To The Picasso of The Graffiti World

To The Thoughtful and Exceedingly Talented Individual Who Tagged My Car Yesterday,

Let me start by saying thank you. In a world drowning in gray, mid-size SUVs, your addition of the word “MIUe” is a special way to stand out from all the rest. Also, it doesn’t escape me that you have picked my favorite color, hospital scrub blue, to adorn our once Plain Jane car. Now, when driving around, I’m constantly reminded to be extra safe, so as to not end up in a hospital, surrounded by people wearing those aforementioned scrubs. (more…)

Goodbye, again.

Everything is temporary. This is the mantra I’ve been repeating over and over to myself the last few days as I try to digest the news of my sister’s now imminent departure from where we reside in the Pac Northwest, back to our home state of Colorado. Hearing she is leaving has left me breathless as I play mediator to my head and my heart, who are pumping out very different messages. (more…)

An Open Letter To Internet Bullies via BLUNTmoms

This week I had the pleasure of writing a post for the fabulous website, BLUNTmoms, regarding internet bullying, which has become an issue near and dear to my heart. I’ve included a short sample of the piece, but please do stop by and check it out by clicking the link at the bottom of the page. I’d love to hear your feedback!

Another week, another news story about someone saying something idiotic and having the Internet come down on them like the hammer of Thor. While there are plenty of examples to choose from, my new favorite celebrity turned Internet punching bag is Britt McHenry, the ESPN reporter who verbally bitch-slapped a clerk at an Atlanta towing company last month on camera. It wasn’t that she did it, but rather how she did it, with plenty of bragging about her status, a little weight shaming, and some uncomfortable usage of the phrase “baby girl” that really seemed to ignite a full on Internet shit storm. (Click HERE for more…)

Image credits: cover image

The Gift Of Living Simply

This week is my birthday. For those of you in my neck of the woods, a.k.a. ‘Merica, it is also Mother’s Day, so for my husband, it’s a double whammy of gift-giving expectations. While there is a certain appeal to amassing more things, newer things, better things, to replace my other things, there is something I want even more. Something that is free, and easy, and can never be snatched off the counter by tiny toddler hands and thrown in the toilet. (more…)

Weaning, Because Learning To Nurse Wasn’t Enough Of A Punishment

I am a survivor. Over 40 hours in labor? Check. Months of colic? You betcha. Nursing woes, complete with more blood, cracks and blisters than every runner of the New York Marathon combined? Uh-huh. Hormonal issues post-baby that left me weak, nauseous, and scary moody? Yessir. A baby who didn’t sleep through the night until she was 17 months old? Yeppers. I did it. I got through all of this crap, and survived with a smile on my face (at least most, OKAY, some of the time). But recently that smile has turned into a frown. A giant, ugly, pouty face frown. Why, you ask? Because I am trying to wean Baby 1.0, and it is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. (more…)

Average Jane Seeks Posse of Ride or Die Moms To Rule The World

I am not a weirdo. Let’s just get that out there right away so nobody has this crazy idea the reason I’ve had difficulty locking down a group of close friends is due to overt weirdness. I’m not a sneaky sniffer of armpits on the bus, nor a coffee-breathed close-talker. I don’t chew with my mouth open, or yell colorful obscenities at unsuspecting bystanders. I’m not a drunken nuisance, unless you count the time in college I tried to steal a mechanical Christmas reindeer from someone’s yard, and ended up barfing on their nativity scene. (more…)

Grandma Gets The Last Laugh

What do you do with your grandma’s prothetic leg after she passes? Well if her favorite movie was A Christmas Story, you obviously make it into a leg lamp, sans the fishnet stockings because of all the things Grandma was, she wasn’t a hussy. And just like that, for the first time, maybe ever, I feel like I actually truly belong in my family.