May 2009

Words from the vault

• A Writer's Life?

  How much of my life should I reveal here? Where do I draw the line regarding what personal details or thoughts or doubts to include? Does leaving myself vulnerable make me naive? Negligent? Irresponsible? To myself? To others whose lives are inseparable from my own? But. How can I be authentic wi

• Ten from Jen: Blog Posts of 2009

  We only started Momalom in March. But I liked Scary Mommy's idea of choosing a favorite post from each month. This was more difficult than I anticipated. Not because I'm so vain to think that I have many "bests," but because I read so many old posts and relived so many moments of introspection of th

• I used to be smarter and less frizzy

  Motherhood has fried my brain. And, let's face it, most of the rest of me. I am frazzled, both in appearance and in mindset. I can no longer complete one task, simple or otherwise, without thinking of a half dozen other things I have to do while in the process. Everyone's needs come before my own. M

• Post Mother's Day Post

  I know, enough about Mother's Day already. I just have some things to say and I think that if I don't, I'll forget. And I can't. I can't forget; I need to have a place to come back to when it's time to remember.I've been lucky enough to celebrate six Mother's Days. None has ever been as special as t

• Little Stuff

  this is: about breakfast our morning routine and waking up: i hate waking up my bed is a cloud a dreamy cloud i don't visit enough i want to stay where i am on my cloud all alone i want silence i'd like all the chirping of sweet morning children to be in the background

• The banter of family

  We talk about sleep. Wine-induced sleep. What a blessing. What a curse. We talk about age. Sixty and six months and everything in between. What it means to grow old. What it takes to stay young. We talk about the kids. How active they are. How much energy they have. How much energy they tak

• We Miss You, Dad

  These are the only digital images I have of Dad. I meant to spend some time with the scanner and the boxes of pictures I have of him—hundreds. Family shots. "Artistic" shots. But life got in the way, and this is all I have. A silly montage that Sarah put together several years ago of John, sha

• I've never even touched a cigarette

  So. My story is not as dramatic as Sarah's. Haven't read hers? You should. I'd link to it here, but you'd probably go and read it. And you'd likely never return. It's quite gripping. (Maybe I'll give you another shot later.) My story is so undramatic that it's difficult to know how to tell it. W

• This is My Life: Short-Order Cook

  "Mom, for breakfast can I have French toast, a sunny side up egg and a sunny side down egg?" I'd have included a photo here, but the meal was devoured before I could locate my camera.

• Anyone who makes me get the mop out before 8 am is officially in TIME-OUT!

  People are messy. Kids are messier. In the course of cleaning a child up, another large mess is made. Example: bath time - in my house - every night! It's inevitable that there will be spills and falls, sticky messes, muddy messes, bloody messes. The very thought of all the cleaning is exhausting. Y