When we first moved to Dallas, we made some colorful friends who were actors at Scarborough Renaissance Festival- King Henry and a Contessa, to be exact. During October, the Scarborough Fair grounds become a spooky maze of haunted houses, Scary-oke, expensive food vendors, and a throng of tweens looking to snuggle up to their crush …
Tuesday, 7/11/2023, Nashville Airport 2:08 pm I wasn’t anxious about this until we popped open the back of my sister’s van. It’s not the actual flying that concerns me. The Baby is almost chronically un-anxious, as in, he is not anxious even when he probably should be, like when he tries to drown himself by …
January 23, 2023 Dear Mr. Sedaris, My son, {The Baby}, came screeching into the world via an emergency c-section at 26 weeks- a two-pound potato whose vital organs needed lots of assistance to keep him alive. I met him for the first time four months later, when his birthmother invited me to visit the Neonatal …
I remember talking about atheism and agnosticism in my world religions class in high school. In my little conservative corner of West Texas, we didn’t spend much time talking about the godless heathens, but I remember the description of Clockmaker god, who designed the world, perfectly calibrated all of it’s gears and dials, and then …
Let me preface the beginning of this series with a few things: I’m gonna take weekends off for my “writing every day” goal in November. I can do this because I’m a grown ass woman and I want to. I want to explicitly acknowledge that I have AMAZING parents who did the best with what …
Last August, my little family met my parents in Estes Park. We have done this trip every couple of years since I was a kid. We stay in cabins and hike and explore and breathe in the fresh mountain air. COVID made things a little different, but we were just happy to escape Dallas for …
Well, today the Wise family said hello to a new bed and goodbye to two of The Baby’s teeth. A few months ago, we started the laborious process of getting a SleepSafe bed approved through The Baby’s insurance because his crib had become unsafe. He was able to stand up in it and when he …
The Baby turned five this week. It’s crazy. All of those five years tend to blur together. After all, time flies when you’re drowning in medical chaos (just kidding…kind of). On the night of his birthday, our dinner conversation centered around remembering all of his firsts- the first time he sat up, the first solid …
(You can listen to an audio version of this post here.) I went to David’s Bridal today to purchase a bridesmaid’s dress for a friend’s wedding next summer. She had a dress already picked out in the system so they pulled her profile up and I followed the very nice saleslady to the racks laden …
(I realize this is very lengthy so I have strategically placed pictures of smiling animals throughout the piece so that you can mark your place if you need to take a break and come back to it. At my sister’s suggestion, I’ve also made an audio version of this blog. You can download/stream it by …
I grew up in West Texas- land of wide-open spaces, sky high teen pregnancy rates, and a colorblind racial ideology that masks racism instead of confronting it. In colorblind ideology, it is impolite to talk about someone’s race. I remember hearing a story about a friend who was trying to tell her son which store …
I just got back from San Francisco. I went to (hides face) a Christian conference. I found myself hesitant to tell people that it was a Christian conference because of the connotations of that. My sense is that many Christian conferences are lame attempts at pep rallies for God, the adult version of church camp, …
“What was I thinking?” I thought as I stared forlornly into the mirror. I should have known better than to impulsively stop at the hair salon directly adjacent to the Tom Thumb, still clutching my bag of avocados. I was hoping for a cute haircut before I left on my 10th anniversary weekend trip. Instead, …
I was a mere 21 years old when I got married. My uncle officiated our wedding. Before the wedding, my then-fiancee, now-husband, Alex, and I drove down to Corpus to do some premarital counseling sessions and stay with my aunt and uncle. After one of these sessions, Alex and I got ready to leave and …
I went to a vigil in Balch Springs for Jordan Edwards last week. It was everything you would want a vigil to be- beautiful and sad and moving and comforting. Like most, I was horrified by Trayvon Martin and Tamir Rice’s deaths. I have been deeply affected before by deaths caused by police brutality, but …
About a month ago, on a Friday night, I drove to my friend Karen’s apartment and we car-pooled down to an elementary school in Oak Cliff, which is a neighborhood in south Dallas where several unarmed black men have been shot by Dallas police. We were responding to a facebook invite that we had gotten to … Continue reading
Hi there, Cheerbrina- I first met you and your mom when you were a fuzzy-headed, anime-loving, Bratz-doll-playing about-to-be-6th-grader (Note to readers: The dolls she is holding are not Bratz dolls. Those were dolls that she received at a White Elephant Christmas party that will haunt her nightmares forever.) I loved hanging out with you because, … Continue reading
Hi tootsies- This morning, you meandered out of your bedroom shortly before 8:00am, which is a miracle at our house. I was sitting on the couch and you joined me, sitting in your Superman underwear. While you ate your pretzel bagel, I watched you as you talked- so expressive with your face and your hands. … Continue reading
I have a confession. I have a big head. I mean, physically, as in my head is ginormous for my relatively short, apple-shaped stature. In high school band, I always had to take the walk of shame to the boy’s line to get my already nerdy marching band hat (in case you’re counting, that would … Continue reading
(TRUTH: I have never actually the show MacGuyver. In fact, I had to google his name to make sure I was spelling it right. There is something intriguing to me about someone who can whip things out of their behind and save the world. Somedays, I feel like MacGyver (although without the annoying accent). Circumstances in … Continue reading
I just finished reading Jesus Feminist by Sarah Bessey. It kind of rocked my world (in probably a different way than you would think). If you’re my friend, I’m going to force you to read it, so watch out. It’s an important book. Important for women. Important for men. Anyway, Sarah Bessey writes beautiful prose. … Continue reading
Well. Wow. Goodbye, 2014. What a year you have been. You will forever go down in history as the year I became a mother to a tiny tornado, a kid that never stops, the sweetest, funniest, most charming boy I’ve ever met. (Also…sassy). If I had to pick a theme for this year, I think … Continue reading
A few weeks ago, I finished a book at the behest of a friend. He had been bothering me to read it for about a year, but non-fiction is hard for me, ya’ll. But I finally picked it up at the library. I devoured it. I think it took me three days. And that’s with … Continue reading
Dearest Great Wolf Lodge, We had the grand opportunity to visit your fine establishment this weekend with our son, at the behest of my parents who bequeathed unto us an early Christmas present. After spending some time at your hotel, might I suggest the following be posted at all entrances? WARNING, All Ye Who Enter … Continue reading
About two weeks after the kid came home, I got invited to a ladies night out that the alumni organiztion through my agency was putting on. It was at some restaurant in Frisco, which is Far North Dallas, which is where lots of fancy people live. Alex and I talked about whether I could go … Continue reading
welderbeth 