• It was another long day of training today, after which I got Christina and Jackson to join me in a quick trip to the park. The weather could not have been any more incredible, and I really regretted having to leave, but hunger calls.

    April 23
  • Spent 90% of the day training to facilitate NAMI family support groups. It was more exhausting than I expected. Sitting still for that amount of time is very tedious. When it was done, I took myself for a walk around the neighborhood. I needed it. And I beat the rain.

    April 22
  • The kids’ school hosted a movie night fundraiser at which zero people watched the movie. Kids were zooming by in every which way so that they were no more than blurred lines criss-crossing the semi-dark room. It was chaos, and all the parents sat in their folding chairs paying no attention while I curled up…

    April 21
  • When in doubt, take photo of dog. It was a busy day. I am recommitting to Weight Watchers. I really need to lose about 30 pounds, which is doable. I tracked all my food today, but did not stay under my limit. I just always felt hungry. I don’t know if I just need to…

    April 20
  • Work in progress. Lots left to do. I got some weeding done tonight, but there’s a lot more to go, then raking the leaves, then bagging it all up. I’m deciding whether to lay much when I’m done. The leaves will just fall on top of the mulch and they will be a lot harder…

    April 19
  • 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…

    April 18
  • 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…

    April 17
  • 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…

    April 16
  • 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,…

    April 15
  • 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…

    April 14
  • 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…

    April 13
  • 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…

    April 12
  • 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…

    April 11
  • 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…

    April 10
  • 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.

    April 9