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This is not the photo I wanted to take, but it’s the photo I got, not unlike the 15 years of marriage we celebrated tonight. I don’t mean that to sound like a bad thing. Life rarely turns out the way we hope or expect. Part of living it means we roll with the punches…

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I got my activist hat out today and joined my church at the Jacksonville Nehemiah Assembly to try to raise justice issues to our city’s leaders. I have to admit that this is uncomfortable for me and I had a hard time engaging. But I was there. And for whatever little bit, it counts. Maybe…

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More yard work today, followed by a walk to the playground with the girls and dogs. Now cooking dinner and annoyed because a) the grill started up, but by the time I got out with the chicken, it had gone out due to an empty propane tank, b) in going with plan B of baking…

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I spent two and a half hours in the yard today, trying to clean it up a little. I cut back allllll of those dead bougainvillea branches and got scratched about two dozen times, but it looks a lot healthier now. Then I pruned my roses and weeded the garden, and to my great surprise,…

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Christina’s on fire tonight. We went out to eat and she didn’t stop talking for two straight hours. Tonight’s Christina-ism: “I’m a tailgater because I have a tail and I’m a gator.” Comes close to a couple weeks ago when she started choking and stopped to catch her breath with her hands up just to…

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I married Billy 15 years ago today. It has been a long road filled with babies and tremendous loss and suicide and baseball. And, ok, travel and amusement parks and homemade pasta. There have been times I didn’t think we’d see another anniversary, but here we are, celebrating 15 years for better or worse. And…

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Robin finished her state report project today. If I were her teacher, I’d give her a B. Personally, I wouldn’t be satisfied with a B, but Robin seems content with it. Christina, on the other hand, decided she wants to do her own state report. So we went to the library and took out a…

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There are little signs of life in the backyard, despite my neglect. I thought this desert rose was a goner after our couple of hard freezes, but there is new life growing there amid the dead stuff. I want to spend some time this weekend cleaning out all that is dead and/or broken from the…

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This photo is exactly what it looks like – taking a photo for no other reason than I didn’t want to miss a day. I was literally in bed with the light off when I remembered and just couldn’t find the energy to get up and try to do something even remotely creative. I was…

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The last three days have been absolutely exhausting. Fun, but exhausting. I’m really glad it’s over. Back to work tomorrow. I’ll try to enjoy the small amount of downtime I’ve got left.

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I am so exhausted. We went to the NCA/NDA National Collegiate Championship in Daytona Beach as a cheer team field trip. It was so hot. According to my weather app, it never even hit 80, but it felt like 115. We sat in direct sun for over four hours. It was just a long day.…

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The kids had the day off from school, so at the last minute I decided to take the day off too. I took the kids to get sandwiches and we went to Walter Jones Park, where we played card games while squirrels tried their best to see what food we might have for them. Then…

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There was a mild meltdown before Christina’s dance class where she said she never wanted to go again, that she hated it… tears and tears and tears. This is a person who all season long has told me how much she loves dance and wants to join the competitive team and take four classes next…

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I don’t know if I should disclose that I got fed up with work today and took the kids to the park after picking them up from school instead of coming back to work. I do not regret it even one iota. Sunshine can work wonders.

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It was a perfect day outside today. After dinner, I walked over to the gas station to pick up a six pack and enjoyed a beer out on the back patio while watching the Yankees game, the sunset, and Jackson pouncing on anything that twitched. Really needed to be outside today. I also really need…
