tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-180657162024-03-14T02:41:21.050-04:00Midwest MomI clean up the plates.Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.comBlogger1084125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-16923189155880825482024-03-11T22:05:00.001-04:002024-03-11T22:05:31.353-04:00The Five (#10 Slowly Getting Later Edition)<p>1. The Iditarod is happening right now. When I started at my current job, eight years ago, I worked with several classes that studied the Iditarod and I became a fan. One of the ways I supported the classes was by curating the videos posted on the website so that students got to see the ones that highlighted some particularly unique aspect of the experience or some detail that the students had learned/read about. (Also, I was able to weed out any in which the mushers used language that wasn't quite fit for middle school.) We had a school "insider" subscription which gave us access to all the posted videos as well as GPS tracking of the race and all kinds of other details. The curriculum has changed since then, and classes no longer spend time studying the Iditarod in particular. I, however, am a fan for life, and now pay for my own "insider" subscription so I can watch the videos and keep up with the race. Once in a while I will share a particularly interesting update with one of the teachers. The whole thing is utterly fascinating to me. It has been especially interesting to watch the race evolve through the COVID pandemic - it was in the middle of the race in 2020 when things started to shut down. <a href="https://iditarod.com/" target="_blank">The website</a>, even without a subscription, is pretty interesting and full of information. Learning about the race is a great tie-in for children who love adventure stories and have read some of Gary Paulsen's accounts of survival, both fiction and nonfiction. I would love to go to Alaska someday and see the places where the race takes place, but I don't know that I'm hearty enough to actually travel to any of them!</p><p>2. Do you ever suffer from book panic? Every once in a while I will feel myself working into a crisis when I think about how fast books are being published and thinking about all the books I <i>know</i> about that I've never read and all the books that will be published in the future that I will want to read. It's not an exaggeration to say that my "to be read" pile is several lifetimes long. When my hormones aren't in attack mode, I am able to think of it from a more delightful angle: I know I will NEVER run out of things I want to read. </p><p>3. Are you ever disappointed that you still need to work on things like regulating your emotions as an adult? No, just me? Having two teenagers (delightful as they are) of my own, and working with hundreds of middle school students (delightful as they are), I am no stranger to frustration and hurt feelings. I'm a super emotional person...Do I think you're upset with me? Then I'll probably cry. I can't seem to help it. But I do try to keep in mind that, most of the time, the decisions the teens and tweens in my life make have almost nothing to do with me. Sometimes they are upset about circumstances that I have nothing to do with and I just get in the way of their emotions. I'm 100% inclined to meet them where they are and get just as worked up as them - but I continue to learn, a little more each year, to separate that knee-jerk emotional reaction from my actual response. I don't have to throw fuel on whatever fire is in front of me. This is easier with my students than my own children, but I keep working on it. Sigh.</p><p>4. This past weekend I drove to St. Louis to pick Harper up for her exciting spring break in Ohio. There was some kind of backup on the interstate so my GPS rerouted me onto rural country roads to avoid whatever the situation on I-70 was. I was driving between cornfields when a HUGE bald eagle swooped low over the road right in front of my car. Don't worry, I did not hit it! I wish it had been safe and/or possible to take a picture in that moment because it was magnificent. I don't think I'd ever seen one so close, and definitely not with its wings fully spread. It took my breath away. </p><p>5. Speaking of driving to pick up Harper, we finally secured a vehicle for her to drive. So she'll head back to school on her own after this break. I'm glad we worked it out that she could have a car - our jobs just aren't flexible enough to always be able to drive back and forth when she needs to be picked up. This will make life much, much easier. It is a little bittersweet though, because we've had a lot of good time in the car together the last several years, especially driving back and forth to visit colleges. I'm not going to be sorry not to drive six hours two days in a row, but I am going to miss those little bubbles of time with my girl. </p>Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-32752840015408005522024-03-03T20:25:00.002-05:002024-03-03T20:25:59.220-05:00The Five (#9 Citrus Sherbet Edition)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1. A couple of weeks ago we ran into the fancy grocery store near us (not where we usually shop) and I saw this rainbow sherbet in the freezer. It is one of the only times I've ever seen lemon, orange, and lime sherbet in any of the grocery stores in Ohio. This is my absolutely favorite flavor combination, which I fell in love with at <a href="https://thechocolatefactorywi.com/" target="_blank">The Chocolate Factory</a> - where my dad used to take us as kids. I don't even think they carry the flavor any more. When I'm visiting family in Wisconsin I can often get the <a href="https://cedarcresticecream.com/product-category/sherbet/" target="_blank">Cedar Crest</a> version from a local grocery store, but that brand hasn't made it's way to Ohio yet. I have sometimes considered trying to get dry ice so I could bring the Cedar Crest variety home to Ohio, but now I don't have to!</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzN6cOdfFJrVkvV3KlOIkyEZIHmMT7GcF88H8PYuTaKRVphIWiny94VaZAiOadvfMRZy9dg1CPLwR2rLoUnV-hPGwrRou0MV2fGgaf6GljeX6x4M5dTXFbuwYFYn9BjgtiFzKzIre1kz27DA9Y3_su4mF0xrWCmqk8iU5ai-TMOwGFqUF1SvZSGw/s4032/IMG_9140.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzN6cOdfFJrVkvV3KlOIkyEZIHmMT7GcF88H8PYuTaKRVphIWiny94VaZAiOadvfMRZy9dg1CPLwR2rLoUnV-hPGwrRou0MV2fGgaf6GljeX6x4M5dTXFbuwYFYn9BjgtiFzKzIre1kz27DA9Y3_su4mF0xrWCmqk8iU5ai-TMOwGFqUF1SvZSGw/s320/IMG_9140.HEIC" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjTT1tjO3IP71rvNmr-IU8JwSQOj8KRDPOb56wPVD7qgFmFq6raHLfI9NMt4HP1d4WqTR4McJ76glOUHE8taBBiSZd0j6S7bZ18DORpwzQoll6K08xoOag15pSXfmNrQUvvGa-LAoh7-50qHSCtXoILpXZz32bdIskj25HDRB0yKPr0IzTmGZ_dQ/s4032/IMG_9141.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjTT1tjO3IP71rvNmr-IU8JwSQOj8KRDPOb56wPVD7qgFmFq6raHLfI9NMt4HP1d4WqTR4McJ76glOUHE8taBBiSZd0j6S7bZ18DORpwzQoll6K08xoOag15pSXfmNrQUvvGa-LAoh7-50qHSCtXoILpXZz32bdIskj25HDRB0yKPr0IzTmGZ_dQ/s320/IMG_9141.HEIC" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If you are a certain age, you probably remember the food fight scene from the movie <i>Hook</i>, which I always think of when I eat rainbow sherbet (even the inferior type w/ raspberry instead of lemon).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">2. I get served a lot of teacher content on social media and this post from Bored Teachers made me laugh out loud this past week:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-Wy9Db9Anvk" width="320" youtube-src-id="-Wy9Db9Anvk"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I 100% remember classmates' desks being emptied out like this. I also remember the satisfaction of cleaning/reorganizing my own desk. I don't think my desk ever got dumped, I would have been mortified. And I do have a hard time imagining anyone doing this in 2024. Public humiliation was much more common in the 80s.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">3. For the second year in a row we had late February tornadoes in our area. Fortunately there was no damage for us, just a lot of little branches/twigs all over the place. Our weather radio/phones/sirens went off around 4:45 a.m. last Wednesday, which was an interesting wake up call. Lots of blurry students at the middle school that day. Michael's bedroom is in the lower level of our house so we just let him keep sleeping. Basement bedrooms might see more spiders than the upstairs variety but at least you're already in your tornado safe space! (If it had been really close to us we would have relocated him to the basement bathroom, for what it's worth, but we were on the edge of the area of concern.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">4. This quarter the teacher next door to the library is teaching a first period theater elective. This past week groups were running lines/learning scripts in the hallway outside the library and in the library itself. There are several convincing actors in the group because I kept hearing them and thinking I needed to jump up and see if everyone was okay, they sounded so distressed! It is absolutely fascinating to see which students excel in those situations because it isn't always who you'd imagine. Same goes with watching the students play sports.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">5. It is JUST THIS YEAR occurring to me that presidential elections in the US coincide with leap years. Obviously I can just look at a calendar/Google to figure out whether a year is a leap year so it wasn't as though I was spending a lot of time fretting about how I struggled to keep track of which type of year it was. I'm not sure how that never occurred to me before now. Am I fretting about the future of our democracy? Must be a leap year!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p>Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-27462791760064917562024-02-24T20:09:00.001-05:002024-02-24T20:09:47.759-05:00The Five (#8)<p>1. One of my friends from high school also has teenagers who play volleyball. They were playing, and she was coaching, at the tournament we went to in Indianapolis last weekend. So, very briefly, I got to say hello to her on Sunday morning at the gym. It has been several years since we'd seen each other, despite the fact that she lives less than 10 minutes from my parents' house in Wisconsin. I was so happy to see her in person that I actually found it difficult to have a coherent conversation. I have known her since we were in first grade and there's something so special about being with a person who has known you nearly your whole life. I hope she knows my ability to converse was inversely proportional to the joy I felt at seeing her in person. </p><p>2. Our city happens to be in the path of totality for the solar eclipse happening in April this year. Our school finally followed what most schools in the area had already done and decided to call is a calamity day so we will have off that day. We had a view of a partial solar eclipse back in August of 2017 and it was pretty cool. Prior to that event I had read the book <i>Every Soul a Star</i> by Wendy Mass. I have borrowed it from the public library to read again, leading up to the April event. This is likely the only time in my life I will have an opportunity to witness totality and I'm trying not to think too hard about the fact that we live in a very cloudy region and weather could cause us to miss this spectacular event. </p><p>3. Michael spent the last week choosing his classes for next school year, which will make him a JUNIOR. That is really difficult to believe, but here we are. We are so lucky to be in a school system where the problem students have is that there are too many classes they want to take. He is unlikely to be able to fit in every elective he would like to try before he graduates in a couple of years. I think the most challenging thing is finding a balance of classes that will prepare him for college without being too overwhelming/taxing. Harper took extra science and math her junior and senior years, but she had a little more flexibility in her schedule because of the Latin program being discontinued and never picking up another language. Michael will be in his forth year of German next school year. Hopefully we got it right and his schedule will be challenging but not make him crazy. I'm curious what kind of electives other people remember taking in high school. I think our language classes fulfilled the "arts" requirement because I never took a visual art or music class in high school I also went to a Catholic school and we had to fit religion classes into our schedule with the other core subjects. My favorite high school electives were psychology and Shakespeare.</p><p>4. We were impacted by the large AT&T cell phone outage that occurred this past Thursday. I purposefully do not connect my cell phone to the wifi network at school so I had no service at all for most of the work day. An additional wrinkle to this was that I use my phone for two-factor authentication for several apps. So not only could I not make/receive calls or texts, I also couldn't log in to things like my personal email account. Of course it was hardly a big deal to be without those things for a few hours on a random weekday, but it did make me think a little bit about how much I have come to rely on those methods of communication and several apps that I use daily. For example, because I forgot to do it later in the day vs first thing in the morning, the AT&T outage made me lose my Wordle streak. I sent emails to both of the children's school emails from my school email letting them know that that would be the best way to contact me if they needed something during the day. Who remembers back when we just couldn't get ahold of people much of the time?</p><p>5. Michael made the JV volleyball team at his high school and has been chosen as co-captain for this year. So my time on the bleachers has not, in fact, come to an end. Fortunately most games are within a 20 minute radius of our house (or closer) and even the further ones will not require entire weekends or overnight hotel stays - yay!</p><p><br /></p>Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-53171347771982725632024-02-17T18:19:00.001-05:002024-02-20T08:38:42.486-05:00The Five (#7)<p>1. I am sitting on some bleachers at the last club volleyball tournament of Michael's season. He plays today and tomorrow and then club is over and high school tryouts begin Monday. Hopefully my time on the bleachers isn't coming to an end any time soon. Although, I'm not going to lie, I always find it difficult to be gone for the entire weekend and missing the opportunity to catch up on everything I didn't get to during the week. Please don't misunderstand, I AM glad to have these weekends with Michael and, as a bonus, he's gotten to practice quite a bit of highway driving as we journey back and forth across Indiana and Ohio.</p><p>2. Do other adults have trouble responding to text and/or email? I'm typically not bad at responding when a quick answer will do, but, with anything of substance, I'm completely guilty about waiting until I have time to craft a proper response, which often leads to the text/email getting buried under newer messages and I end up <i>never </i>replying to things I meant to take the most care with. Just me?</p><p>3. I was in a meeting recently where we spent a good deal of time discussing how to manage AI in a school setting. I'm thinking this has to be a little what it felt like when the internet itself was new and the adults and children were figuring it out at the same time (adults often more slowly than children). AI is so intriguing as a tool that could support all kinds of learning, and yet feels like such a disaster for cheating/shortcuts that are going to mean students are short-changing their own learning. I know this has ramifications far beyond school, but obviously school is the place I'm going to see/notice it the most. We haven't seen too much concern over AI us in the middle school where I work, but it does feel like just a matter of time.</p><p>4. It's been an interesting emotional week for the kids. On the down side, Michael wasn't feeling recovered from having COVID until Wednesday and is still digging out a little from the school he missed. Harper started feeling crummy early in the week (yes, <i>again</i>) and was diagnosed with strep. While I'm sorry she was sick again, I was seriously thrilled to learn it was strep which is treatable with a remedy that helps quickly. On the upside, Michael got into his school's marketing program for junior and senior year, and Harper found out she got an RA position for next year. I'll be interested to see how both things play out, and I'm happy they're happy. </p><p>5. For people who recognize it, this past Wednesday marked the beginning of Lent. Whenever Ash Wednesday rolls around I think of Christine Kane's magnificent song, "Mary Catherine's Ash Wednesday Journal Entry." For anyone who grew up in or adjacent to a Catholic household, I think you'd get a kick out of giving this a listen.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="322" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qZ0Vk19nXNU" width="387" youtube-src-id="qZ0Vk19nXNU"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-248765416607628032024-02-10T13:58:00.000-05:002024-02-10T13:58:40.699-05:00The Five (#6)<p>1. So if two-thirds of the time I haven't remembered to post on Friday night, I'm changing it from, "The Friday Five" to just, "The Five." I will still aim for Friday but then I won't need any kind of disclaimer when I miss... This is really just for my own mental housekeeping, but welcome to my brain. I'm a little out of sorts because Michael tested positive for COVID mid-week and I stayed home from work Friday because I wasn't feeling well. He is feeling crummy but he'll survive; we're still waiting to see if the other shoe drops. </p><p>2. Illness is absolutely everywhere - so many students are out sick with strep, flu, COVID, and other nondescript ailments. But we're pretty sure Michael got it through his volleyball team, several members had tested positive ahead of their tournament last weekend, those players didn't attend, of course, but the whole team had been exposed. And if he didn't get it from his specific team, it's more than likely that we were exposed in Cleveland:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd1YqIDFuIebkxwzEQbSHO-hNMz8IALHkyF1_YDloYujFK91hWbMMFQICvzByAgX7zhsyDGbAitZ4gaJByTJX7LTwOsHiac-yTEM14EMn4XkFLgtrdC_9nknZSJKg6GmKcD0yDiJ6ELv-k3fe6UOrml31P5shk-BO6qhIPs0OxRYKfZS0ZRYloiw/s4032/IMG_9025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd1YqIDFuIebkxwzEQbSHO-hNMz8IALHkyF1_YDloYujFK91hWbMMFQICvzByAgX7zhsyDGbAitZ4gaJByTJX7LTwOsHiac-yTEM14EMn4XkFLgtrdC_9nknZSJKg6GmKcD0yDiJ6ELv-k3fe6UOrml31P5shk-BO6qhIPs0OxRYKfZS0ZRYloiw/w400-h300/IMG_9025.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There were 30-ish volleyball courts in the convention center so, um, a LOT of people. I know COVID is just something we live with now, but it doesn't mean I <i>want</i> to get it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">3. At that same tournament I took a volleyball straight to my nose/glasses during the team's warm up on Sunday. I may have been looking down at my phone and not paying the amount of attention I should have been, given my court-side seat. Lesson learned. I got some ice from the lovely trainers and strict instructions to come back to see them if I started to feel dizzy, which, thankfully, I did not. But my nose is still sore to the touch on one side. Sadly it was hard to tell whether I had a bit of a black eye or if my eye bags just always look that dark.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">4. I have a chicken recipe I make with relative frequency that involves shaking some chicken breasts in a bag of seasoned flour. I'm not a person who is necessarily fussy about name brand vs store brand items, but I do feel like the store brand "Ziploc" style bags are of far inferior quality. Last week one of the bags split open, not at the "zipper," when I was prepping the chicken. Here is the photo I sent Matt with the message, "No more store brand bags:"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhmNSZNs66F3gDNBgi4jyLtNDYojt_FK7AVptKkcPIhobowoUY27ztNkqWH1uAIpEw92x6O8BSrRH1ayKZJoMilxrT-_8XgvxHzjpIjU44HKc5-tOnAtIhyE-Av3DcL6mcZIGKcSo8M6BC8MwKjZO729qnWPiJycntzjH2eTtUXlikITzMGRY8qg/s4032/IMG_8990.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhmNSZNs66F3gDNBgi4jyLtNDYojt_FK7AVptKkcPIhobowoUY27ztNkqWH1uAIpEw92x6O8BSrRH1ayKZJoMilxrT-_8XgvxHzjpIjU44HKc5-tOnAtIhyE-Av3DcL6mcZIGKcSo8M6BC8MwKjZO729qnWPiJycntzjH2eTtUXlikITzMGRY8qg/w300-h400/IMG_8990.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There was flour <i>everywhere</i>! I had to vacuum the counter before wiping it down and disinfecting everything. Fortunately the actual chicken did not go flying from the bag so dinner was salvageable after a thorough kitchen clean up.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">5. On the way home from a high school volleyball open gym a couple of weeks ago Michael and I got pulled over. I was driving and I was so confused because I knew I wasn't speeding, my lights were on, I had used my turn signal before the turn I'd just made...So when the officer asked if I knew why he'd pulled me over I honestly said I had no idea. Well it turns out my registration was expired, by OVER A YEAR! Whoops! The sticker on my license plate had, in fact, expired in November of 2022. And, since we apparently failed to renew it in 2022, we never got a reminder to renew in 2023, so I've bene driving an unregistered car around for quite some time. I cannot fathom how I hadn't been pulled over for that before now. I ended up having to take the title to BMV and basically get a brand new registration since my car was no longer in the system. The officer kindly gave me a warning, instead of a ticket, and suggested I take care of it sooner than later. I was really, <i>really</i>, tempted to call the police department and try to leave him a message that I had, in fact, had it taken care of the very next day, proving that I am an upstanding, law-abiding citizen, but even I know that would have been a little over the top. So let this be an PSA to you to check that you've updated your sticker and/or your actual registration!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-63543598380126878142024-02-02T22:53:00.002-05:002024-02-02T22:53:16.668-05:00The Friday Five (5)<p>1. After a rough weekend during which her temperature went up to 103.5, Harper finally started to feel better on Sunday night/Monday. And then she got a concussion Monday night! She wasn't able to be evaluated by the health center until Wednesday morning, when her concussion was officially diagnosed. (Unfortunately, it's not her first, so she pretty much already knew that's what was happening.) The doctor who diagnosed her concussion immediately sent her over to the office that handles accommodations and she was given a note for three weeks of relaxed attendance policies, extra time for assignments, and extra time for tests/quizzes. Knowing Harper she's unlikely to take full advantage of that, but it's good to know she can take care of herself without fearing she's going to end up completely in the weeds with her classes. By that afternoon her professors had already been notified. The university hasn't handled everything perfectly (the food situation is wild!) but I was pleased that they don't seem to mess around with head injuries. Also, I would like to petition the universe to give the girl a break, thank you very much.</p><p>2. Valentine's Day is coming up and I typically send my young nieces and nephews cards for that kind of holiday. Historically I include a note and a sheet or two of stickers. The problem is that I'm not sure all the nieces and nephews are equally enthralled by the stickers, especially as they are getting a little older. My oldest nephew is in 2nd grade. So I'm toying with the idea of just putting a little cash in the cards, or maybe cash <i>and</i> stickers. Maybe just cash for the boys and cash <i>and</i> stickers for the girls - which sounds sexist, but my sister would probably confirm that her sons do not actually care about the stickers and my brother would confirm that my nieces do, in fact, enjoy them. Same for my niece on Matt's side of the family. This is the kind of long distance bribery I engage in to try to make sure they know I love them.</p><p>3. Speaking of long distance and mail...I don't think I've written here about the mail situation at Harper's college. I imagine it's not that different from the mail situation at many colleges. At her school they do not have mailboxes in each of the dorms. There is ONE central mail room for the entire campus. So if you get a package, or even just a letter, you get an email (or maybe it's through an app) notification and you can make an appointment to pick it up. Most of the time this is fine, but when she was sick I was thinking what a shame it was that I couldn't send something via Amazon (or whatever online retailer) and have it land in her building. No matter what, she'd have to retrieve it from a building that's a 10 minute walk away, which is not ideal when you're not feeling well. I always imagined I'd send her a lot more mail than I actually have because it seems silly to send a card/letter/postcard with just words on it when I text with her and talk to her nearly every day. She already knows I'm thinking of her. I don't know if the <i>effort</i> of a hand written something is as meaningful to her generation as it is to mine, or at least to me.</p><p>4. I'm officially old enough that I have no idea, for the most part, who the popular music artists are these days. I mean, I know Taylor Swift, and have been a fan since I heard her sing "Our Song" when she was on daytime talk shows and I was in my Stay-at-Home-Mom Era. But beyond Taylor I have very little knowledge of popular music (says the woman who still purchases CDs) and when I do recognize recent music it's most likely because it was in a Reel. This is one of the many things I'm noticing that makes me feel old, but not in a way that I mind, exactly. </p><p>5. This, being the fifth week of the new year, should be the week we visited the number one restaurant from last year's experiment. Alas, schedules have conspired against us and we've only made it to numbers 5-3 so far. No problem, it's kind of nice to extend it into February and still be looking forward to the top two finishers. </p>Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-60460614616660220782024-01-26T21:28:00.000-05:002024-01-26T21:28:52.208-05:00The Friday Five (4)<p>1. <a href="https://www.lauriefrankel.net/" target="_blank">Laurie Frankel</a>, an author I have admired since reading <i>This Is How It Always Is, </i>released a new book this week! <i>Family Family</i> is a story that examines both the families we're born to, and the ones we choose. The novel goes back and forth in time and explores issues of adoption, choice, privacy, and celebrity with nuance and grace. I loved it. I got to read an early copy through NetGalley and I'm thrilled that it's now available to everyone.</p><p>2. Here is a little PSA for the week. Do you know about 988? 988 is basically 911 for mental health. This is the relatively new, easy to remember, number that is replacing the former Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. The old number will still work, but the hope is that people will remember 988 as easily as we all now remember 911. You can call or text that number for support if you are having your own mental health crisis or if you are worried about a loved one and need help helping them. You can even chat with someone to get support online. Learn more about this important lifeline <a href="https://988lifeline.org/" target="_blank">here</a>, and then pay it forward by telling someone else about 988.</p><p>3. It has rained and rained and rained this week. On Wednesday I got home from school to find that our power had gone out. The last large old tree in our neighbor's backyard let go of the saturated ground and fell, taking the power lines with it. Fortunately it didn't land on anyone's house but our street was without power for about 12 hours. Now 12 hours is not a horrific amount of time to be without power, but it is an inconvenience. We were fortunate that the temperatures are mild here this week so we were not worried about being too cold. It really helped me be thankful for so many things - we could go to the public library down the street and charge our phones, Chromebooks (Michael), and portable chargers; we could afford to stop and get dinner out instead of cooking at home; we could afford to replace the food in the refrigerator that went bad; we had places to be Wednesday evening so it was already bedtime when we got home anyway. We pulled out the battery-operated camping lanterns and got ready for bed. I don't realize, or think about, how much background noise there is in a house, even when there isn't music playing or a television on. I also never think about the bits of light that are all around: alarm clocks, the WIFI extender, the street lights, etc. My bedroom felt almost womblike that night, snuggled in bed, enveloped by silence and blackness. I slept incredibly soundly...until the power came back on at four a.m. and with it the bathroom light and fan and the furnace. </p><p>4. There is a new professional volleyball league in the U.S. and games began this week. I've loved volleyball since I started playing in 5th grade so I'm very excited about the Pro Volleyball Federation. For now it seems you can stream the games for free online and I'm hoping we can get to Columbus to see The Fury in person sometime this spring. I'm hoping some of our favorite college players from the last few years will show up in the league. Yay! Sports!</p><p>5. About a week after heading back to school Harper caught a terrible cold and has been sick all week. She muscled her way through most of her obligations this week, but last night she called me and had a fever. Poor kid. She has been using paper towels to blow her nose because she ran out of tissues and is in kind of a sorry state. With the ease of communication via smartphones it typically doesn't feel like a huge deal for Harper to be six hours away at school, but it really stinks when she's feeling sick and I can't just drop off what she needs or, better yet, bring her home to take care of her for a few days. I know she'll be just fine, but that doesn't make it easier for either of us! </p>Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-29346932778712945152024-01-19T21:50:00.002-05:002024-01-26T20:50:04.953-05:00The Friday Five (3)<p> 1. I'm 47 years old and there's still little as glorious as waking up to a snow day. I didn't get out of bed until almost 9 a.m. this morning.</p><p>2. I have not had a full day of school all week. Monday was a day off, Tuesday and Wednesday were delayed due to sub-zero temps, Thursday morning I was at the children's ER with Michael, and today we're off for snow. Michael will be fine, by the way, but he injured his foot and was uncomfortable enough that x-rays were in order. Thank goodness for today's day off because navigating the high school again today (he did it w/ a boot on yesterday) might have been too much. He can rest it this weekend.</p><p>3. Today's snow day feels like an extra gift because my entire long weekend <i>last</i> weekend was spent at a volleyball tournament in Fort Wayne, IN, and then driving Harper back to school in St. Louis. It was all good, especially hanging out with our friends in St. Louis on Sunday night, but it was not relaxing. This weekend I will watch sports (Flyers! Packers!) and take down the Christmas decorations. </p><p>4. Might I recommend a bookish podcast? My friends Amy and <a href="https://mooddisorderedmama.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Carrie</a> have a wonderful weekly podcast in which they talk to bookish people (librarians, authors, booksellers, etc.) and discuss what they're reading. It is always such a delight to hear these two chat; it really feels like sitting down with good friends. Check out <a href="https://www.perksofbeingabooklover.com/" target="_blank">The Perks of Being a Booklover</a>! If you have never listened to them it means you have nine (!) seasons of episodes to enjoy for the first time.</p><p>5. I made <a href="https://recipes.net/dessert/cookies/hershey-kiss-biscoff-cookies-recipe/" target="_blank">Christmas cookies</a> today because I never made any over the break. My mother-in-law, and my mom, made cookies that we all love and it felt redundant to make more. Plus Matt had been wanting the ones with the Hershey Kiss in the middle, which I make with Biscoff spread instead of peanut butter, but Harper can no longer stand the smell of Biscoff (story for another day?) so I didn't want to bake them when she was still home from school. There's really no reason these have to be Christmas cookies and not year-round cookies, but I rarely bake outside the holidays. We are more often ice cream people than homemade cookie people. </p>Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-25429253565431775122024-01-13T20:18:00.002-05:002024-01-26T20:49:45.977-05:00The Friday Five (Oops! On Saturday) (2)<p> 1. For quite some time I have been following <a href="https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/" target="_blank">Your Local Epidemiologist</a>. I love the no-nonsense way she describes public health matters, specifically her clear communication on COVID-19. This week she posted, among other things, about a study that linked COVID-19 vaccination to a reduced risk of long COVID. Long COVID is one of those lingering things I still feel concerned about so I found this reassuring. </p><p>2. I pay fairly close attention to politics and if there was a universe in which I could just learn about things full time, instead of needing to work for a paycheck (and insurance, etc.), I think I would enjoy the classes that would lead to a political science degree. (Incidentally, being a librarian feels about as close as one can get to learning for a living.) I often forget that not everyone pays as close attention to politics as I do and it messes with my head, but I think remembering this fact would help me understand some people, and their offhanded comments, better.</p><p>3. A groovy little independent bookstore near me has started hosting a monthly "silent book club." Basically people get together to read and have snacks in a communal setting but there's no pressure to read anything other than what you want <i>and</i> no pressure to speak with anyone. I am perfectly comfortable in a traditional book club, but I really love this idea and I'm happy it exists for people who want to be part of the bookish community and are shy or introverted or just don't want to be told what to read.</p><p>4. Are you using Goodreads? While I know it isn't a perfect platform by any means, I enjoy Goodreads as a place to keep track of what I read and books I want to remember. I also like seeing what other people are reading, though I'm not necessarily in need of recommendations. Occasionally I win one of their book giveaways. I am motivated by the yearly reading challenge - last year I ended up reading 90 books. That feels like an accomplishment, but I also feel like my total should come with an asterisk because I read middle grade and young adult, as well as adult books, and I have started counting picture books and early readers when I have to review them for a local group I'm a part of. I spend a much longer time with a picture book if I'm trying to review it than the few minutes it would take me to read it just once. And I'm really only keeping track on Goodreads for myself, there's no prize involved, so I'm not sure why it feels like cheating? </p><p>5. Speaking of book reviews... about a year ago I joined a local book review group made up of public and school librarians and a couple of teachers as well. Publishers send books to the group for us to read and review. We meet every other month. Each of us takes a stack of books home from the meeting and reads and reviews them for the next meeting. We use a form to send the reviews to the publishers and then we give an oral review for the other group members at the meeting. It has been an awesome way to learn about different books and we get to keep the books we review so it has also been a great way to add books to the library or share them with family members and friends. </p><p>I have to make a confession. I find book reviewing to be so difficult! I don't know why. I've always found it difficult to summarize things (succinctness has never been a gift of mine). For a person who has spent 10 years talking about books with people for a living, you think I'd be better at it. But no, it feels hard every time and I feel awkward and self-conscious talking at the meetings. I'm pretty sure my face turns red whenever it is my turn to share. I suppose I will just press on and hope it gets easier over time. Or they'll eventually kick me out for being terrible. </p>Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-7760632505544100882024-01-05T10:28:00.001-05:002024-01-26T20:49:28.326-05:00The Friday Five (1)<p>1. Let's try something new! I'm blatantly stealing this idea from <a href="https://www.sarahdessen.com/" target="_blank">Sarah Dessen</a>, an author I have long followed and admired. Not long ago she started posting a Friday Five on Substack (via Substack?). I love getting the weekly news/reflections, especially as a person who has missed her old blogging updates. Clearly I'm still not ready to let this blog go, and a Friday Five seems like a reasonable goal for 2024 so we're just going to see where this thing goes.</p><p>2. I finished rereading <i>This is How It Always Is</i> by Laurie Frankel because that was our book club selection for this month's meeting. I love a lot of the things I read but this is the book that comes to mind when someone asks what my favorite book is. It sounds cheesy but this novel really opened my mind and my heart and it was just as beautiful/powerful upon rereading as it was the first time I encountered it. My favorite passage goes like this:</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">You never know. You only guess. This is how it always is. You have to make these huge decisions on behalf of your kid, this tiny human whose fate and future is entirely in your hands, who trusts you to know what's good and right and then to be able to make that happen. You never have enough information. You don't get to see the future. And if you screw up, if with your incomplete, contradictory information you make the wrong call, well, nothing less than your child's entire future and happiness is at stake. It's impossible. It's heartbreaking. It's maddening. But there's no alternative.</p></blockquote><p>Read it.</p><p>3. I've been sick, with a cold, since just after Christmas. It's not strep, it's not the flu, it's not COVID, I'm not even feverish, but MAN has it been miserable. I have had the odd bit of congestion or scratchy throat here or there, but I don't <i>think</i> I've had a full blown, can't breathe through my nose, sinuses so full my teeth hurt cold since pre-COVID times. Thank goodness I'm still off school this week because I haven't been sleeping well and I have no idea how I would make it through a whole work day under these conditions.</p><p>4. Matt and I visited a restaurant new to at least one of us each week in 2023. Yes, there are a TON of places to eat out in and around our town. It was great to have a designated date night every week, although it was occasionally challenging to fit it in our schedule. After independently ranking our top seven places, we came up with a top five and will revisit those the first five weeks of 2024. I highly recommend this experiment.</p><p>5. I got a couple of new CDs for Christmas. Yes, you read that right, CDs. I still like to own music from my favorite artists. Streaming is great, but I don't always want to have to use my phone or a computer to listen to music. My two newest CDs are <i>1988</i> by Lori McKenna and <i>A Great Wild Mercy</i> by Carrie Newcomer. I've listened to both of these artists since the late 1990s and they are still producing incredible music. </p>Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-54287782276346827702023-07-15T20:59:00.000-04:002023-07-15T20:59:24.204-04:00Connections<p>I recently had the pleasure of attending a lunch with an interesting assortment of friends and to explain all the connections at the table I would need some photos, a corkboard, pushpins, and some red string. At the table were two librarians, three novelists, and two book podcasters. Of course we're all more than those things, but that is the simplest way to distill it. One of the people I'd met in a playgroup when our now 18-year-olds were babies, one of the people at the table I'd known since I was 18 myself, one I'm not positive I'd met before that lunch, and one I don't remember when I first met, but our paths keep crossing and we know many of the same people. (This does not cover all the people.)</p><p>Many of the connections with people around that table were initially formed or enhanced back in the days when several of us had regularly-updated mommy blogs. From pen pals to blog posts, writing has been a way for me to connect throughout my life.</p><p>As I've certainly said before - I am interested in this still being a place to reflect and connect. It's clear, looking at my old posts, that I've struggled to do that as my children have gotten older and it's felt less appropriate to share their stories in this space. So if anyone is still checking here occasionally, I <i>am</i> still here. And updates will continue to be sporadic, but I'm not ready to completely let go just yet.</p>Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-13696269816230213312023-03-04T09:57:00.001-05:002023-03-04T09:57:26.099-05:00Special Delivery<p>I'm wondering how you use your mailbox...</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJyWgvJ_CaV-4QGkx3aDORmBIKsj0iZIzMIL9QyjDyVUhl4qiZcT_ZIik4lL7k2Cu0pas4tNY_kdo6nRF7iQlReF5GIkKKZkvrzozZ3Z1dEXg7xqdgVm7vC4eaSuoywjDeMo9x7DVCiJnN47n-NVLX40z5PNlgkz1L1MeN2tq7kbdLnyPxDEg/s4032/IMG-6995.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJyWgvJ_CaV-4QGkx3aDORmBIKsj0iZIzMIL9QyjDyVUhl4qiZcT_ZIik4lL7k2Cu0pas4tNY_kdo6nRF7iQlReF5GIkKKZkvrzozZ3Z1dEXg7xqdgVm7vC4eaSuoywjDeMo9x7DVCiJnN47n-NVLX40z5PNlgkz1L1MeN2tq7kbdLnyPxDEg/s320/IMG-6995.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two Postcrossing postcards waiting for the mail carrier this morning.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>I place outgoing mail in ours at least once a week. I mail birthday cards, actual letters to faraway friends, notes of encouragement, etc. I still love putting a pen (or marker!) to paper and take care in choosing cards, paper, stickers, stamps. It is all meaningful to me, even if some of that meaning is lost on the recipient. </p><p>In the last few months I have joined <a href="https://www.postcrossing.com/" target="_blank">Postcrossing</a> which is a way to send and receive postcards from all around the world. I've had it in the back of my mind ever since <a href="https://www.swistle.com/" target="_blank">Swistle</a> blogged about it years ago and finally decided it would be a great way to use some of the postcards I've collected over the last twenty years. </p><p>Not long ago a coworker thanked me for something I'd sent her in the mail and commented that she didn't get it right away because they aren't good about checking their mailbox. That was a completely absurd notion to me because I still look forward to the mail every day. Most days it's just junk/bills and, in the last couple of years, random college mail; but sometimes there's a letter or a postcard with my name on it and that is no less thrilling than it was when I was twelve years old. </p><p>It would be difficult to ignore the mail in our current home because it drops directly into the living room:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBBtp3hob8xbSJcYpe2K5buC-YS6DlMNvkpqXl-dFXcLcnLtJr-rJmGWecgfT8v9J4TW6qkfm3N9MBbPyY_4-YNCimVM_0bCUY7C3aoM_WCc2LdqrkTOty_tv0cFslF4p1nqvYsiOGQx7kGcBZoVrA5s_QcyyGxufLLMl5H3L-TpCNB2y5qQQ/s4032/IMG-6996.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBBtp3hob8xbSJcYpe2K5buC-YS6DlMNvkpqXl-dFXcLcnLtJr-rJmGWecgfT8v9J4TW6qkfm3N9MBbPyY_4-YNCimVM_0bCUY7C3aoM_WCc2LdqrkTOty_tv0cFslF4p1nqvYsiOGQx7kGcBZoVrA5s_QcyyGxufLLMl5H3L-TpCNB2y5qQQ/w240-h320/IMG-6996.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So I'm curious, are you still mailing things?</div>Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-20118496791259605692022-06-15T17:39:00.003-04:002022-06-30T17:32:35.988-04:00Yellowstone<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Last summer Matt, the children, and I embarked on a nearly 5,000 mile, three week, road trip "out west". Exactly a year ago today we were spending the last of four days exploring Yellowstone National Park.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The picture below was taken in the morning while driving through Hayden Valley. We'll always remember this as the day that Michael and I hiked up a small but steep grassy hill and were surprised by a bison standing way too close for comfort just on the other side of the crest. This is a hilarious memory for Michael because I responded to the bison's proximity with an expletive. I will always remember it as the moment I realized I'd be on my own in a zombie apocalypse - Michael was down the hill and back in the car almost faster than I could turn around. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizskl3B_RYWc0t2u2TgcUhLmt_7qYyWNcgyLNxK7iS0Oo0bnmht5eYhlm7dQuzNpWAg5fOGoHNPq7Ihd1eVZ2CxBW4qZ0Oe14kEzOeKKX5idcktXWteObx-tFYr4yiHUmjHpDkCZ5zHcbguBh4ZqfS4PxG9IK1laPwXH2OBS5ysZa6IIS-BUI/s4032/IMG_3627.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizskl3B_RYWc0t2u2TgcUhLmt_7qYyWNcgyLNxK7iS0Oo0bnmht5eYhlm7dQuzNpWAg5fOGoHNPq7Ihd1eVZ2CxBW4qZ0Oe14kEzOeKKX5idcktXWteObx-tFYr4yiHUmjHpDkCZ5zHcbguBh4ZqfS4PxG9IK1laPwXH2OBS5ysZa6IIS-BUI/s320/IMG_3627.HEIC" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the second picture you can see two of our silhouettes standing on a bridge, taking in the visual and auditory spectacle of Dragon's Mouth Spring - it really did sound like there was a beast behind that steam. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJcakEAne2On7DbpTZ01-gOQK8n9ygVNvA-mj7swfxfC-C5tJtkmqPlUe7_twR5i8EnfN8CopwLScdb2gllg2hC_lZ8X2OmHGHHGuW_zyrCZYCdymWYDGxYYNpDuRNp2QlKW_GKXybIBhoXVe4Ci-vGm2xdw3cSuzldFkJDOV90mZlm2rTM2U/s4032/IMG_3646.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJcakEAne2On7DbpTZ01-gOQK8n9ygVNvA-mj7swfxfC-C5tJtkmqPlUe7_twR5i8EnfN8CopwLScdb2gllg2hC_lZ8X2OmHGHHGuW_zyrCZYCdymWYDGxYYNpDuRNp2QlKW_GKXybIBhoXVe4Ci-vGm2xdw3cSuzldFkJDOV90mZlm2rTM2U/s320/IMG_3646.HEIC" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We are heartbroken, seeing the images coming out of Yellowstone this week. Our time there, while brief, was truly amazing. I often felt like I was on a different planet. I'm so sorry for the people who live and work in that area, folks who are having the trip of a lifetime cancelled or cut short, and everyone who is impacted by the current flooding in any way. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I can't help but wonder how many devastating natural disasters it is going to take before we wake up and take the necessary steps to mitigate climate change. There are choices we make as a family (though I know there's always more we could do) to try to help, but we need change on a much bigger scale. </div></div><br /><br /> <p></p>Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-78211852231984311982022-04-27T21:08:00.000-04:002022-04-27T21:08:19.257-04:00Time to Move OnNearly six years ago I agreed to take a leap out of my comfort zone and join my friend <a href="https://christinaconsolino.com/" target="_blank">Christina</a> as a Profiles Editor for <i><a href="https://literarymama.com/" target="_blank">Literary Mama</a></i>. I felt like Bambi on ice as I started to learn the ropes. I'm still not entirely sure what made the powers that be willing to take a chance on me at that point (most likely Christina's generous recommendation) but, eventually, I found my feet as an editor. Over time I was able to take on more responsibility and, as Christina moved on to a Senior Editor position, I even got to welcome a new editor to the profiles department and made a wonderful friend in <a href="https://susanbrunsrowe.com/" target="_blank">Susan</a>. I am proud of the work that I've done at <i>Literary Mama</i> in the past few years and proud to have been a small part of a truly remarkable group of women who work on this labor of love from all over the world. <div><br /></div><div>Month after month I got to work with writers interviewing writers and broaden my perspectives on motherhood and creativity. I learned from the feedback given by the Senior Editors. I had the opportunity to collaborate with women from many different backgrounds. I made connections with incredibly talented writers and I'm grateful. Without a doubt I gained much more than I gave in my time with <i>Literary Mama</i>. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://literarymama.com/issues/march-april-2022">March/April 2022</a> was the last issue of <i>Literary Mama</i> that I worked on as a profiles editor, after choosing not to renew my contract. Working full-time and keeping up with a busy family, I found that the time I spent on profiles was keeping me from spending as much energy as I'd like on my own creative pursuits. For the first time in a long time, I'm not seeing the flurry of emails that indicate a new issue will be coming soon. Fortunately I don't have to sever ties with my <i>Literary Mama</i> family completely. My <a href="https://literarymama.com/articles/departments/2021/09/a-conversation-with-jamie-sumner" target="_blank">profile of Jamie Sumner</a> was published last September, and I'm looking forward to sharing the profile I will have in the May/June 2022 issue. </div><div><br /></div><div>If you haven't yet taken time to read the gorgeous, thought-provoking, mother-affirming writing that <i>Literary Mama</i> publishes, please take time to look at it soon, you won't be sorry.</div>Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-13854060863995285022021-09-15T21:36:00.001-04:002021-09-28T11:45:54.441-04:00Week Who Knows What Day or Time It IsWe're far enough into the global pandemic that it's too fuzzy to count the weeks any longer. I mean, I <i>could</i> count them, but I would have to look at a calendar.<div>___</div><div><br /></div><div>Apparently I began this post in May of 2020. Yes, over a year ago. It must have been right around the time that staying home because of Covid went from feeling like a brief moment of sacrifice we were going to make for the greater good to something larger and even scarier. </div><div><br /></div><div>We left school for spring break in 2020 and never went back into our school buildings. In our district most students didn't return until late January of 2021. We've been back in school for the year since mid-August. Things are normal-ish, but of course nothing is really normal at all. </div><div><br /></div><div>I've been thinking about the things we get used to. People are adaptable. Think of every time an app or online service you use has updated, slightly changing its look. The first couple of days are jarring, annoying every time you open that app, and then you stop noticing the change. I work in an old building and the blowers for the heat/air are relatively loud. There's almost always significant background noise from them, but I don't hear it any longer, it is simply a part of my auditory landscape. I only think about it when someone else mentions they're bothered by the sound.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here are some other things, for better or worse, I've gotten used to in the last 18 months or so:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>wearing masks and seeing others with masks on</li><li>daily news updates about the Covid numbers in our state</li><li>near-daily emails home about the Covid cases in our school</li><li>making plans and putting a mental asterisk next to them, just in case Covid changes things</li><li>checking attendance requirements for places I want to go (masks? proof of vaccination?)</li><li>random shortages/bare spots on store shelves</li><li>guessing whether mail I send domestically will arrive somewhere in two days or two weeks</li></ul><div>I'm hoping there's a day when most of these become unusual again, I have no idea how long it will take to get there. </div></div>Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-16285092901859113072020-04-07T21:48:00.000-04:002020-04-07T21:48:10.796-04:00Three Weeks InThat first, productive, week off of school, during our actual spring break, was a bit of a fluke. Once I was back to working, albeit from home, things were slightly less peaceful. The first week I was back at work the children still did not have school work. This was fine for Harper, who has been fairly content to binge watch and check in with her friends, but was less fine for Michael. While Michael is also a fan of electronic diversions, he is not as skilled at self-entertaining and spent a week being really bothered by the fact that no one was able to pay much attention to him during the day.<br />
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Last week, when there was actual school work for the children do to, was marginally better. However, as is expected, we're all getting on each others' nerves a bit. I know how fortunate we are, given these circumstances. There's plenty of space in our home, plenty to do, plenty to eat. Still, we're all feeling the sting of the things that we aren't able to do, the people we aren't able to be with, etc.<br />
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We're under "stay at home" orders until May 1st; however, I can't imagine that it won't extend beyond that. What kind of amazes me is how quickly my mindset has shifted. At first, it seemed kind of wild that our spring break was going to turn into two weeks of online learning. Now we're almost certainly not going back to school this school year. I find myself mentally working through scenarios in which none of our summer plans are happening, and accepting that there's a possibility we might not return to school on time in August. (That has <b>not</b> been stated as a possibility by our district or by our state leadership.) Basically I'm not taking for granted anything that was supposed to happen within the next six months. The idea that it may be months before we are "back to normal" is both horrible and fine. We're getting by. Is there any other way to take this than to get through one day at a time?<br />
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I'm also trying to keep in mind what a privilege it is to be able to stay at home to this degree. No one living in our home has to leave home to work. We have the technology to meet our work/school/entertainment needs. We have the access and means to keep our pantry/freezer/fridge stocked with minimal interactions with the outside world. We have a safe neighborhood for walking in. We are even able to worship with our church online. It is not lost on me how absolutely fortunate we are.Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-16740010802407621172020-03-22T12:14:00.000-04:002020-03-22T12:14:43.537-04:00One Week InSo! In our part of Ohio we've basically been on relative lock down for ten days. The children and I were on spring break this past week so things have been very loosey-goosey at home, in a way that is probably not sustainable if we want to hold on to any shred of normalcy. I "go back to work" tomorrow, as we prepare for the students to begin e-learning the following week. Of course every teacher I know has been preparing already, but it is still nice that there is a cushion of time before everything has to be rolled out.<br />
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I'm trying to figure out how to do some recording of this time, without just making a list of what we've done to keep from going insane.<br />
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Something that has helped me has been getting up, showering, making the bed, and putting on pants without an elastic waistband. I have not forced this onto my children, but I can see the slippery slope that ends with me staying in bed until noon every day. And really, that wouldn't hurt anything, but it's also not how I want to spend the next however many weeks.<br />
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I have tried to do something productive every day. Early last week I washed some sheets and then, reader, I ironed them. I think about ironing the sheets every time I take them out of the wash, but there's normally not time for that nonsense so I fold them and hope for the best. Here's some photographic/video evidence of my deeds:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GMCjOl_zIl8/XneMjwSeoTI/AAAAAAAAFmw/UYnC1c973QwOXLLoD5gpSD_Pw6CfHPFDgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/3.17.20%2BSheets%2B1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GMCjOl_zIl8/XneMjwSeoTI/AAAAAAAAFmw/UYnC1c973QwOXLLoD5gpSD_Pw6CfHPFDgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/3.17.20%2BSheets%2B1.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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For the record, it takes a very, VERY long time to iron a king size sheet when working it inch by inch along a standard sized ironing board.</div>
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<br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz-lYRdzdF23by85ZYQv3cVsSi42EujTmvcWhoieggJLUstzYjb-LUvNZTmmNXz38YBfssmWqMcskw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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This is a time-lapse video of ironing a pillowcase. Yes, it has come to this.</div>
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The other satisfying thing that happened this week is that Michael, with minimal assistance from me, cleaned out and organized his room. Here are the after pictures:</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xGznAKxF-VE/XneNuH3wJ4I/AAAAAAAAFnM/mXo-C0alMWIu61iaojJtTENZ922aa36vwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/3.19.20%2BM%2BClean%2BRoom%2BA.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xGznAKxF-VE/XneNuH3wJ4I/AAAAAAAAFnM/mXo-C0alMWIu61iaojJtTENZ922aa36vwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/3.19.20%2BM%2BClean%2BRoom%2BA.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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He seems pleased with the end result, which I (likely, foolishly) hope will help keep him motivated to maintain its current state. Time will tell.</div>
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Harper has mostly retreated to her room with her phone and computer. I did force her to wash her sheets. Michael is loving the family time this situation has left us with, Harper, not so much. We'll just keep taking it one day at a time.</div>
<br />Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-84288540419846209192020-03-12T21:18:00.000-04:002020-03-12T21:18:23.748-04:00Well Hello ThereI started this blog when I was a stay-at-home mom in the fall of 2005. At the time it was a way to remain connected to the "outside world" when I was home with baby Harper. I was looking for an outlet and, ultimately, a form of social connection. It was a way to flex a creative muscle and feel less isolated.<br />
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Our governor just issued an order to close schools for the next three weeks and most of my children's activities have been indefinitely suspended or cancelled outright. It's too early to know whether I'll need to report to my school when our week of official spring break is over so we'll just take it one day at a time.<br />
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I know some of you have been blogging all along. Others of you who used to be part of the blog world have let if fall off a bit (or completely) as I have now that my kids are older. Perhaps social distancing measures will bring about a blogging renaissance? If so, let me know where you're writing so I can follow along.<br />
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I'm aware that it's a poor idea to start writing without a purpose. I suppose my purpose is just to wave into the void a bit. Hello.Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-65320434548405522072019-11-01T16:41:00.003-04:002019-11-01T16:41:41.191-04:00NaNo AgainI've decided to give National Novel Writing Month a try again this year. I completed the challenge successfully in 2016, but haven't gotten very far in the years since then. This year I have gone in with some pre-writing done, which I hope will give me a better chance of seeing it through.<br />
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The local NaNoWriMo community is wonderful, although November is such a busy month for us that I've never been able to attend any of the in-person events. For those of you who don't know anything about National Novel Writing Month, you can check it out by clicking <a href="https://nanowrimo.org/" target="_blank">here</a>. It isn't too late to join!<br />
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October was kind of a stinker of a month for our household, so I'm happy to kick it to the curb. November means birthday celebrations for Harper and I, as well as a delightful week off of school for Thanksgiving. I'm already thankful for the break!<br />
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Wish me luck with the NaNoWriMo challenge. I may post occasional updates here, just to help me feel accountable. Is anyone else I know participating this year? Send me a message if you'd like to be official "buddies" on the website.Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-32672441247082247522019-08-15T23:16:00.000-04:002019-08-15T23:16:08.158-04:00Something I Never Thought About in 6th GradeWell we're all back to school in these parts and I just saw a headline about the new locking systems that are being installed on our interior school doors over the next month and a half to provide another layer of protection against mass casualties.<div>
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It reminded me of a brief conversation I had with Michael on the way home from school today. He was telling me about learning about his teachers. One of them used to be in the military and he said he's so glad she's in our school because she knows what to do with a gun. I mentioned that she didn't keep a gun in her classroom and his reply was, "But if she could get it away from someone trying to hurt us she would know how to use it." The most horrifyingly sad part of this exchange was how matter-of-factly he mentioned it and was on to the next thing.</div>
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Our children think of someone coming in and shooting at them in their schools as a thing that could possibly happen. We have to do better for them. </div>
Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-34307597032548316322019-04-08T22:20:00.000-04:002019-04-08T22:20:08.710-04:00Mary Oliver and My 6th Grade TeacherI've been participating in a challenge this month to walk one extra mile a day. I realize that isn't much of a challenge for many people, but it has been a test of time and commitment for me. I'm pleased to say that I've walked that mile 8 days out of 8 so far, we'll see how the rest of April goes.<br />
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Even a nice, gentle walk (or any activity) can feel torturous if I'm watching some kind of clock or distance count down. In order to peacefully walk on my treadmill, which is where most of my extra miles have taken place, I set the time/distance/speed and then promptly cover the digital display with my Kindle and read as I walk.<br />
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The last couple of days I have been reading Mary Oliver's <a href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781594206702" target="_blank">Upstream</a>. In one of the early essays in the book, Oliver was describing various birds and mentioned loons. Just reading the word, "loon," nearly took my breath away as I was instantly flooded with memories of a favorite teacher. Mrs. Freiburger was my 6th grade teacher and my 7th grade science teacher and she absolutely loved loons.<br />
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Aside from the loons, here is what I remember about Mrs. Freiburger as a teacher: she read us great books, we did lots of creative writing in her class, her last name was one of our spelling words early in the school year, and she loved science. Twice I got in "trouble" in her class and I still remember her reprimanding me because I cared so much about her opinion and I was upset I had disappointed her. What impresses me most, all these years after middle school? When I think of Mrs. Freiburger I feel happy. The memory of being in her class just makes me smile. Her passion for her job and care for her students still feels like a gift to me 30 years after being in her class.<br />
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I have no idea where Mrs. Freiburger is now, but I would drop everything in a heartbeat to have lunch with her. Wherever she is I hope she is enjoying her retirement and has endless opportunities to observe her beloved loons.Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-66135768883919783082018-08-17T11:15:00.001-04:002018-08-17T11:15:51.211-04:00Transformation<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The children went back to school on Wednesday and I'm in a </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>big feelings</i> place right now. People who know me in real life may laugh at that - wondering if I'm ever NOT in a big feelings place. Harper began her last year of middle school and Michael began his last year of elementary school. This year I seem to be viewing everything through a lens tinted with a hint of "last". I will be sappy and lovey and tearful all year; you've been warned.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the way to the bus stop this morning Michael said to me, "I don't really feel like a 5th grader."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I thought for a minute, then I said, "Well, that's because you don't become something new overnight. Do you think a seed feels like a flower as soon as it begins to sprout?"</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"That's a good point."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I know many children would not accept that level of cheesiness in an answer. Fortunately it suited my tender-hearted Michael just fine.</span></div>
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Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-47415266540529744302018-03-09T23:18:00.000-05:002018-03-09T23:18:49.975-05:00Double DigitsDear Michael,<br />
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Today you are 10 years old. I have to admit, this birthday caught me a little by surprise. It wasn't that I didn't remember it was your birthday, we've been planning for it for months, but I didn't think much about the number until we celebrated last week. Then I saw those "10" candles blazing away on your cake...<br />
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The problem is that you simply aren't a baby any more. You haven't been a baby for a long time. But, of course, you'll always be my baby.<br />
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You're my baby, but your feet have been bigger than mine for over a year.<br />
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You're my baby, but you're nearly five feet tall.<br />
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You're my baby, but you're using a protractor and manipulating fractions in math class.<br />
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You're my baby, but you can spell and use words like <i>monolith</i>.<br />
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You're my baby, but you have more compassion and empathy than many adults I know.<br />
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You are, and always have been, a gentle soul in a less-than-gentle world. Sometimes I think about your premature birth and difficult entry into this world and I wonder if it was God's way of letting me know that you would need just a little more from me. More tenderness, more patience, more prompting, and (someday) more willingness to let you find your own way in the world. (Unlike the story you are telling me now, I doubt you'll live here forever.)<br />
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It is difficult not to want to make life easier for you - many days you do so much to make it harder for yourself. We are still waiting for your heart and your head to catch up with your rapidly growing body. Much of the time you seem to navigate the world like Bambi walking on ice - a bit fearful, a bit awkward, with so much left to learn. I will keep doing my best to support you. I will try to remember that it is better for you if I leave a few bumps in your road, allowing you to find your own strength and your own way. I'm working on it.<br />
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As you start another year of your life there are so many things I wish for you. Mostly I hope you know how very well you are loved.<br />
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Happy birthday, sweet boy. I love you.<br />
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Love,<br />
MomKelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-33228145908259565262017-08-27T21:50:00.000-04:002017-08-27T21:50:01.625-04:00Growing PainsWe moved.<br />
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Are moving?<br />
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We have lived our new house, just up the street (1.7 miles to be exact), for almost three weeks now.<br />
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We are STILL cleaning stuff out of the old house. And no, we haven't listed it yet...<br />
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This last month has been rough. And 90% un-fun. It has been majorly un-fun for the children, which compounds the un-fun for the adults. We were all ready to be finished with the moving process about three weeks ago. AND school started - which just means less time to tackle the slowly diminishing mountain of stuff to sort through.<br />
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<b>Tonight, after a particularly un-fun time trying again to finish cleaning out the basement, Michael said to me, "You know what I wish? I wish this was all a bad dream and I would wake up and we wouldn't be moving and I would be in our old house. This house does not feel like my <i>home.</i>"</b><br />
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Ouch. That was a bit of an emotional sucker-punch for me. As an adult I can rationalize that three weeks is not very long and I know that we will make many happy memories here and it will feel like (and be) our home. For Michael this past three weeks has been an eternity.<br />
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There's no bigger message here tonight - just a reminder to myself that the things that feel overwhelming/uncomfortable/un-fun to me, feel the same way multiplied by about 1,000 to my children.<br />
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I also wanted to get these words down so, in the future, when we are all happy in this home, I might be able to remind Michael about how difficult this transition was for him. Maybe remembering/being reminded of that, when everything has turned out just fine, will help him face other difficult transitions.<br />
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<br />Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18065716.post-26672433407805391222017-07-21T16:51:00.000-04:002017-07-21T16:51:08.018-04:00Two Weeks Later<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Summer camp, in particular <a href="http://www.minikani.org/" target="_blank">Camp Minikani</a> in Hubertus, WI, played a huge role in my childhood/young adulthood. Outside of my family, camp was the primary influence in my adolescent years. It is no exaggeration to say that attending (and eventually working at) camp was life-changing for me. Attending summer camp has always been a gift I have been eager to give my children.</div>
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This year marked Harper's third summer at the camp of my childhood. When she was 10 she attended a week of day camp. Last year, at 11, she attended one week of overnight camp. This year she went overnight for two full weeks. We pick her up tomorrow and I am jumping out of my skin.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bj3WQ_WVSXk/WXJiJSW0NFI/AAAAAAAAFX4/dQsRJWFBhe01pz5QjEAwd0B8KZskHrzBwCLcBGAs/s1600/19942853_10159009281980357_1015630456271980826_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bj3WQ_WVSXk/WXJiJSW0NFI/AAAAAAAAFX4/dQsRJWFBhe01pz5QjEAwd0B8KZskHrzBwCLcBGAs/s320/19942853_10159009281980357_1015630456271980826_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outside her two-week summer home.</td></tr>
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<br />I am 99% not worried about Harper at camp. My 1% of concern comes from the fact that it is not a completely nut-free environment, though it's as close as just about any other public place she frequents; and a little from the fact that girls can be mean. Since we drive from Ohio for Harper to attend camp in Wisconsin, she does not attend with any of her friends from school or dance. Now you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who is more of a friendship-building expert than a well-trained camp counselor, which Minikani has in abundance. Yet I also know that, despite the best efforts of caring counselors, there are sometimes kids who just don't connect with other kids. Harper is not usually that child, but you never know. <div>
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Two weeks is a long time to not know what your child is doing or how she/he is feeling. Matt received two brief notes from Harper. In the second note she said she cried when the one-week campers left (including a girl she became friends with last summer) and that she missed us, but was excited for the next week of camp. She's probably fine. She's probably better than fine. But, ugh, the line about crying when her friends left made my heart hurt for her. I really hope she's also made some friends in her cabin - all of them are staying for both weeks. </div>
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Tomorrow morning Michael and I will pick her up and I'll get to hear all about it. Maybe camp won't turn out to be the magical place for her that it was for me and that will be ok. But I can't help but hope that she's had a great two weeks and has been too busy having fun to write and tell me about it.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Kelseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02256355039094301578noreply@blogger.com2