It’s been over a year. There’s so much I could share. For now, I’d like to just say… HELLO! HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Whatever you celebrate, I hope it is/was filled with love, relaxation, family, friends, and laughter. I’m happy to be back here in this little corner.
A mother’s love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path. -Agatha Christie, The Hound of Death On January 19th, my authentic, loving (so loving), giving, quirky, and beautiful mother took her last labored breath. All we could do was hold her hands and try not to fall apart. I never wanted anything more than to see her finally go after what she’d been through. A good friend who lost her father years before explained to me how she couldn’t wait for him to pass away at the end. I remember feeling disbelief because I couldn’t imagine wanting my mom to leave. It takes watching someone you love suffer to understand that feeling. I am not particularly spiritual and yet I prayed to God out loud and in my head to please take her and end her pain. Now, I’d give an awful lot for just one more day to see her, hold her hand, touch …
The food supply. The environment. Bees. The delicate state these things are all in and how it is all changing rapidly. Crisis. These things have been weighing heavily on my mind.
Until last year, I had been a bit of a Valentine’s Day curmudgeon. I don’t feel that way anymore. In fact, I am so overflowing with love that I am thrilled to have one day when I can say “I love you” 25 times a day instead of 10. How could you not say “I love you” 25 times to this? So, the dozen roses my husband and son gave to me do not seem cheesy, as I once may have thought.
I love waking up first, pouring the first cup of coffee, and feeling the quiet, especially after many loud and busy days. Soon, I’ll be playing with trains, packing for a work trip, and finishing my script for a presentation that I will deliver on Saturday morning in New York. For now, though, it is so quiet. This past week didn’t just deliver Christmas joy.
I confess, I’ve never been a fan of Valentine’s Day. One might call me a Valentine’s Day Curmudgeon. I always thought of it as a cheesy Hallmark holiday loaded with materialism geared to women. I know…I sound like the Grinch. A few things happened this week to change my tune, however. It started with a conversation with a co-worker–who is a strong, independent woman–discussing her lack of understanding of the Valentine’s Day haters that are all over social media right now. Why not celebrate love? Why not have a day to remind us all to share love, because in the busy day-to-day, it is so easy to forget? She had a point. Next, another dear friend of mine gave to me a Valentine and a little box of chocolates. She gave this with no expectation of receiving anything back. She just took the time to say, “Hey friend, I love you.” The chocolates didn’t even last five minutes, by the way. Suddenly, I started to think about sweet confections I could make for my husband …
WordPress sends users an annual report every year. It is so fun to see how many people have visited, where they are from, and what the most popular posts have been. Four out of five are older posts, actually. Which one is most popular, STILL? Why, the post I wrote with my father on creating a leaning string bean trellis (July 2011)! This is followed by a step-by-step guide to creating a cucumber trellis, making blackberry lemon coffee cake (with blackberries from our garden – another happy surprise from 2013!), cruelty-free baby products, and a recipe for vegan bruschetta. So, note to self: more garden tutorials and recipes in the future! Here’s an excerpt: The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 13,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 5 sold-out performances for that many people to see it. Click here to see the complete report.
I’ve missed this blog so much and I apologize for not saying hi. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think to myself, “I have to write about that,” or “That would make a great blog post.” However, the last few months really put me in a state of survival. When life is like that, for me, the things that bring joy tend to get buried under an oppressive pile of things that need happen just to stay afloat. When life gets THAT crazy, I forget to be thankful and I instead start to feel really bitter. I don’t sleep enough. I snap at my poor husband. I don’t free up any time for joy. Until something happens–or a series of things happen–that turns it all around and reminds me just how much I have to be thankful for. Like Anderson randomly blurting out the word “happy” for the first time really loudly at Thanksgiving dinner, nearly making me cry. My husband reminding me that he gets frustrated, too, with various life …
Oh Facebook. I love you and I hate you. I love you because you allow me to see pictures of my friends and their kids and their goofy pet snapshots. I love you because I am able to keep in touch with cousins that I don’t often see. I love you because I get to see photos of my adorable nephews that live far away. I love you because I get to share photos of my child, who in my eyes is the most beautiful child that ever was, with family and friends that aren’t able to see him grow up in real life. I love you because I get to find out about events that I otherwise wouldn’t have known about or even learn about interesting current events. But, I dislike you more than I like you. I don’t like that I have to see upsetting pictures and posts from people that have no filter. I don’t like that general etiquette has flown the coop. I don’t like how it has changed how we …
A close friend sent me this text message recently and it brought tears to my eyes. I have always loved you sweet friend, but I like this Cara who is slowed down. Your job was killing you. It’s so nice to see you in this space. I haven’t yet mentioned a huge change in my life that took place two months ago. After nearly nine years of blood, sweat, and tears at my last job, I decided to leave. 2012 was a dramatic year for me in terms of my career. I left for my maternity leave extremely stressed and unhappy at one company, working 10-12 hour days preparing the division I managed for an acquisition. I returned from maternity leave to a brand new company that provided a much happier, healthier experience. Returning from maternity leave is, however, an emotional and tumultuous experience in itself and probably one of the most stressful things a new mom can go through. One day, you are a full time mom with the important job of caring …
our backyard farm 