Does that sound like the dumbest thing ever? Feel your feelings??

Doesn’t everyone feel their feelings? Is there really another option? Can I choose to NOT feel some emotions?

The short answer is yes.

This is a story about me.

My oldest daughter and I started having a strained relationship when she was in high school. She was very secretive about pretty much everything. I felt desperate and tried all kinds of things to break her shell, but nothing worked.

I sat across from my friend, Mandy. We were on the tire swing outside our first-grade classroom. Mandy started spinning the tire. At first, I was laughing and having a great time.

That didn’t last long.

“The results from the scalp biopsy came back. She has non-scarring alopecia.”

Brian and I went swimming with Manta rays.

Well, it wasn’t really swimming, but we were in the water while the Manta rays were also in the water, eating.

Does that sound scary?

It totally was.

When faced with an opportunity, choose to participate.

This was one of the things my dad often told us. It’s definitely how he lived his life. And it is how I try to live mine.

I don’t like shrimp.

Shrimp have a texture that bother my mouth. I have been trying shrimp in different recipes for 40 years…and I just never really like it.

I got to watch my brain at work recently. The situation wasn’t great, and I was incredibly angry.

I am a Pisces.

According to the Chinese Zodiac, I am a dragon. My husband is a tiger.

I’m an extrovert… except when I am introverted.

I fell yesterday. It wasn’t graceful. It was a limbs-flailing, body-hurling fall.

It was the kind of fall that hurts.

My uncle is Mike Smith. He passed away several years ago, but some of my favorite memories include him.

I’ve been thinking a lot this week about commitment.

There are some things in my life that I am 💯 committed to doing, and others things that I just seem to be interested in.

Yesterday I spent about seven hours driving in my car. Despite the number of miles I have driven in 2022, it is not my favorite pastime. But driving all those hours to celebrate my oldest daughter and her accomplishments? I’m AAALLLLL in for that.

Have you ever watched babies learn to walk? It’s not smooth sailing. Those first steps are mixed with falling and crashing repeatedly. Watching this process is fascinating. Typically, there is a guide involved—a parent, sibling, nanny, or someone who is cheering the baby on. The first couple of steps are wobbly, uncertain, and off-balance. Down he goes!

I had quite a day yesterday.

My daughter’s youth group left on a trip Tuesday morning. It was a long 12-hour drive. Unfortunately, the timing of the trip conflicted with her dance recital. Because of this, she stayed home until her dance commitments ended.

Last week was a sad one in Texas. As a result, there has been a lot of shouting about our rights in America.

People get really passionate about their rights.

My son was speaking to another member of our church last week. Afterward, I got a very lovely text from this person, who described Landon as an incredible person. It was such a nice thing to hear.

I was talking to my son last week about the trombone. He, who has played the trombone for the past 10 years and has a full-ride scholarship in trombone performance, is considering quitting.

The conversation was a difficult one.

When I was in grade school, I loved writing stories. I loved creating characters that were precisely how I envisioned them to be. I often made the hero (always a girl😜) practically perfect. I created strengths and abilities in her that were missing in me. I loved it.

It was May 1998, and I was getting married in a month. In a moment of inspiration (more like insanity) I decided to sew a quilt for Brian, my fiance. I immediately went to my mom and told her my great idea. She looked at me incredulously.

“Do you know how to do that?”