not necessarily in this order

  One , a leaf fell on my head while I was hiking earlier; if that isn’t “fall”, I don’t know what is.  Two , when I got home, I bent down to say hello to Maysie who was sitting like a human on her mat. When I went to stand up, she put her paws on my shoulders and pulled my face close to hers; if that isn’t love, I don’t know what is.  Three , I was driving Lil Momma to rehearsal last night, which is when I get to hear the bits of her day and heart. She told me about an unexpected interaction at school and the excitement in voice was so sweet and real - I almost teared up; if that isn’t motherhood in a nutshell, I don’t know what is. Four , the Mr. and I have been realizing that we won’t get 1:1 time in this season of life if we aren’t intentional about it. We made a plan to go out to a quick lunch during one of my weekly work from home days starting next week; if that isn’t something to look forward to, I don’t know what is.  Five , all of your kind words and though...

This is a bit of a sad one (pet loss and feelings), so please skip if that’s what serves you best right now! This week, we mostly unexpectedly* lost Bella, our 12-year-old Maltese Yorkshire Terrier mix.  *  “mostly unexpectedly” because Bella was part of the senior population of pups and had some health challenges, but ones we’d thought were more of a “in the next year or so” conversation… Bella was my parents’. Right after I had Lil Momma, they decided to get another dog and no matter how I begged them to get an old and slow dog for their older and slower years, my dad took one look at a Morkie puppy and that was the end of that.  They called her “Bella from Hella” because she was such a handful, especially after we lost my dad. She ate baby LM’s socks, bit all of us, and tripped my mom multiple times. I tried to get Mom to work with a trainer, but she somehow ended up with a pet psychic who would tell us how Bella communed with my dad and wanted more respect around the ...

In a season where baby steps and consistency are the name of the game, I’ve had trouble seeing wins because of everything I feel like I should be doing. I should be doing all the strength workouts and moderate intensity cardio and protein and fiber and, and, and… I should be done with this Estate and my house should be declutterred and read more and better and, and, and… I should be making more intentional memories and traditions before Lil Momma goes off into the world in like 5 years and my own Estate planning and what do I want to do with my one wild and precious life and, and, and… All of that in my head at all times AND how I very much know habits are built brick by brick and jumping ahead because of the noise in my head is why I crash and burn, alongside this darn “ avoid/procrastinate if it can’t be perfect ” vibe that’s more than a little exhausting. I’ve been encouraged to try and lean into things that make me uncomfortable in this season of life, so I decided one “experime...

It's hard to believe, but we've had Maysie for an entire year! She's gone from being a 21 pound, long and lean Bernedoodle puppy to being a 65 pound, tall and long and lean Bernedoodle teenager! In honor of her "gotcha" anniversary, I wanted to share 10 things I LOVE about this pup who has brought us so much joy: One : Just look at this face!! Two : The Bernedoodle head tilt. Give her a command she doesn't fully agree with? "Talk" with her in a Bernedoodle-ish voice? Turn off her Olivia Rodrigo playlist? Her head goes to the side and those big eyes question your logic. Three : She's so cuddly. Our 12-year-old Maltese-Yorkie Bella came to us with food aggression and anxiety. On her best days, we can pet her back once or twice; on her worst days, only the Mr can approach her. Maysie LOVES to be pet, loved on, laid with, etc. Maybe too much? She will jump up and put her paws on your shoulders to "hug" you and make sure you give her your fu...

Sometimes you just gotta jump back into things, right? Here’re 5 things from this past week: 1. Maysie finished up a “party tricks” training class. I say “finished up” and not “graduated” (even though she did graduate) because she is way too far into her 2nd year of puppy-hood wildness to really pick up many of the tricks. She’s stubborn like the rest of us, haha!  2. Lil Momma turned 13 last week and then started 8th grade this week. I don’t even know how to process it. She’s as tall as me? She sleeps in on the weekends?? 2 days of school followed by a 4 day weekend seem like the best way to ease into this last year of middle school.  3. I’ve been on a vision journey where, after 6 months of dealing with it, I finally went to the eye doctor to figure out why my vision is super blurry at night on the days I work from home  (I haven’t been able to read books! Or recipes! It’s been so not fun.) As someone who wears progressive (tri-focal) glasses because I am both far- and ...

Some numbers from this past week… 3 : micro-decluttering sessions I did in the house (a shelf in our closet, the side counter in the kitchen, the bathroom vanity) 1.5 : days of school yet. LM is so ready to be done and advocating for not going to the .5 tomorrow because “what even is the point?”   303 : place on the hold list I am for  Yesteryear   3 : new places Maysie went on walks at over the weekend. Now that she’s one with 1:1 training, we are exploring our town and some trails and she’s (mostly) behaving. The girl just loves saying hi to people.  1 : loaf of sourdough baked during our one weekend in June without a recital!! The freedom!! 2 : weeks until school starts back up for me. I have a better schedule in mind for this asynchronous class, so I’m hoping to keep Full Send Summer going rather than living in functional freeze like I did with my first class earlier this year.  Sometimes the easiest way to get out of writer’s block is just to write, ri...