Talk To Them

One of my immediate internal monologues when I found out that I have cancer went a little bit like this: How do I tell my babies that I have cancer? Should I tell my babies that I have cancer? […]

More Than A Year | I’m Not Sorry

It has been more than a year since I have written. Please don’t be upset with me. It has been more than a year since I have addressed you, my faithful readers. But I promise, it really hasn’t. But it has. I have started posts since the last time I have written. I have started them, and stopped them. It has been more than a year – but the “more than a year” has been the strangest, hardest, most intense “more than a year” I think any of us, on earth, have ever experienced…

Cesarean

April is Cesarean Awareness Month but I wouldn’t necessarily wish someone a “Happy Cesarean Awareness Month”. From the vast majority of Cesarean Mamas I’ve met and […]

I’m Trying

“I’m trying” has been my automatic response to receiving any sort of praise whatsoever for as long as I can remember.

If I did well on a project at work: “I’m trying”

If a friend or relative complimented something I was wearing: “I’m trying”

If someone congratulated me on my weight loss, our engagement or subsequent marriage, my pregnancy, or just holding our house together all day, every day: “I’m trying”

It’s recently come to my attention that this is not healthy. […]

WHAT THE HELL?!

We’ve all seen movies or read books with pregnant people in them. Most of us have seen pregnant people in our lives, some of us have been close to them. Close enough to learn things, observe things, and ask questions too. There are things we all know about pregnancy or at least we’ve seen it in movies, read about it in books, or heard/seen it directly from family members, etc.

But what about all the surprises? What about […]

Blogger’s Block

Blogger’s block is a real thing. And I’m in it. Man, am I in it. I want to try to explain it to you because it’s different from regular writer’s block, in that I don’t write poetry, novels, or stories for a living. Here on my blog, I try to write what brings me joy, sadness or an itch in that moment; to have a healthy mix of stories, funny things, helpful things, and serious and dear-to-my-heart issues. Lately, though, my trouble has begun to grow, and here’s why: […]

Nola

It was late summer, 2005. I was 19, and home, anxiously awaiting my return to The Ohio State University for my sophomore year. We were still on quarters then, so I was always the last of my friends to head back to school in the fall, due to our late start. I was lonely. All my friends were back in their folds at school, but I was stuck home. My summer job as a lifeguard at the local country club pool had ended. Having had my fill of the sun that summer, I was watching a lot of TV.

On August 29, 2005, I remember watching, horrified, […]

Partnerships

After Peer Support Specialist Core Training in Chicago, I was in touch with one of our instructors. She and I worked together to gather some insight from my side of the fence… Check it out, my thoughts were published!!! […]

Peer Support Training

As some of you might have read in my last post, I spent last week up in Chicago taking the Peer Support Specialist Core Training. Holy cow; what a nearly indescribable week it was!

Day 1: There were 22 of us, with two instructors. We spent the morning talking about the definitions of the Peer Support Specialist (which we fine-tuned throughout the week) and shared our […]