altared spaces

motherhood’s bottom line

May 17, 2012
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Motherhood has a bottom line just like the marketing class I’m taking. In my class, called Power Boost Marketing with Pamela Slim, we have quarterly reviews. Pam asks us about our bottom line numbers: how many people signed up for the newsletter? How many dollars went into the bank? How many new people did I [...]

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patience, parenting, and touching the super moon

May 11, 2012
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“Here it comes,” said my daughter pointing to the faint glow on the horizon. Blue sky surrendered to black and still we’d seen no moon. I expected to see the moon 20 minutes ago. That was the problem for my son. His 15 year old self had turned 4 again and he was banging around [...]

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toothbrushing toddlers: conflict or connection?

May 3, 2012
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Try brushing a toddler’s teeth and watch your patience fray like the too-tight strings on a guitar. Zing! Twang! Yop! Our tooth brushing session would begin so sweetly. Those tiny teeth were the size of water droplets, perched in a pigtailed head that was 40% of the overall body-mass. I would brush these niblets with [...]

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do natural consequences work? my son, laundry and texting.

April 25, 2012
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I am learning to text. It doesn’t come easy to me. I am a tunnel of focus hunkered about a campfire of heat trying to get the message right. But those tiny keys fool me. My son is a texting monster. His devotion to his phone assures me that some day he will pay a [...]

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parenting 101: be there

April 10, 2012
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I realized I was lost at the airport when I got off the elevator and saw the orange campfire instead of the blue trout. Will sending my daughter on a plane ever get easier? Will I always go left when I should have gone right after I wave goodbye and wipe away the tears? The [...]

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who are you? a love note to yourself

February 13, 2012
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What’s the best thing you’ve done as a parent? How can you give that to the child inside yourself? As a parent one of the things I’ve done really well is decorate our family tree and create seasons of celebration that are simple and unique to our family. Every Valentine’s Day I tell my family [...]

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the hello in death’s goodbye

February 6, 2012
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I traced the metal rivets in the leather chair in which I sat. They were as evenly spaced as the hanging bags and monitors that were keeping my step-father comfortable as he journeyed toward death. The cold of the linoleum floor in the ICU crept through my socks each time I stood to apply chapstick [...]

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how do you (break the) measure up?

January 17, 2012
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I measure myself constantly. Do I measure up? Was the dinner I made tasty enough? Nutritious enough? Did I get enough exercise? Am I working hard enough to move my business forward? Cutting myself enough slack to remember that’s the formula to be kind to my family? There is always an invisible bar against which [...]

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get clean = get peaceful

January 10, 2012
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The simplest days are often my favorites. Sometimes I forget this. That’s why almond butter and rice cakes are my altared space today. I’m using January to clean out and let go. My friends Demi, Sarah and Debra are leading a community cleanse. Cleansing my body is about a whole lot more than food. As [...]

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3 ways to clean your way out of a bad mood plus bonus

January 6, 2012
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  I have the post holiday blues. I had so much fun decorating cookies and skiing with Santa that the return to work this Monday was a bit of a let down even if I do adore my job. I also had mouth surgery and I find the hole in my mouth leaves a deeper [...]

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“i don’t know” prayers

December 29, 2011
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Welcome guest poet Rosemerry Trommer! No Hurry To Find Out Joan asks me what happens after we die, and I don’t know, but I do know how to stand beside the river and see a shrine in every rock I find, which is how I spent the day yesterday. And I know that walking today [...]

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