I came across this image the week before I left my job. I didn’t know where those horses were going, but I wanted to find out. I wanted…this.
One year ago, I had a vision, although I couldn’t see it clearly at the time. I really couldn’t see anything clearly at that time…except the exit sign. I was beyond my capacity, and when something had to give, I chose my career. Faced with either watching my life slip away while I kept pace on the treadmill, or pulling the safety key and watching my career come to a grinding halt, I chose to take my life off autopilot. And you know what? It was really scary at first. While the 8-5 (+) keeps you going at a rapid speed, it also gives you structure. For …
Snapping the handmade afghan, a gift from our wedding, up in the air, bits of stale popcorn flew up like confetti. There were eight blankets spread on the living room floor, their smell a combination of dribbled milk, kettle corn, cracker crumbs, Labrador, house cat and…my family. Here is where we made our bed two nights ago. Here is where we hunkered down during a blizzard, the second in five days, only this time, the power didn’t stay on. The lights flickered, and then, just didn’t come back on. We’d all just settled down in the living room for a “popcorn picnic” and a movie. The four of us, ready to weather this storm together, but not before we enjoyed the luxuries of outlets that were alive. We were only several minutes into Chicken Little, when …
Sprigs of green wheat push up through dry Kansas soil.
Puffs of fine dust swirl where our feet meet with dry Kansas farm ground. “Mom, it’s like we’re living in the desert.” She’s right. This drought has left our land crackly, where it was once lush. I shake my head in amazement, that such a young child would make such an observation. Then again, the land is really all there is to observe out here. No mature trees, just a house, a red metal shop, and an old, rusty round grain bin turned chicken coop affectionately called “The Tin Man.”
Our homestead juts out of the corner of the field, an odd mixture of old and new. Old house, new foundation, old walls, new siding, old land, new family. On a bright, unseasonably warm February afternoon, the …
You know, it’s funny. Twenty years after I hated my brother so much I was willing to smack him in the head with a frying pan (yep, actually did), we’ve come so far in our relationship. I consider him one of my best friends, and he always knows just how to cheer me up, even online. After lamenting on about having to wait over the weekend to hear back on a couple of job interviews I had today, he replied with the sweetest tweet:
My brother’s tweet made my night, and my whole week.
Now I feel really bad about that frying pan incident…
…I went on a date with a young man. One I’d met while we both worked at Sheplers, after I’d asked him to “clean my boots.” (Read the full story here.) He was charming, and funny, and handsome, and I fell head over western heel. Yesterday, that same young man had his attention on another girl at Sheplers. At 41 inches tall and 38 pounds, she consumes his whole heart. As he helped her buy her first pair of “real” boots, I couldn’t help but stare in wonder. Never in my wildest dreams did I see this in my future when I was 18 and flirting with a cute coworker. Never did I imagine that we’d be back here together, our little family of four. He stole my heart, and now she’s stolen …
My brother and I hang ornaments from a less-than-perfect tree. But that never mattered to me. It’s one time we actually got along when we were younger. 🙂
It’s not even Thanksgiving yet, and still, Christmas has taken over. This is no surprise, as it’s crept earlier and earlier every year. But it bothers me, for several reasons. First of all, I love Thanksgiving, and feel that the Santa-shaped shadow is looming over this once-simple holiday. Yes, I know the stories I was told about Thanksgiving growing up (happy Pilgrims and Indians frolicking together) are way off base, but I enjoy the tone it has developed over the years. It’s all about being grateful, and expressing that gratitude to others. Ok, who am I kidding? I like the food, and maybe this is my main …