As a gift, I received from my daughter a little book called, What I Love About Mom. The book sets up a sentence and she filled in the blanks. I had a good chuckle over a few of them. If you were a scent, you’d be Warm OceanBreeze. But one of her responses took my breath…
The Tale of Two Dogs
Once upon a time there were two dogs. One dog was small, super friendly, but very sick. The other was bigger, more guarded and very old. Both dogs needed to take medication twice a day which was fine, until the dog owners needed to go out of town for the weekend. Soon, they found a…
New Beginnings
Wherever you find yourself in your life, remember to celebrate the ending of old chapters and the beginning of new ones!
When Stars Scatter
Do you remember the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off? Although some of the finer points have been lost to me over the years, I remember that Ferris faked sick so he could stay home. Once his parents were sufficiently convinced of his feverish illness—all carefully executed—and his parents on their way to work, he conspired…
Kicking Fear to the Curb
Since I’ve actively begun rooting out fears and staring them down, I’ve learned I’m not alone in this endeavor. As much as we desire to be fearless, it seems many of us battle with some fear. Speaking in public, catching a deadly illness, or meeting new people are just a few. Those things that make…
Measuring the Cost
My husband is dangerously close to running out of peanut butter, our car needs gas and I need to replace various items in my wardrobe. For me, hopping into a vehicle and running to the store, popping by a station to fill my tank and a brief detour to Kohl’s pretty much satisfies all those…
Busyness vs. Rest
I like to keep busy. Over the course of my life, I’ve held several jobs simultaneously and once it was up to four. The reasons are the same two for most people: debt and bills. Even when my main focus was homeschooling my daughter, I worked odd jobs and threw pots in my ceramics studio….
Feeling the Heat
I hope your summer is going better than planned. With longer days, the workload has been ramping up here – but that isn’t a complaint. With extended hours of daylight, I’m inclined to go out and enjoy the company of others. Last week I overheard someone say that though it’s just now July, for them,…
The Astounding Effect of Little Changes
As bored summer kids in Sterling, Ohio, my brother and I used to set pennies on the railroad tracks. The train came by with dozens of cars which flattened and stretched them. The grownups who learned of our adventure discouraged us because of the possibility that anything on a track — even a penny — could…
What Are Your Big Plans for Summer?
A shout out to all the new followers who have come on board since the beginning of this year. I appreciate your readership. I love being outside. The sun, the heat, the beautiful weather. Now that summer has officially begun, I look forward to biking, hiking, and sitting by some body of water. Also, I’ll spend…
One Tiny Brave Step
I had a lot of fun writing a short story that went in unexpected directions. With good feedback from my beta readers I made some of their suggested corrections, found a fitting publication, uploaded the piece and hit “send.” And then, I forgot about it. Life continued. I wrote books and networked over many mugs…
Juli Ocean 