I am quite the perfectionist in most aspects of my life. I fail at being perfect regularly enough to know that is the natural state of things, but I still understand the feeling that it’s better not to do something than to do it poorly. I know the pain of things not turning out in […]
On Being a Late Bloomer
This one is for my friend David, a scientist and blogger who was home for a visit over the holidays. On New Year’s Eve he was telling a story about how short he was in high school. He’s not short any more, so he declared himself a “late bloomer.” Which is fine. But I’ve been […]
My Making (and Buying) Mantra
One Little Word is a great way to avoid making specific resolutions, but there is one thing I’m going to try to do better this year that doesn’t easily fit into the “grow” scheme. I find it’s a lot easier to think about having principles than it is to actually carry them out. So maybe […]
The Story of the Stockings
It’s an intimate thing when you bring people in to your traditions. Whether its a first holiday with the family you’ve married into or a special gathering with friends, it’s really delicate to share those personal things that have been with you for years. Which is part of why I really wanted to help my […]
The Season for Slowing Down
Now that the snow is mostly off the roads and the girl has been securely delivered to school (I feel like the moms in those back-to-school memes where the kids are sad and the mom is jumping for joy, except here we were both really excited to get back to our routine) and I’m realizing […]
How to (Mostly) Enjoy Being Snowed in with Your Family
I feel like I need to start this post with a disclaimer: I really do love and enjoy my family. And I really did enjoy spending extra time with them when a snow and ice storm kept us in the house. But I work from home, and I’m already looking at two weeks of the […]
10 Pieces of Advice from 10 Years of Freelancing
When I made my first sale as a freelancer, I was super excited. I was working nights as an editor at a newspaper and had big dreams that someday maybe I’d be able to freelance full-time, actually get to see my husband occasionally, maybe even be at home with a kid if we ever chose […]