And so, a few days ago I was thinking about writing while eating a root beer Dum Dum lollipop. Thinking about writing is pretty much my natural state. Working on, y’know, actually writing more. Stick with me. The Dum Dum was a nostalgic addition courtesy of a recent care package from my mother. It contains too many E numbers, and two handheld gamimg devices. Isla, at four, is apparently behind her peers in the use of gadgets that are not…
A few months ago, I was on a self-care kick. I bought three mindfulness magazines made from recycled paper, and a candle that smells of books. This was it. I was going to read through the magazines with the candle going. I was going to learn how to relax, and maybe even get some sleep. And yet. The magazines sit unread in various corners and different piles. The candle is still sealed. I’m still not sleeping, but that’s OK. I’ve…
‘You know how new hair grows in under old hair?’ I said to Neil through the bathroom wall. ‘Yeah?’ ‘Well, all my new hair is gray,’ I said. Before we headed off on our most recent road trip, I spent some time looking at myself in the mirror. I figured out some things. I should probably drink more water. I may start wearing some make up, all the time. But not really. Ah’m no bad, as they say over here.…
‘Mummy stay with me,’ Isla says after 67 books last night. We worked through a stack and then I had to drive backwards over some Lego to get to her bookcase. ‘Clean your room tomorrow, please.’ ‘OK’, she says. ‘Read Miss Messy again.’ Sometimes she lays in our bed for stories, and sometimes I squeeze into hers. If I don’t think I’ll get up again, I park beside her bed. She crawls into my lap, still. This kid. She’s…
And so, I was sitting with my Made of Awesome eating cheesecake and consulting the Oracle Google about options for my hen/bachelorette weekend. ‘But what do you want to doooo?’ she asked. ‘I don’t care. Surprise me. No Loch Ness cruises, please. And no pampering bullshit. But surprise me. Should we take a cocktail-mixing class? Or go back to Prague? New York? Surprise me, though. I don’t care.’ ‘How many people are we inviting?’ ‘Everyone. No one. Just us. Just send me…
