frazzled & frumpy

I met Meg last year at our Listen to Your Mother rehearsal. She sat next to me and I was at once drawn to her, but also, completely intimidated by her vivacious personality. When she read her essay, I fell in love. Since then, our times together have been few (we live on opposite sides of Salt Lake, which sometimes feels like an ocean away), but through facebook and blogs, we keep in touch and I have had the enormous privilege of getting to know her and calling her friend. As one of the most gifted writers I’ve known or read, I feel a bit hesitant to write about her. But, it’s her birthday , and, this is my gift to her, because I can’t come to her house with a present in hand. I’d love to, though, because, Meg is the kind of person for whom you would take extra care in wrapping her gift. Because, she would appreciate every part of it. I imagine she would open it slowly, carefully, and, she’d probably save the ribbon. She would gush over the beauty of the package long bef...

Here's the thing... The School Thing -I often hear people tell me how well-behaved my kids are. I've come to the conclusion that they are simply better for other people than for me (because they're beasts at home).  That idea was ripped to shreds last week when Noah got two 'behavior notices'.  On the same day.  It's gonna be a long year. A rare quiet moment. Maybe I should get him a bunny. The Addiction Thing - Our local gas station put out the fixings for dirty diet Cokes. (diet Coke, fresh lime and coconut syrup).  Though I'd tried it once before and didn't like it much, I decided to give it another go. That was Thursday. On Friday night, when I accidentally knocked my dirty drink on the floor, I was much more upset about the drink than the books I'd gotten wet. Then, when I went on Saturday (third time in three days) I was incredibly disappointed to find they'd run out of the coconut syrup. May be time for an intervention. (Or to fi...