From the monthly archives:

September 2011

Still Here

September 24, 2011

I’m still feeling disgruntled.
That’s a good word, yes? It straddles the line between cheerful irritation and honest upset. Disgruntled. The guy who goes postal is disgruntled. So is the lady at the deli counter who wants the low-sodium sliced turkey that happens to be sold out.
I’m trying very hard to be present around my kids, [...]

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Complications

September 16, 2011

When she wants to teach me a lesson or when she’s had maybe a little bit too much of my bullshit, she speaks in parables. She sasses me, tweaks me until I’m squirming and I admit that maybe, yes, OK, I’m being too (fill-in-the-blank) about the situation.
But this week, when I told her about the pit inside [...]

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One Nation

Thumbnail image for One Nation September 12, 2011

We put our flag out yesterday.
The kids went outside and danced around on the front porch while the mister got Old Glory secured in the holder. Both of them spontaneously burst into the Pledge of Allegiance.
Tears prickled behind my eyes; I have many, many deep-seated misgivings about the path our country seems to be on, [...]

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The Big Show

September 10, 2011

Envy tastes like copper pennies.
I know because I seem to have swallowed a mouthful of them. Each time I think I’ve washed the aftertaste away with my own hard work it comes bubbling up again, like a particularly stubborn case of reflux.
I’m not proud of it; long ago I cut off the water supply to [...]

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