-
Favorite Books & Music of 2019
Don’t you just love a good list that you don’t have to come up with yourself? I’ve compiled my favorites for ya, fat-free and full of flavor, so all you have to do is click the pics and join me. Great books are the gifts that keep on giving through this new month, year and decade. Feliz Año Nuevo, Amigos! Books 1. Braving the Wilderness, by Brené Brown The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone I mostly feel like I belong, and I feel fairly courageous, so I didn’t think I needed this book. #wrong So. Many. Great. Points. 2. The President is Missing, by James…
-
It’s Beginning to Look a lot Like Chaos: 4 Ways I Fight the Christmas Crazy
If you’re anything like me, you would rather not be found sitting in a corner on Christmas morning, sucking on candy cane plastic and rocking to the beat of Santa Baby. I know if I run at the normal American pace though, I’ll be up wrapping gifts till three in the morning and sliding into Christmas slightly bitter and more coo-coo than ever. So I made some new choices this year. Not everyone will like all of them, but when I went back to work I think I added a bit of “I care less about what people think” to my résumé. I often describe this season as organized chaos.…
-
Thanksgiving Hacks to Keep You Grateful. And Sane.
Just like these funky pumpkins I found in Santa Cruz, I’ve got some funky goodies for ya. No boring twine and brine ideas here. I dug deeper, scoured the sites and compiled a list to make your turkey day a tad easier. Some of these items I own, some I’m buying, and some I’m loving from a distance, but they are definitely mother-in-law approved. Most of us are about to host or join a gathering that begs for planning, cooking and manners, but fear not. You still have time to order these helpful goodies from Amazon and get them way before Aunt Norma pushes your buttons doorbell. * For the Kitchen &…
-
October Bullying: White Boys in Baja, Brown Girls in Cali
He acted like it wasn’t a big deal, but we knew otherwise. “I got kicked in the stomach today.” I felt objectivity fly out la ventana while my blood pressure rose. “Why, buddy?” “I don’t know. I couldn’t understand them.” When we sent our tall, pale, strawberry blonde boy to school in a black-hair-rules culture, we knew it might be rough. Not speaking the language basically made him feel deaf and mute. Whether the other kids talked, whispered or yelled didn’t make a difference; our child had no friends and no idea how to make them. So he climbed trees, ate, walked, colored and played alone. The learning curve of…
You May Also Like
No Language, No Voice: Going to School in Another Country All Alone
-
Dumbing Down Our Kids: 11 Rules of Life to Challenge the Teens in Your Life
If an adult called all teens young, dumb and broke, there would most likely be a hormonal backlash with a protest march and a side of attitude. But for some reason when a teen writes a song with the same title, his young followers blare it like their mantra and dance like someone’s watching. When we adults think of our own teen years, most of us probably agree… young, dumb and broke sounds fairly accurate. That’s not our dream for the next generation though. So how do you think the majority of our young people drifted so far from our grandparents’ standards of working hard, saving before you spend, and…
-
3 Books, 2 Shows & a Podcast
I’ve always believed items and experiences of significance should be shared, not hoarded. So here ya go… six things I’m currently loving and think you will too. * 3 Books 1. Braving the Wilderness – Brené Brown Her subtitle explains it well: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone. Umm, yes please. Whether we realize it or are willing to admit it, most of us yearn for true belonging. Cultivating it in our communities, organizations and culture sounds taxing to me… and fantastic. The courage to stand alone isn’t simple, but this book is on its way to my hammock chair and I’m ready to dive…
-
Young Bride, Thick Pride: Choosing to Stay
I never excelled in math. So the first time someone told me having small kids was when the days dragged and the years flew, it didn’t make sense. But I loved it. Exactly! Someone finally understands the weird time warp. I occasionally feel the same in my marriage. Since working and writing and constantly feeding my people, individual days don’t usually drag. But over the years I’ve caught myself in the middle of a particularly rough marriage patch thinking, “How many more years is it going to be like this?” And then last week I woke up and thought, “How did we get here?” If you think you have a…
-
Above Reproach: 3 Stories with Men That Changed My Ways
At the ripe old age of 16-ish, I’m pretty positive I couldn’t have told you what living above reproach meant. Fifteen years later I moved to Baja and lived above a roach (a colony of them actually), but that’s different. The appearance of evil is a tricky thing. If you’re not actually doing anything evil/wrong/illegal, it’s easy to argue it’s no biggie. How it appears to outsiders looking in is whole ‘nother ballgame. I didn’t realize it for years, but I’ve had three similar experiences that could’ve flipped me on my head and changed the trajectory of my life. They didn’t just happen to me though—I chose them. I just…
-
Dads & Dudes: Father’s Day Gifts That Aren’t Lame
It’s not a secret–most dads don’t want a tie. Or a jar of spicy salsa. Or a hammer. If the man in your life is getting harder to shop for, you are in good company. Some of my friends are shopping for way more than one dad. Even if you have four dads, three sons, two uncles, and a grandpa, I gotcha covered. I scoured the sites, in search of anything but mundane, and came up with this list of funness. * New Dads Starting with the guys who are new to the game… With five other books in the series, the sleep-deprived dad is bound to stay awake reading…
-
The Hungry Games
(Shared with permission) Age: nine Child: mine Attitude: fine Until it wasn’t. When one of our kids got in trouble for a garden-variety no-no, I figured the next steps would resemble the rest. Too tall to spank and not naughty enough to ground, I sent him to the back room where his timeout minutes matched his age. He knew the rule: any yelling or screaming made the time start over. Normally, regret bubbled and his demeanor recovered before I returned. But this time it elevated from mad to angry to ballistic in way less than nine minutes. In a house on a foundation, the muffled sounds of fists beating floors…
