Something Important

August 14, 2020 by Jodie in Balance, Family, Parenting, Transition, Writing

“Hey Mom”, Norah asked as we sat at the table – one of us coloring and the other meal planning. It was a rare Sunday afternoon when the apartment was quiet while Conor took an extra long nap and Brett went for an extra long run, allowing for slow, uninterrupted conversations with my first grader. “I have a question for you. When I’m a mom someday, what if I want to have a job but I also don’t want to hire a nanny? What do I do with my kids?”

Apparently Norah wanted to bypass a couple decades of tough conversations and jump right into the mom guilt arena.

Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.

July 09, 2020 by Jodie in Faith, Home, Transition

I almost burned you down last year. It was an accident, but still, I’m sorry. I sat up straight in bed back in the city, my heart pounding, fully awake. The clock blinked green - 5:03 am. I had only been asleep for five hours but I could not go back. I could only think of one thing.

Did I leave that candle burning at the cabin?

A Winter for My Soul

March 23, 2020 by Jodie in Transition

About one mile in, the bike beneath me felt heavy. Each push down on the pedal felt like I had the resistance turned all the way up to imitate climbing a hill, but the trail in front of me was paved and flat.

I grimaced and pushed down again, feeling like I was biking through mud. Finally, a little over halfway to the brewery for our Saturday afternoon date, I yelled to Brett, “Stop! I need a rest.”

“Sure!” he said. No questions asked and no judgement in his voice. My pride found it ridiculous that I would need a rest just a few miles into a leisurely Saturday bike ride. This was not a difficult trail, but my heart was pounding and streams of sweat made tracks down my face.

After catching my breath for a couple minutes, we started again. The rest didn’t help at all.

New Year Benediction

January 06, 2020 by Jodie in Encouragement, Faith, Hope, Transition, Writing

Last year, another writer challenged me to write a benediction for myself in January. I had already finished color coding my goals and filling out my planner, so it felt like a shift to speak kindness and grace over myself instead of expectation and striving. A good shift.

Benediction – the utterance or bestowing of a blessing

In Latin bene means “well” and dicere means “say”.

Here is what I wrote last year:

From One to Two

May 22, 2017 by Jodie in Parenting, Transition

“What was the hardest transition for you? Zero to one? One to two? Two to three?” This question was posed at a baby shower for my friend who was pregnant with her fifth child.

I was pregnant for the first time so I listened in eagerly, rubbing my 4-month baby bump and silently taking notes.

“Definitely from no kids to one kid,” she answered. “But maybe that’s just because my first was a difficult baby and she never slept.”

I braced myself for a tough transition five months down the road. And then Norah was born.