I love lists. I make lists all the time. I jot down little thoughts and lists of things that theoretically should be accomplished in the near future on the back of receipts, envelopes, pieces of junk mail and sometimes in a notebook conveniently labeled, “stuff to remember.” Brad has learned to never, ever throw away any scrap of paper until he thoroughly examines it for any kind of cryptic message. I am also training to be a super secret super spy. The fact that I can‘t keep a...
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On Saturday Brad and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary. As we sat at our dining room table listening to endless knock-knock jokes, trying to persuade Maddux to eat his green beans and once again cutting Paizlee’s food into teensy pieces, we smiled exhaustedly at one another and toasted our plastic glasses of lemonade. Six years ago I had just graduated from college. Brad and I had been doing the long distance relationship thing for a few years and I was over it. I had spent thre...
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I have a confession. In my life I hardly ever mention to anyone that I scrapbook. It is like a secret hobby that I have. People who come to my house for the first time are often quite surprised to find my walls adorned with my very own creations and are quick to spot the scrapbooks lined up on the bookshelves. I have seen the horrified expressions on a person’s face when the subject of textured cardstock comes up in conversation, so I guess I would much rather avoid the judgment that comes...
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When I was a freshman in high school, my family signed up AOL. It seemed downright magical because it brought the internet into our house with those three glorious words, “You’ve got mail!” I can remember coming home from school and checking my email, of which there would be none because the only people who would send me email had been in school with me all day. Once that task was completed, I would sit there and try to think of something else I could do online. Inevitably I wo...
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There are not many things that I am afraid of. I am not afraid of heights, needles, lions escaping from the zoo or a New Kids on the Block reunion. On the other hand, I am definitely not immune to the everyday fears that parents have, such as war, unemployment or that Breuklyn will run off with a long-haired tattooed drummer from an acid rock band. I deal with those fears in a very , I’ll worry about it tomorrow, kind of way. It’s the irrational fears that get me. Those are the ones ...
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