Tag Archives: writing

Happy 33!

Yes, I got your age correct this year. The crazy thing about this birthday is you are now exactly (by one day), half my age. (notice how I did not say I am double yours). I was your age when I had you. I have lived half my life as your mom! Ok, you get it.

33. You are in such a good place. This half of my life has been so fun watching you get here. You have become one of the people I most want to hang with. You tolerate my craziness, even appreciate it, laugh at (most of) my jokes, and ground me when I start spinning into infinity.

But the best part about being your mom is knowing that you watched, you listened and learned to live in such a way that people know they can always count on you. And you married someone who is exactly the same way. What a gift. To each other and to your families, friends and co-workers!

Son. Brother. Friend. Husband. Uncle. Senior Manager, Product Owner – Workday. (ha, at least you don’t have the words ‘human capital’ in your title anymore, that freaked me out) You kick ass in all those roles. You certainly go the extra mile in the uncle dept, evidenced by the photo above!

It is hard to imagine what your little people will be like when they grow up. It is crap shoot of nature vs. nurture for all of us. We certainly could not be any happier with what we got in you. As your 4th grade teacher once said, you are a happy go lucky deep thinker. We are so happy you stayed that way. A hard task these days.

May the world continue to spin in your direction. And when it changes course, and it will, you will know how to weather any storm. Know that just as you are always there for me, I will walk through fire to be there for you.

Happy 33, Buckaroo!

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Filed under birthday, danny, parenting, Uncategorized

Love, loss and how will I ever live without dog hair in my life

White dog. Predominantly black wardrobe. Dark wood floors.

It was always a bad judgement call. But on the flip side it was perfect. She marked me. I am her human and she comes wherever I go. (thank you to all of those who let us bring her… especially you cat people , and those with pristinely clean floors before we got there… you know who you are).

If you know me in-person, or where I post ad nauseam about my girl, Iko has been my sidekick for almost 14 years. Rain or shine you will find me 2-3x a day walking the neighborhood with my girl in tow – the best personal trainer of all times. A big quirky girl with her very own mind about who is the pet and who trains who. Unapologetically who she is. From day one she walked to the beat of her own drummer. Fiercely loyal with a side of don’t pester me with expectations. Surely one of the most photographed dogs around.

Who is Iko? What makes her stand out? She is the lover of Archie. Visitor of next door neighbors (mad door knocking skills). The queen of the corner of Salem Lane. Both online and in real life, Iko made her mark on this world and filled mine with the love and companionship that I will forever be grateful for. She came into my life after the great loss of my big love before her, Mel. My first dog. And she filled those paws with grace and her own brand of confidence that always boosted mine when I needed it most.

We have walked this life together through some of the most difficult and joyous times. She holds my greatest secrets and has held me up when I have thought I could not keep going.

And now, my sweet girl, I can see you are done. You gave it your all these past 2 years. With the help of an army of those who loved you fiercely, led by an angel of a Vet who I have followed to the ends of the earth (or East Northport which is sort of the same thing with a sick dog in the back seat), we were graced with what we can never get enough of.

More time.

So now, I will let you go with dignity to go find Mel and all of the other loves I have lost. Say hey to them all for me.

Me? I will walk around with an Iko-sized hole that is just fine because it will remind me that you will always be with me. You are part of my soul.

As for the dog hair… I guess I will have to live without it everywhere.

Godspeed, my sweet girl. Go run free and swim again.

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Filed under aging, dogs, grief, Iko, loss, pets, relationships

"Write", he said.

“Write!”, he said. Actually, he didn’t use the exclamation point. He never does. Truthfully, he has the most calming voice on earth, he needs no punctuation.

No, I am not hearing the voice of G-d, or having some crazy ass hallucinations (yet). I am talking about a conversation with my hypertension doc last week.

Me: Things are getting a little crazy out there, I’ve had a few spikes, do you want to change my meds.

Him: No. I don’t. Have a drink.

You can see why this man is my doctor.

Me: Really?

Him: Yes. You’re fine. You will regulate. But, I have another idea… write.

Me: Wow. Write! (this must be where the exclamation point came in).

So, the story continues that he did not know that I was an ex-blogger. But he does know me. And he is a hypertension wizard from another dimension who practices and writes about the mind/body connection and knows who his patients are. Oh, and he sort of saved my life.

His directive to write was to Write it Out. Write what you feel, fear, think, obsess about… write the whole damn roller coaster tape loop running in your head. Read it once. And then just put it away.

So…

Yeh, I might do that. But tonight while I was walking the dog a lightbulb went off in my head.

Write.

And this is where I always did that.

So, I guess I’m back. Stay tuned…

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Filed under blogging, current events, health, the new normal, the new workplace

Hi. I think I’m back… again

hi

Funny how something that is so good for you can sometimes be the thing you avoid the most. Think leafy greens, exercise and getting enough sleep.

Or, in this case, blogging.

This used to be the place I went everyday to share. Stupid stuff, fun stuff, not so fun stuff… time to cry stuff. It grounded me. It was my constant. It was the receptacle for all things Amy. The good, the bad and the ugly.

I have tried to come back here more than once, but I guess I just was not ready.

Funny thing is that I still think in blog posts (and t-shirt quotes). Things will happen, I will see stories that I have plenty of commentary on. But committing fingers to keyboard has been a tough one. The worst part is the hundreds of ridiculous photos I have taken and never shared. Or shared briefly on instagram without my warped analysis.

What has changed? I am hitting a milestone. One that has me simultaneously more rocked and infinitely more grounded than I expected. So it seems as a good time as any to try to commit again. It is all part of the package of time to ground.

To write.

To make you laugh.

And cry.

Because when you don’t have the time, is when you need to make it the most.

Sometimes you need to go home again. Whatever home means.

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Write Drunk

I found this on Pinterest today. I love the idea.

Notes to self:

1. do not reverse order

2. do not do this with client work

3. this works great for ‘piece of my mind’ emails (double note to self on this one: don’t put the recipient’s email address in until sober to avoid accidental sending)

4. do not advise your children to do this

5. do not advise your copywriters to do this

6. do not advise your mom bloggers on a childrens’ brand to do this (cough, cough, you know who you are)

7. this could work for design as well but step away from complicated photoshop tasks

8. do not, under any circumstances, vomit on the keyboard (way too hard to clean)

9. do not admit that have done this

10. use spell check

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Filed under humor, work habits

Time to Cry Tuesday – Blogher Hangover

The other day I gave you a silly little peek into a moment I experienced at Blogher, the women’s blogging conference. I am usually prone to pick out the most absurd of moments and share them here because I like to entertain. And I have to admit, THAT was entertaining.

But the event itself was far from silly. For me it was proof that women from all over can come together and form a community that in a matter of hours becomes as close as those from which they have traveled. If not, in some ways, closer.

Women are a funny gender. We nurture by nature. Sure there are the mean girls and the cool chicks at the cafeteria table. And from where I came from, there are those who liked to mix it up with a little girl fight at the flagpole now and then. But for the most part, women rally around.

Someone is ill? We feed their families and care for their kids. Someone has a loss? We make arrangements, and give a shoulder in the darkest of hours when everyone else has moved on. And hey, when we puke, our truest friend will hold our hair back and never judge us.

So it is no surprise that when a hotel full of women bloggers got together there was a buzz; a feeling in the air that was hard to describe. Sure it was overwhelming at times. But the strangest things were happening. Coincidences and connections. With strangers. But not really. Women met each other in person for the first time when they had known each other online for years. And all we could say was, ‘I feel like I have known you for years.’

I spent the most fascinating hour drinking wine with a group of women in a hotel room. Most of us only knew one or two people in the room. ‘Where did you sit?’, my husband asked me. ‘You know, all over. In the chairs, lying on the beds. It was very relaxed.’ Of course his mind went into full blown girl on girl pillow fights. Yeh, well that is the penis for you.

I digress. The point was, the whole purpose of this conference was to share. Ideas. Lives. Business concepts. And everything in between. To give each other the balls to keep doing whatever it is that we do. For whatever reasons we do them.

I regret that I was only able to attend one day. But this 14-hour day left me so spent that going back was simply out of the question. I had a Blogher hangover (or maybe it was the wine) But, I needed to digest.

Now that I have, I am so proud to have been a part of this. Blogging is very much a way of life for me. There is no right or wrong way to do it. Some over-share, but it works for them. Some over-sell, but it works for them as well.

And me, well there were three things that made me happiest. One, I got to check in at the same time as Mrs. Potato Head.  Two, someone in an elevator saw my conference badge and told me that I had the best blog name of the day. And three, I got to hear a ballroom full of women chant the word vagina in unison. Seriously, where else could that happen?

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog. For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone.

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Filed under blogging, friendship, social media, Time to Cry Tuesdays, women

Blogaversary

blogaversary

Believe it or not, my friends, today marks my one year blogaversary. Yes, I have been banging away here on the the keyboard for a full year, trying to make you all laugh. I look back on my first post and still consider it one of my best: Spanx, Dunkin Donuts and the fear of YouTube. I had no idea what this crazy blog would become. Oddly that first post set the tone and made me realize that my life can be funny sometimes. 

I hardly remember life before blogging. Everything seems like it should be a post. Sad, funny, poignant, disgusting, it is all blogworthy.

I think what this blog has done most for me, is made me walk the walk of its mission; to laugh, sometimes to the point of tears.

Face it, life is hard, and we all get cranky… A LOT. Those who know me well hear me kvetch on a regular basis. But this is the place I come to at the end of every day to force myself to see the humorous side of things. No matter how down I get, the idea of a big box of shut the hell up will always get a laugh out of me. Sometimes the topics are ones where you would never find humor, like aging parents. Other times it is just the theatre of the absurd, like the Freakatorium, because that is the best place to escape.

Hey, without this blog I would never have been the Minneapolis fm107.1 Get Real Girl of the Week. A thrill no woman should be denied.

As a little gift to myself I submitted the word blogaversary to Urban Dictionary. If approved this will join my other words there: bloganoia, psuedosnarky, twitobirth, twirgin and twexpert. Yes, it is an odd hobby but someone has to do it. Why? I don’t know, but someone does.

I want to thank all of you that read me so loyally. Those I know in real life, and those I have met through this space. Social media has combined my two faves, connecting with people and technology. I was a natural for this crap.

In celebration of this event, you can stop racking your brains on what to get me (no I am not registered at Blogs ‘r Us), simply humor me and throw a comment out today. Those who read daily but stay quiet, show a little love and tell me what you like, or what you don’t like. A favorite post, a least favorite topic. Or hell, share a recipe or a story of your own. Just de-lurk and show me that you are there. Then you can go back into your little holes and read quietly again after today.

Thank you all, and I see you in the stats so I know you are there. For making me realize that there is always room for more humor in your lives.

Haven’t had enough of me yet? You can also read me at 50-Something Moms Blog.

For photo enthusiasts, visit Leaving the zip code, photos from outside the comfort zone

add to del.icio.us : Add to Blinkslist : add to furl : Digg it : add to ma.gnolia : Stumble It! : add to simpy : seed the vine :  :  : TailRank : post to facebook

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Filed under blogging, friendship, humor, writing

Bloganoia


an interesting little twist to my new world of blogging. over the past few weeks when something happens people will ask, “oh no, are you going to put me in your blog”. it’s kind of funny. i mean, seriously, it is not like i am writing a column in the NYT. so i guess that replaces the ever famous “this should be a chapter” comment, the difference being that these are seeing the (cyber)light of day. don’t worry my friends, i will be kind.

i thought i had made up this word until i googled it and found that it is out there and already has many definitions.

i, for one, have always been a big fan of the made up word. yesternight. cyberexlover. transplendent. (any woody allen fans out there?) blogging seems to be a natural for this. being of ‘a certain age’ – to borrow an extremely annoying label from the ridiculous chipped nail article , i am considered tech-savvy amongst my peers. this is no great feat as the bar is set pretty low, but hey, i will take it where i can get it.

so here goes – the first (of many) blog vocab lists. now don’t try stealing these, they are all in a sealed envelope on the way to a copyright attorney as we speak ; ). actually, when i googled them, some already exist as blog names or websites. guess i am not the only one who gets a charge out of making up words. there must be others stuck in the basement, banging the keyboard trying to amuse themselves.

i highly encourage commenting on this sucker. maybe i will run a contest for the best word…

bloganoia: fear of being blogged about

blogalicious: hot & juicy blog; my blogshake brings all the boys to the yard (urban dictionary has a lamer definition)

blogomania: frenzy surrounding the need to blog

blogophobic: (a no brainer) fear of blogging

blogagoric: fear of blogging outside?

blogcentric: believing yours is the only blog worth reading

pseudoblog: a blog written on paper and scanned in

preblogastoric: mom, tell us about the days before blogging when you had to use a pen and paper

bloggertensive: high blood pressure from reading infuriating blog posts

blognostic: a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in blogs

give me more…

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Filed under blogging, humor, trends, writing

“the book” becomes the blog

For those who know me well, there is a running joke whenever something happens that it should be ‘a chapter’. I could cry but I don’t have time… I should write a book but I don’t have time. My kids always ask me , “when are you going to write that book?”

It got to the point where I considered publishing a book of only chapter heads (of which I have over 100 by now) and then a sequel with the text filled in (sure, big seller…straight to the bargain table)

The book that was never written has grown up to be a blog. Check out the About Page for its essence.

I hope you can laugh at least once a day here.

And yes, sometimes find the time to cry as well.

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Filed under writing