TGIF and Hello November! It’s my birthday and anniversary month, two reasons to celebrate! It’s also a month that reminds me to say thank you, and start thinking about the new year … and maybe, if I’m feeling really together, about the holidays next month! Thinking about … plans and menus for Thanksgiving. Things look really different this year. Sara is here!! and Katie and her family are going to be away with Rob’s family (far enough away enough that we won’t be seeing them until December). Turns out Sara’s not so much a fan of turkey sandwiches and Marc … Continue reading TGIF | Hello November.

TGIF and Happy October! The morning walks continue to provide plenty of inspiration to simply pause, gaze, and snap a photo. I’m sure I could find a whole TGIF in that one moment, captured later than usual this morning, thanks to an early meeting at church. But it’s the first Friday of this new month, and I’ve been looking forward to greeting it like I used to. Thinking about … spending 2022 reading Louise Erdrich. Her backlog is extensive and full of complex, thought-provoking work. She’s also known for weaving the same characters into multiple stories. I’ve read four of … Continue reading TGIF | Hello October.

I love greeting my day from this spot … smiles from my favorite family (and those boys are not so little any more – Charlie started first grade yesterday and Sam is in Pre-K!), the warm, softly scented, glow of a candle, a cup of coffee, and my journal. off to the left, Holly is curled up in our white chair. overhead, the fan is whirring. and way off in the background, Marc is watching the final round(s) of the women’s Olympic golf match. Hello to August from an early Friday morning (which somehow became a late afternoon). Thinking about … Continue reading TGIF | Hello August.

Hello friends and welcome to the first Friday post for May … this is the post where I like to look forward to a whole month through the helpful frame of TGIF. Thinking about … finding a new rhythm for my days. Needing to be regular with Holly’s schedule so she can be “regular”, adding in-person lunches with my mom and Sunday church (and one church meeting and more to come), working out with Sara at 7am, more tennis, more traffic (ugh. ugh. ugh!) … I sort of flew by the seat of my pants this week and I’m not … Continue reading TGIF | Hello May.

Looking back at last month’s Hello post, I’m almost gob-smacked by the difference that JUST four weeks can make. almost. because I still remember the difference that four weeks made last spring. and that four weeks (four hours … four minutes … four seconds) can cause a seismic shift in any of our lives. I snapped those photos yesterday morning. Dark early. Sara’s flight had just left Heathrow (on time!). and seeing that sunstar shining through the faces of two my favorite people. well. gratitude comes easy. Sara’s flight was actually almost an hour early (we were home about 30 … Continue reading TGIF | Hello April.

Hello friends and Hello January. Like all of you, I’m feeling a bit gob-smacked* by everything that’s happened this week. Both yesterday and today, I noted in my journal that I was grateful to have time to just sit. I planned for the year to get off to a slow start so I could make the most of Sara’s weeks with us. Truly, my typically not-so-full calendar has been practically empty … and it’s been a blessing. as has Sara’s presence. and for sure the post that I’m writing today is not the post I envisioned just last Friday as … Continue reading TGIF | Hello January.