Rage Against The Minivan

Today is National Delurking Day, or so I’m being told.  That means it’s your day to finally leave a comment!  I know . . . some of you already do.  But the vast majority of you are silent readers.  Maybe you are intimidated by the comment-leaving process?  it’s easier than it looks, and you can log in with just your name. Just click on the “COMMENT” button below this post, and this box will appear.  Ignore all the fancy log-in options. The best way to leave a . . .

Haiti was on my mind all day today.  It’s hard to forget.  The devastation I fled a year ago this time – those concrete ruins I could not wait to escape are a daily reality for the people of Haiti.  It is hard to fathom the resiliency that is required of this nation’s people. An estimated 230,000 people were killed in the earthquake – many have not been unearthed or recorded. Only 5% of the rubble has been removed. 3,600 lives have been lost to cholera. 800,000 are living . . .

I was just drafting a post about this time last year – with the anniversary of the earthquake coming up, it’s hard not to reminisce.  I went to link the post of my half-marathon, and realized it was missing.  I had drafted up this post on my phone on the flight to Haiti on January 11th . . . and obviously this post got lost in the shuffle.  Anyways, one year later, here is the recap of my first (and hopefully not last) half marathon. Writing a race recap feels a lot like writing . . .

We are still in massive holiday hangover mode.  We’ve been home for four days and I’ve yet to unpack or open all the mail.  Vacations are a lot of work. Before we left, I was pretty stressed about the trip.  Our first plane ride with four kids would be followed by our first road-trip with four kids.  So in the week leading up to the trip, I did what I do when I’m stressed: I strategized and hyperfocused on minute details, to give myself the illusion of being in . . .

When I was a kid, we used to spend hours going down the staircase in a sleeping back when my mom wasn’t looking.  We don’t have a staircase, but the boys have managed to craft a luge out of one of their plastic toy bins. I think we’re all a bit ready for the weather to warm up so we can get back to playing outside . . . . . .

I continue in my 15 minutes of fame as the woman who loves/hates minivans, depending on where you’re reading. So controversial, I am!! It’s like a telephone game.  I made anti-minivan remarks!  I’m the woman who fell in love with the minivan!   (Um, no.)  I’m riding on the coattails of Rage Against the Machine and should be ashamed of myself! I think that my being quoted on any of this conversation is utterly amusing, especially because I could care less about . . .

All week long I’ve seen bloggers recapping their year with some of their favorite posts.  This sounded like a good idea, so I thought I would do it.  And then I sat down and thought about where to start.  January seemed like the obvious place.  I lived a lifetime in January of 2010. 2010 has been a hard year.  Brutally emotional, exhausting, fulfilling, and stressful.  When I pulled up my January posts, I winced at the first few . . . silly posts about the . . .