Post 409: Failure (Again)

Post 409: Failure (Again)

Funny story.  I was scrolling through my newsfeed last night after we tucked in the little ones, and I saw an article about Florida International University having the highest percentage bar passage rate in Florida for the third straight exam.  I stopped to think about why that might be the case and whether law schools should “teach to the test” and what that approach could mean for BarBri and…

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Post 408: Perfection? No. Safety and Security? Yep.

Post 408: Perfection? No. Safety and Security? Yep.

One of the mothers in one of the local Facebook groups posted this article earlier today.  The title said, “Stop Making Things Perfect for Your Kids,” and the comments were all like, “AMEN!” or “This is the best article ever!” or “I’m going to post this to my personal account!” so I decided to read it.  Because what could possibly go wrong. Well, there are a few problems. First, the tone of the…

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Post 407: Accepting Love and Support

Post 407: Accepting Love and Support

Just when I think have that all figured out, I realize I’m not always so good at it.  I’m learning.  I’m trying.  It’s sinking in.

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Post 406: On Conversations and Predictions About the 2016 Election

Post 406: On Conversations and Predictions About the 2016 Election

We had dinner out with friends last week, without our children, which is an extremely rare occasion.  In fact, other than HW’s thirtieth birthday and a wedding that specifically prohibited children from attending, it was a first for us. We haven’t seen these friends in a while, and actually I was starting to worry something was up.  It wasn’t.  It was a really nice night. They are both…

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Post 405: On RHONJ and RHOC and Forced Forgiveness

Post 405: On RHONJ and RHOC and Forced Forgiveness

I was finally able to catch up on RHONJ and RHOC this week and I noticed a common theme, likely because some part of me was looking for it. It’s something I’ve noticed before and even written about before, but watching the shows my own feelings seemed to be working themselves out, and I’m hoping writing about it will continue that work. If you’re not familiar with the cast members of these shows,…

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Post 404: More Changes

Post 404: More Changes

My new plan has not been working, so I came up with a new one.  I’m not sure this will work either, but I’m willing to try. First, the change in title format, because I am not writing every day.  It will now be “Post 410:  ______” instead of “Day 410: ______” because that makes more sense. I haven’t written much lately (obviously), and while some of that is simply a matter of timing (back to…

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Day 403: Keeping Track of the Seasons Without the Weather

Day 403: Keeping Track of the Seasons Without the Weather

Before we moved last year my mother asked me if I was concerned about missing the seasons.  At the time, that was so far down the list of possible complications that the question annoyed me significantly.  Also, because I had lived in warmer climates before, I didn’t expect an issue, and simply missing the cool autumn air seemed like a silly thing to worry about given everything else on my plate.…

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Day 402: Back to School B*tches

Day 402: Back to School B*tches

I know, that’s a bad word.  Is it a word we’ve taken back yet?  I think I read something about trying to take it back.  I’m not sure why we would want to take it back.  It really is an ugly word, Kimmy Schmidt’s good point aside, and if someone ever used it about one of my daughters I would definitely see red. Still, I can’t think of a better word to describe these women. I know, I’m a bad…

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Day 401: Thankful for Technology Fails

Day 401: Thankful for Technology Fails

I wrote this extremely long, ramble post about a friend from high school who recently and unexpectedly passed away, and for some reason, I decided to write it in the WordPress window box rather than a word document, and for some other unknown reasons, my Internet stopped working at the moment I tried to post, and instead of saving the post like normal, it was lost forever. I am thankful for this.…

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Day 400: On Making Catholic Friends

Day 400: On Making Catholic Friends

I mentioned a few posts ago that we are making new friends.  It’s not that we didn’t make friends when we first moved, because we did, but it takes some time to get to know people and figure out how much you have in common, and to borrow a phrase, if there is “any there there.” One of the things that has been interesting is to see how people slowly develop as we get to know them, one little bit…

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Day 399: Burkinis

A professor I admire and respect very much once spoke to us about the importance of writing only about things when we possess some kind of specialized knowledge.  This is excellent advice, which I have spent 399 days (and really, most days since) ignoring.  What’s that song about the good advice you just didn’t take?  Yeah.  That. This writing project is something different.  It’s not about…

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Day 398: How to Convince a Reasonable Person to Vote for Clinton

Day 398: How to Convince a Reasonable Person to Vote for Clinton

Or rather, how not to convince a reasonable person to vote for Clinton.  Say something like, “You idiot, I told you all Republicans were evil, and now Trump proves it.” Or something like, “I’ve been saying since last year HRC is the only sane choice, are you ready to admit that now?” Or, “Trump is exactly like every other Republican, but I’m glad you understand what I’m talking about now.” Or,…

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Day 397: Bring Your Baggage and Find Your Balance

Day 397: Bring Your Baggage and Find Your Balance

I had one of those rare and inspiring mom conversations last night.  The stuff of urban legends really.  For me at least. I like people.  I like people in theory (unless we are in a confined place or standing in line or competing for finite resources) and in reality (same caveats), and one thing I love about our circle of friends is its diversity.  Still, too often when the opportunity arises for…

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Day 396: Family Vacation

Day 396: Family Vacation

We were provided with the opportunity to take a last-minute vacation before school starts, and because we are who we are, we jumped at it. So now, here I am, looking out of our balcony window over lights reflecting on a picturesque (and most likely entirely man-made) lake.  The children are snuggled up, exhausted from a full and hot day at the pool, likely dreaming about our adventure to…

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Day 395: The New (Blog) World Order

Day 395: The New (Blog) World Order

I took a bit of time to think about what I want the future of this blog to look like, and it was really nice to take a breath.  Having this blog as an outlet has been wonderful, and at times inconvenient, and maybe those two facts are inextricably bound (see a post later this week for more on that).  In any case, I want to continue writing, but I’m going to make a few changes.  The most obvious…

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Day 394: Olympics

I forgot how excited our kids get about these things.  It’s pretty awesome.  We have gymnasts tumbling across the (newly organized and sanitized) floor and swimmers kicking their way across the sofa.  Their enthusiasm is incredible and more inspiring than the athletes.  I never claimed to be objective.        

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Day 393: Organizing Our Lives

Day 393: Organizing Our Lives

An acquaintance/facebook friend did some kind of organization challenge this summer.  Every day she posted one thing she was supposed to tackle.  One day it was her desk, another her sock drawer.  It would have made me crazy.  If I’m going to do a project like that, I want to pick one room, turn it upside down and put it back together.  Maybe that’s because we’ve moved so frequently I don’t have…

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