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 …
Alex and I went camping this weekend with some friends. We got there kind of late on Friday and set up camp. Then, Alex and Benjamin wanted to go fishing so we drove up to the dock. Alaina and I just sat and chatted. I told her about a crazy friend that I had in … Continue reading
Today, as we pulled up to the International Museum of Cultures which I wasn’t sure was going to be cool or lame, our junior high student said, “This looks like a place where you fix cars.” To which I doubled over in laughter and then pulled myself together and told her that it wasn’t and … Continue reading
So, Alex and I went to Cozumel on our honeymoon. The resort was beautiful, the beaches were beautiful, it was just beautiful. We wanted to experience as much as we possibly could so, we thought we would give scuba a try. Neither of us had ever done it, so we signed up for a beginning … Continue reading
Have you ever had one of those moments where you have willed yourself not to do something, but then some mysterious force within you does it anyway? I do it almost daily. Just as one permanent example, you should never tell me that you have a body part that is hurting (i.e. “Oh, Beth. I … Continue reading
mike check, mike check. 1,2,3. Hello again, xanga. Continue reading
1. Did anyone see you kiss the last person you kissed?Maybe a neighbor, but probably not. We’re all hermits here.2. Do you still talk to the person you kissed last?I believe I have talked to him four times today (stupid health insurance stuff)3. Have you ever punched a tree?No, but it sounds like something I … Continue reading
This is going to be real short because I have important things to do…like finish my last Spanish ensayo. I got rear ended last week but don’t let it fool you. It’s $1900 worth of damage. Dealing with the girls’ insurance company has pretty much been the worst nightmare of my short adult life. Today … Continue reading
Dear wedding: May I please have my life back? Thanks. Beth Continue reading
Here’s what I did today: Get up Eat breakfast Go to wal-mart for spirals Drive to school Go to class Get books at library Go to another class Buy books Work-out Go up to my former place of work to get my check Deposit check Go to wal-mart for milk, a lock, and a picture … Continue reading
I bought a five dollar gift card (for an amigo) and a Bible (for a presentation) tonight at Wal Mart. Here’s how my conversation with the cashier went: Her: Are you buying someone a gift? Me: Yeah. It’s a friends’ birthday. Her (talking about the Bible): Well, that’s a good gift. You know, Eternal Life. Me (thinking … Continue reading
welderbeth 