I’ve found recently that one of the most toxic phrases in my life is “You can just…” It has floated around for the past year with the follow ups: “… throw what you’re eating in a food processor and feed it to them.” “… find 15 minutes to yourself while they’re sleeping.” “… put them down.” “… listen to audiobooks while you’re taking them out in the stroller.” “… put him in the play-yard and take a shower.” I’ve been struggling to give myself space. Being a stay-at-home mom is significantly more difficult that I […]
No Villages, Just Venting
How many headlines have popped up on my feed since before my child was born proclaiming how tired, angry, frustrated, and overburdened mothers are – especially now that we are in a pandemic? I’m tired of them. These headlines and the stories behind them are all venting with no solutions. I remember back a few years ago when I was talking with one of my younger managers. I had just broken the news that there was going to be a policy change. I had been upset myself when I heard about the change, but after […]
New Year, Same Old Goals
Happy 2022! Or at least… Well, lets hope for turning over a new leaf. I can’t say that 2021 didn’t bring about some interesting changes to my life, or that those weren’t amazing changes. But change is a double-sided coin. My child was born at the beginning of the year, and as prepared for that as I felt, there were definitely moments. Childcare being too expensive and (as I continue to feel) dangerous for the unvaccinated, I found myself trying to pull off the Herculean task of working from home with a baby on my […]
New Adventures, New Directions
Starting in September, we will have relocated to NYC. In addition to continuing to do 2 book posts a month (a goal, I know), I’m also planning on doing at least 1 tea or coffee shop spotlight each month as well. At least one of the two book posts will be part of a new series I am starting using the Tortall books by Tamora Pierce as “sacred text”. If you’ve ever listened to the podcast, Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, this is in that same vein. I’ll readily admit that I completely adore […]
Returning from Maternity Leave
So I am back at my computer, finally with a quiet moment without a baby on my lap, to add a few tweaks to my blog and to catch you all up on what I’ve been reading since my last post. That is one of the nice things about maternity leave – lots of time to either sit and listen to a book, or read it on an e-reader. (No physical books for me at the moment, sadly. I don’t have enough hands.) That being said, while I started A Promised Land by Barack Obama […]
November BOTM
In a twist of fate – particularly after last month’s Book of the Month post – this past weekend was warm. Like, unseasonably warm for November. This was excellent for our tour program at work (since we’re somewhat reliant on outdoor tours in these COVID days). But still, completely unexpected. That didn’t stop me from choosing a book for my November Book of the Month that the judge reviewed as being “a hug in book form”. And if you follow me on Instagram you already know which book that is. This Time Next Year by […]
Pregnancy During a Pandemic
I haven’t really posted about my pregnancy in anywhere completely public until now. I am most of the way through the 5th month, so it’s been a little while and has certainly been a journey so far. It’s been a fairly easy pregnancy, all things considered. Which is probably just as well as it’s also a weird time to be pregnant with your first. There are a lot of things that just are not normal because we’re in a pandemic. The biggest one is that I think twice before stepping inside any business – which […]
October BOTM
Happy Fall! If you haven’t had the joy of pulling out a sweater, brewing a cup of tea, or order a pumpkin spice latte yet – no worries! It is here! I have been watching the colors changing at my office and on our yearly fall camping trips! September is such a weird month because it always feels like the weather can’t quite make up its mind. Should it let go of summer? No, not yet… Maybe? No, definitely time to be chilly. Except for when remembering what chilly is and decide that no, summer […]
6 Months On – And So Many More to Go
I’ve been seeing a few people doing check-ins on their blogs or social media accounts in the last few weeks – so yes, this is somewhat jumping on the band wagon. I went back and reviewed what I wrote back in March to see if it really gave any insight to what I was thinking, and other than being worried about what people would do financially, it really didn’t. (You can read that post here.) What do I remember from March? I remember thinking that we might have a tour program by July. (While this […]
“Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story”
My entry point for history was my own family. I grew up visiting graveyards regularly, whether it was planting flowers on relatives graves (some of whom I don’t remember exactly where they fit in the family tree) or trying to find other branches on the family tree generations back, so far back that the graves were often not visited anymore. I can still find baby Daisy because she’s buried so close to Author’s Ridge in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord. To put things into even further perspective was thinking about my great-aunt. Born at […]