Monday Morning Moms in Touch, and the one that sent a text to her assistant last night at 10pm to please bake a cake for her kid to pick up at 7:15am. Horrifying, right? It took me 18 years, but I’m driving an SUV. I’m talking on my Bluetooth headset in the carpool lane. I have a standing order at Starbucks and they know me by name. I’m booking flights and keeping a bag packed for business trips. I ordered a new Oakley Messenger Bag and didn’t balk at the $120 price tag. I live and breathe by my Google Calendar and Blackberry. I say things like, “Let’s Huddle Up Next Week” – which is the new...
Read MoreA Presbymergent Ash Wednesday
I adore my faith. I’m really in love with my church. I love the little buildings, the food pantry, the youth room, the chocolates outside our church secretary’s office and the creaky old floors that rattle when anyone over 14 pounds walks on them. There’s a Grey’s Anatomy episode called, “Sanctuary” that’s one of the most powerful pieces of television ever written in my opinion. In voiceover, Meredith talks about the hospital being her church, her home and the place she loved most in all the world. That’s how I feel about my church. I love it. It’s my sanctuary. My home. It’s messy, and stressful, and there are stupid people that bug the snot out of me some days. I know they feel the same way about me....
Read More2010 in Review, 2011 in Focus
Last year I shared a rather personal note detailing my joy at leaving 2009 behind, and spending a few moments reflecting on the blessings and challenges we faced as a family. My hope for 2010 was peace and prosperity and in most respects it exceeded my hopes and surprised me in many ways. The year began with finishing all the paperwork needed to send Kelsea to the college of her choice (and dreams) Trinity University. She applied to one school. One. No backups. This left me gripping the rails, so to speak, as I considered her perfect Reading and Writing SAT scores, and her less than stellar Math score. I think my comment was, “You could have gotten the same score just by showing up with a pencil, Kels.” Not my finest Mommy Moment. But she got in, and...
Read MoreExciting Changes Afoot.
Hello Friends! Back in February, Kendra Kinnison came to me with an idea, which became a shared vision of a company that offered a vast array of faith building, goal setting, technology, training and communication tools under one umbrella – Imagine More. We didn’t see anything that looked like what we wanted – so we built it, each bringing part of our own companies into the mix and blending them into what you see today. Kendra’s blog and library is now a shared resource, she crafted a fantastic “goal attaining” course called YouSchool and willed CareerSchool and Evernote Essentials into existence, bringing the wonderful Pat Bell and Jessica Pedraza on as instructors. I built the websites, managed the hardware and...
Read MoreMental Remodeling
Within the last two years, my capacity for forgiveness has been stretched, challenged and tested. Beyond what I thought I could bear. Beyond what I was sure I could take. By a trinity of people very closest to me, in the most gut-wrenching ways that others might think wasn’t really a big deal – but to me, huge. Mammoth, even. Contrary to my instincts, my choice has been to “fake it ’til you make it,” smile sweetly, say, “I forgive you.” – and pretend to mean it. Then I put the issues (and, mentally, the person) in a little box, wrapped the box in pretty tissue paper, put the box into a drawer in a dresser in a mental closet, shut the door and then wallpapered over the door in a lovely Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic Rose...
Read MoreBen Franklin Said It Best…
My intention being to acquire the habitude of all these virtues, I judged it would be well not to distract my attention by attempting the whole at once, but to fix it on one of them at a time; and, when I should be master of that, then to proceed to another, and so on, till I should have gone through the thirteen; and, as the previous acquisition of some might facilitate the acquisition of certain others, I arranged them with that view, as they stand [below]. 1. TEMPERANCE Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation. 2. SILENCE Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation. 3. ORDER Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time. 4. RESOLUTION ...
Read MoreCan Anyone Spare A Time Machine?
Every single Summer of my childhood I looked forward to the last day of school, knowing that within 2-3 days after that final day my Grandma GG would show up and whisk me off for “THE SUMMER” to a place where it stayed light until 10pm, fireflies lit our night sky, we could see every star in the universe, we stayed out late to play freeze tag, I worked at an ice cream parlor with her, and I had an endless supply of quarters for Defender and Skeeball in the village arcade. Growing up, nothing much changed from year to year. The same kids came back, like a refugee summer camp. I had friends from the Palisades – the neighborhood where my GG had lived since the 1950′s, friends from Orange County whose parents owned major Jaguar and Cadillac...
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