Hi Reader, Last week I asked if you would do 3 small days with me, and I promised to check in. I also owe you the story behind them. A while back I had a rough day. I pulled a few outfits out of my closet, and nothing fit the way it used to. I stepped on the scale, which I do not recommend, and the rest of the day was just frustrating. The next morning I gave myself two choices. I could keep dwelling on it, or I could do one small thing. I laced up my sneakers and finally took the 20 to 30...
3 days ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, My last couple of emails were on the heavy side. I have been thinking about you since I sent those, and wondering if you could use something a little lighter this week. So, here is something I made a few weeks ago called 3 Days to Feel Like Yourself Again. I built it because I needed it myself. Three emails from me, three small days, nothing more. This is just something free from me to you, because it helped me and I hope it can help you too. Small steps like this can create bigger...
10 days ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, Today I closed on my parents' lake house. This is the house that gave me forty four years of summers, and the lake that has been my home for all fifty two years of my life. I walked through those rooms one last time and said goodbye to everything they gave me. Then I went down to the dock, alone, in the dark, just me and the crickets and the occasional fish jumping somewhere out on the water. I think I even caught a glimpse of the northern lights in the distance. I sat there for an...
17 days ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, Today is September 11th. Twenty-five years since that day, and I haven't been able to think of much else this week. My husband and I were in New York City that morning, working close to the towers. When it happened, my body did something I never chose to do. I ran, away from where he was, before I even understood what was happening. It would be hours before I saw him again, walking north toward me covered in ash, after both towers had fallen and it was finally safe enough to walk....
24 days ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, I have to share something with you today. I started a fitness routine about a month ago. I've committed to it most days and do the work, even on the days I don't feel like it. I haven't really seen results yet, but I already feel different. I feel stronger and clearer in my head than I have in a long time. Since I started this routine, I've noticed a correlation. I realized it is the same thing that has been true about this blog since the day I started it. There have been plenty of...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, I finally solved a mystery that's been bothering me for months. Sixteen pairs of white socks, just gone. I kept blaming the wash, convinced they were disappearing somewhere between the machine and the basket. Then this week my boys finally hauled a couple of stuffed bags in from their trunks (yes, from May), and there they were. All sixteen pairs, riding around in the backs of their cars since who knows when, right along with everything else they'd forgotten was in there. I laughed...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, A friend replied to last week's email. She told me that the picture I wrote about, the one that was supposed to be a hopeful "before" and just made me sad instead, hit her to the bones. She told me it made her feel less alone, and reading her words did the exact same thing for me. Maybe that's what this whole season is. We're all figuring it out at the same time, helping each other along the way without meaning to. Then this week I wrote about my first college drop-off experiences...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, I took a picture of myself in my workout clothes last week. I meant it to be a "before" photo, to pull up later when things have changed. I was being optimistic about it. Then I looked at it and felt sad, which was not at all what I had planned. There's this idea that women our age let ourselves go, like we stop caring at some point along the way. That has not been my experience. I've been doing the same things I've always done. My body just changed the terms without telling me,...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, Last week I told you I would remain consistent, despite my mood or what's happening in my life. This week that's a little harder than I expected. Today I sit at my laptop with a view I have looked at with wonder for the last 45 years. Soon it will be someone else's view. It will always be in my heart, in my memories and dreams, but I somehow can't wrap my head around it. There is too much emotion involved. One thing is certain though. I am leaving this place with so much more than...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, It's been a couple weeks since I've sent my weekly note to you. There's something to be said about routine and consistency. It keeps you motivated and builds momentum. I've fallen out of that routine a bit this summer with good reason. Mix a few major life changes with summer in the pot and here we are. The reason I started writing and creating this blog remains the same. I was inspired by love and loss and always will be. I had a need to write about those experiences and wanted to...
2 months ago • 1 min read