It has been more than ten years since I first saw her.

I was recently at the post office and she was standing near me in line. Our eyes connected and she blankly smiled. She did not recognize me. She really had no reason to. But ten years ago, she left an indelible impression on me.

In the world’s eyes, she is an overlooked middle-aged mom, with unkempt hair and clothes. I had initially dismissed her as well. But during our interactions, I came to know a beautiful person. Possibly one of the most beautiful I have ever known.

When we first met, I was on the cusp of a new life: a newlywed, pregnant and with a whole new world of hope and possibilities in front of me. In my eyes, she was weary and beleaguered.

I came to know why: she gave and gave, often leaving nothing for herself. She was a KEEP READING

A certain child of mine is a sore loser. Always has been and I hope will not always will be. Couple that with always having to get their own way and you have a perfect storm. I can’t really fault the second attribute–having fortitude to make things happen can be admirable but being unwilling to compromise and accept defeat are very ugly things.

The other three of us often tiptoe around certain situations because we know Said Child will throw a fit when they don’t get their way but today, I’d had enough. Losing gracefully is one of life’s great lessons and there will be no more giving in.

Case in point: Said Child and Other Child share responsibilities for cleaning the bathroom and alternate between toilet/bathtub and sink/mirror. Obviously, the latter in the more desirable but we could not come to an agreement regarding whose turn it was so took it to rock-paper-scissors.

Quite predictably when Said Child lost fair and square, they threw a colossal fit. In the past, I’d calm Said Child down and make them do it anyway but today was a turning point as I announced:

“From now on if you lose and you can’t accept the fair results, you will do both jobs.”

Guess who got to clean the entire bathroom? To soften the blow, I cleaned their room but as you can imagine, Said Child awarded me “Mother of the Year.”

Here’s for hoping we have a sore-loser-no-more in the making after today’s life lesson.

Yesterday, I posted that my friend Karla was invited to pitch her invention The Shower Shimmy on Good Morning America’s “Shark Tank Your Life!”

I haven’t talked to Karla much this week as she has been crazed pulling everything together for the show, fulfilling Kickstarter orders and working with the factory. Karla and her husband Ivan were supposed to fly out to NYC yesterday and we assumed all was well until Jamie called her dad Bob to talk about shipping costs.

Bob: “Crazy about Karla getting to NYC, right?”

Jamie: “Wait, what? We haven’t heard anything?”

Bob: “She’s stuck in Detroit and Ivan is in St. Louis. They’re not sure if they’re going to make it to NYC.”

New York City has had a horrid winter and on Thursday, a Delta airplane slide off the runway at LaGuardia Airport. Fortunately, our friends weren’t on that flight but it resulted in the airport being closed down for hours while both of their flights were diverted.

Karla made it into NYC eventually; Ivan is still stuck in St. Louis, which is a REAL bummer because he was the hilarious part of the pitch!

Regardless, Karla did a fabulous job on her own and ended up winning “Shark Tank Your Life!” (Watch the video here).

Who cares if you had a Murphy’s Law experience barely getting there as long as you have the Shark on your side.

Congrats, Karla!

I mentioned a while back that I absolutely love the Humans of New York Facebook/Instagram feed.  I’m always curious to know strangers’ stories and this satiates that curiosity.

I’ve had my share of frustrations with the interim principal at Hadley’s school this year. Long story short, the former principal (whom I loved because she knew how to get the job done) stepped on one too many toes and the Governing Council outed her. Now,we’re left with someone who is completely under-qualified and unresponsive to our teacher frustrations and I truly fear for the quality of education we’re receiving with her at the helm.

A group of parents are meeting with her yet again in a couple of weeks as we try to salvage this school year.  One thing I’ve learned is there is nothing more important than educators who go above-and-beyond to ensure your child receives the best education possible.  I’m grateful to live in an area where quality schools are in abundance because not everyone has the same opportunities.

These are screenshots from Humans of New York. It is so inspiring how a simple picture and a boy’s inspiration has transpired into a movement (with $374,000 donated and counting).

The response to this post was so overwhelming the photographer tracked down the principal.

It didn’t end there.

Here’s to amazing educators who are making a difference in our kids’ lives.

When I was a kid, I dreamed of becoming a great actress. That Annie character (actress Aileen Quinn) had nothin’ on me. Well, except that she could act. And dance. And sing.

I enrolled in drama the first chance I could when I was in seventh grade.  My dreams of stardom would soon be realized.

Until I realized I hated acting.

Well, I didn’t hate all elements of it but one in particular: improv. And this class was all about off-the-cuff acting.  Though I was an overly self-assured seventh grader, I was way too self-conscious about being funny on demand so after just one semester my acting career was over.

Last summer, my friend Dawn offered a free drama class for a couple of months and both kids really enjoyed it. Hadley, in particular, has loved acting in her class plays and has an impeccable memory (she can recite everyone’s lines). She had a blast last year during her Unceremonious Death as the Wife of Baldur but I thought that was the extent of it until she begged me to enroll her in Colorado ACTS, a local community theater, with her friend London.

At Colorado ACTS with London

I himmed and hawed. I pulled them from their activities this winter so we could enjoy downtime together but finally relented. Performing in front of people is an excellent skill to have when so many struggle with public speaking. Plus, the theater is literally one minute from my house and the class is only one night a week.

I love that Colorado ACTS is a smaller theater company with a big heart so she’s learning a lot of skills she might not have otherwise. Hadley is having the time of her life! Not only is she learning to sing, dance and act but the kids are helping to craft the script for their original production of “Rock Around the Block.”

On the first night, each child had to decide upon their stage name from the 1950s (she’s Annette) and also write on a piece of paper whether they were willing to do a musical solo. The other kids discreetly gave their answers but when it came her turn, she dramatically declared:

“That would be a big, fat NO.”

Maybe there’s a future for her in theater after all.

I spent my final semester of college on a study abroad in the Middle East. Our campus was on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and we traveled frequently around the region. We floated in the Dead Sea and slept in cabanas by the Sea of Galilee. We roamed through Petra’s ancient wonders in Jordan and we climbed Mount Sinai to witness the sunrise. We marveled at the Great Pyramids and sailed the Nile at sunset.

Upon the completion of my studies, I stopped over in Europe with a few of my friends. We backpacked five countries in two weeks and had the time of our lives. One of our final destinations was Switzerland. We stayed at a hostel in Interlaken, the country’s outdoor Mecca. After a day of rafting the mighty Lütschine, we talked late into the night with some fellow travelers.

One of them was named Ralph. He was charming, athletic and drop-dead gorgeous. He was a mail carrier from Australia who had saved up his money for a year-long adventure abroad. He was going home the next morning. Feeling remorseful about the end of my own travels, I asked him how he thought he would adjust back to his humdrum life after being given a glimpse of the world.

His answer still resonates today: CLICK TO KEEP READING

There was boomerang throwing,
Grandparent hosting,

Chinese-food-induced-pants-busting, (yep, that’s his button)

Swim lesson-ing,

Trail building,

Nearly nekkid posing,

College bestie hosting,

Outdoor movies under the star-ing,

Final pool party-ing.
Not to mention failed photobombing.
Summer 2015, you’ve been one of our best ever!