It’s been a year since she died but I still see reminders of Grandma every day. Mostly in the handmade pieces of her that live in my house. Needlepoint tea towels. Quilts. Afghans. Crocheted hand towels. {Want to hear what a horrible person I am? Once, Grandma was helping me with garage sale prep and she came across a box
Self-discovery is an inconsiderate bitch. Y’all know I hate winter; it’s no secret (I can hear you: “yes, the cold, the dark, you hate, we got it, enough already”). But at one point recently during one of those zero degree days, I had a harsh realization. And it hurt more than the -15 wind chill. I was brooding for the
It's December 20th and if you're wondering how we're doing around here, let me fill you in. We have a new water feature in the spa. Isn't it lovely? It's been almost as fun as that time we had the foul smell just in time for Valentine's Day. Ah, the joys of a 95-year-old building. Our computers continue to be
Have you ever been personally Yelped? I have. Let me tell you how it feels: not great. I know I'm supposed to be way more on top of Milagro's "web reputation" than this, but last week I was poking around our search results and realized we had more Yelp reviews than before. So I clicked. And there it was. Oh,
Mom and Dad Smith One of my favorite memories from when Smitty and I first started dating was visiting his parents' house at Christmastime, somewhere around 1994/95/96. Mom Smith knows how to Christmas - the decor, the baking, all of it. But what stands out in my head (or my ears, rather) is Dad Smith in the lower
Yesterday I was writing a long list to share here of things for which I'm insanely grateful - my heated mattress pad, doggie drinking fountains at the park, sunshine, pillow socks, Smitty, Taco Via, etc. But the corner of my mind was crowded with people I know and people I love who are spending this holiday (for the first time
I can specifically remember the beginning of the end. I wouldn't call what we had a long term relationship. In some ways, I had just been trying it on for size. It didn't feel natural or authentic. And more often than it made me feel good, it made me feel awful. It was bound to end. Bitterly. Then one day
The season has changed and we've moved from Ocho's favorite (cicada season) to Rio's favorite (acorn season). During cicada season, Ocho looks forward to our walks as an all-you-can-eat buffet of crunchy and/or crispy deliciousness. Her order of preference is: live (bonus points if she gets to catch them out of the air) shells (so light and airy) dead (not
Last week, we welcomed to Milagro a new guest who walked slowly and with a noticeable limp. On her get-to-know-you form, she answered our question "For what are you most grateful?" with one simple sentence: "The chemo seems to have worked." When I was in cancer treatment at 31, two acquaintances near my age also received diagnoses. They did not
Sit back and let me tell you a story about how enlightened I am. Last month I wrote this cute little piece about how my Jeep (aka The War Rig) taught me a valuable lesson about attentiveness. At this point, you're gonna wanna go back and read it if you haven't already. Don't worry....I'll wait... Ready for the punchline? This