A lifestyle blog for the thinking woman (and man)
A couple weeks ago we passed our one-year repatriation anniversary. Not coincidentally, a couple weeks ago we got back from our summer trip to England and Sweden. We had a lovely time, and I'll sneak some pictures in here to add visual excitement to what will most likely end up a rambling stream of tired, red-wine thoughts about leaving home, going home, and loving home....
Does anyone else ever feel that going to work is like taking a vacation compared to being home with three-foot-tall tyrants all day? That parenting is the most difficult thing you've ever done, far more challenging than any job? Further, that being a parent has forced you to develop skills, strategies, and coping mechanisms you didn't have when you were childless? I have certainly felt all of these things, and a few years ago I thought I should write a "mom resume" to articulate how I'd developed as a person since becoming a mother....
Sorry for the recent silence. (Seems like I've made that apology too much lately.) It was unexpected even to me that I would disappear from this space for over a month, but I've been working on something lately that has taken every moment of my free time.......
I was flipping through a local magazine for moms last week when I came across an interview with the cover mom, a local business owner. One of the questions, thrown unceremoniously into the middle of the interview, was, "Your biggest wish for your kids is..." Can you guess the answer?
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Here's a pertinent question for the holiday season: do you prefer to shop at locally-owned stores rather than big box stores or online? If so, are you willing to pay a higher price to do so?
We lucked out in that our new town, Corvallis, has a great downtown and is plush with locally-owned stores. We can get most of our needs met by heading to a local shop either downtown or somewhere nearby. Most importantly, there's a great toy store (and two other stores that sell new and used Lego). There's also a hardware store, a kitchen store, a couple book stores, a record store (remember those?), a yarn store, several new and used boutiques and shoe stores, etc.
It's nice to walk into one of these shops, talk with an owner or friendly salesperson, and enjoy a small, curated selection of goods. I like being in a cozy, well-designed environment. I like running into people I know, or finding an item made by a local producer, author, or artisan. I prefer the aesthetic experience of being in a small shop compared to walking into a big box store, with its glaring lights and sky-high ceilings and aisle upon aisle upon aisle of *stuff*. Baubles, gimcracks, and frippery. Maybe this is the real reason I cried at Target. Does anyone else find it a little soul-destroying to walk into one of these behemoths?...
Although we're finally settling into a new rhythm and set of routines, we're preparing for some significant changes come January. Because we haven't had enough life-shattering change in the last few months......
Most of my posts over the last six months have been about how overwhelming and difficult our international move was. (Exhibit A, Exhibit B, Exhibit C.) But now that we've been here for nearly three months and finally received our stuff (two-and-a-half months after it left Sweden!), it's starting to feel like the move is over....
It’s probably hard to believe that a couple weeks ago, I absconded one morning to a cafe for an hour of blog-planning and latte-sipping, no babies on board. I had more than a dozen ideas for posts I was excited to write—and then life happened, as it always does. Since that glorious hour of alone...
A while ago, before this debacle of an international move began, I wrote a post about announcing pregnancies and talking about miscarriages. While I didn't get any comments about the post on the blog, I heard a lot from friends via Facebook and email, most of whom had lost a pregnancy at some point. Hearing...
I cried at Target yesterday. I was standing just a few feet from the customer service lane, where a helpful employee was working on my situation. It had been a successful resupply run, and my cart was full of enough diapers, wipes, toilet paper, and coffee filters to last a couple months: I wouldn't have...