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The Friend Who Got Away
We were good friends at one time. S and I started in the same month at the same company in 2003, and our birthdays were only days apart. We started buying cakes for each other every year until we...
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Finding Beauty
Beautiful in my eyesWhat do the words ugly and beauty mean to you? Over time, scientists, psychologists, and others have tried to figure out what it is about certain people that makes them beautiful...
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Giving up the corner office
Professional meSeveral years ago, I picked up a book called Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office 101 by Dr. Lois Frankel. Childless and on a career path to management, I thought I needed to find my...
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Mindfulness
I'm a fan of Rachel Held Evans (more on her next week) and in her new book, in the first 50 pages she talks about learning "mindfulness": focus and acute awareness of what is going on around us. The...
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Nothing to envy
And baby makes three friendsMy best friend from college is tall, naturally trim, smart, blonde, and gorgeous. She has a wonderful husband who treats her like gold, a custom-built house with an...
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A lesson in humility
The thing about the internet is that it's easy to toss out critical comments without much thought, and especially on Twitter, where stream of consciousness is the way conversations are driven.Not long...
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Unexpected beauty
It's the end of November, and the full splendor of the autumn season is in effect in west Texas. The leaves are stained-glass yellow and crimson in the sunlight, and the colors are more subtle than...
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31 bloggers for whom I'm thankful
I had this well-intentioned idea to feature 30 different bloggers in 30 days through the Thanksgiving season; then I fell behind about two-thirds of the way through the list. I'll feature these...
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Then where will we find the joy?
My husband is as solid as a rock. He is black and white to my variations of gray. No nonsense. He tells me he is a "realist" when I say he is a pessimist. He is reserved and slow to warm up to...
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My grown-up Christmas list
Dear Santa,I know it's been a long time since I truly BELIEVED. I have always loved you, though, even when I may have acted like I was too cool for you. Please forgive me for my lapses in Christmas...
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Wanderlust... paused
In my 20s, I took every travel opportunity that came my way. "Send me! Send me!" I'd beg my bosses for any chance I could. As I became entrenched in an unhealthy relationship in my mid-20s and into...
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In celebration of do-nothing days
Most of my days are made up of minutes crowding out minutes; seconds squeezed up against each other like matchsticks in a box. The days fly by and the routine is rote, but comforting. Our son knows...
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To those left behind
Last spring, I got a phone call from a former boyfriend. I had broken up with him during a difficult time in my life, when I wasn't able to sustain a relationship. I knew from the tone of his voice...
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Even when he hates me
Someday, my son is very likely to say to me the three words I never want to hear.I. Hate. You.I want to be ready and prepare my heart for it, knowing that it will surely come. I remember writing in...
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Wait for me
"Wait for me, sweetheart," I say to my son as we walk out the front door. He pauses, and I am struck with a singular thought: he's not going to wait for me for long.He is already growing in leaps and...
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Instead
I’ve never been poor. I was raised by middle-class parents in a middle-class community in a medium-sized Indiana town. I have parents who are still married, 45 years later.I never had to worry about...
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Step forward and listen
As a parent, there are certain situations we never want our children to encounter. This story, told to me by a young friend, is a harrowing one. It's one a mother never wants to hear. And yet, we need...
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Quiet
My life is filled with noise.I talk a lot; my three-year old talks almost as much as I do (there is no question where he gets it). I like music, and we have a piano, guitar, and small drums in the...
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Seven things I loved about Dubai
Hello readers! I don't often get the opportunity to do travel-based blog posts, but in January, I went to Dubai for business, and it was incredible and very photogenic. As an amateur photographer, I...
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The perfection of imperfection
After reading a beautiful essay on wedding photography and capturing fleeting moments, I pulled out my own wedding album and flipped it open to the photo of my flower girls. In 2006, both of my nieces...
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