Written with the blessing of his mother. Three years ago, as a family, we decided to have a dedicated gym night. “As a family” may be a stretch, because getting the kids there was akin to putting a onesie on an octopus. But we did it - a regular 5:30pm session with a real live … Continue reading Max
Author: jylbear
Having mid-range success at navigating the world around me. I find most things funny and often laugh when it's completely inappropriate.
A Compilation
Shockingly.... I have completely lost my ability to focus. Gone. I may actually forget where this sentence is going before I reach the end. Oh. Nope. Did it. Clearly, I have just a little bit going on in my life so I know this is excusable, but as a woman who is a shoe-in for … Continue reading A Compilation
Gratitude. Like it or not.
Phew. How to even start. I guess first by saying that I promise not to write about this topic every single week from here on out. But it's a promise with a lot of holes in it at the moment. So, thank you for humoring me. Remember that time my blog took a turn to … Continue reading Gratitude. Like it or not.
Some People Claim that I’m the Woman to Blame
It’s not some people. It’s my kids. And I’ll use the term I try not to use because it takes away from the role I actually play - it’s my step-kids. Having never been a biological mother, I have very little business weighing in on how green that grass is. But sometimes I look over … Continue reading Some People Claim that I’m the Woman to Blame
Three Men And A Lady
Vacation Three. I know, right? Another trip? Seriously, Jyl, how many trips are you going on this year....? No, I get it, we were just gone a month ago for a week to Georgia. Then the kids went off to California while Rich and I had a quickie (stahp) in West Virginia. And now, North … Continue reading Three Men And A Lady
Blogiversary
I had a birthday celebration email in my inbox from the WordPress folks - seems that it was one year ago that I signed up for the service. I've be waiting by my physical mailbox all week to see if a cake arrives. I hope it's delicious. As with all not-really-a-milestone-but-I-lean-to-the-side-of-overthinking-milestones, I’ve also spent the … Continue reading Blogiversary
Despite the protests
In addition to the now resolved internal struggle of 'face-to-face or virtual' for Zack, we've been having a similar debate with Zoe. Well, maybe not that similar. Pandemics, protests, and riots are probably not the same as 'just' a pandemic. We shouldn't have been surprised that the road to Zoe's next step would be lined … Continue reading Despite the protests
Virtually Decided
Today we pushed the button to transfer Zack from 'regular' school to online school. Yes, it is considered a transfer and, yes, theoretically it means that he is no longer a student at Hanover High but now a student of Hanover County's online school. We went in circles for weeks on what the best choice … Continue reading Virtually Decided
Why I’ll never call it your dead name
We were sitting at hibachi last week, a late celebration of Zoe's birthday, and when the server asked her her name (for the obligatory and annual corny song by the staff ), she visibly bristled. We should have known this would happen as this birthday year, dinner included her good (hmmm....) friend (you know, friend...), … Continue reading Why I’ll never call it your dead name
Breaking Out II
I've started to continue writing the vacation journey numerous times, but I keep having to stop to pick up EVERY. DANG. EMPTY. WATER. BOTTLE. Why is this so hard? If I were the boss, cases of water wouldn't even be a thing - everyone would get two refillables and they could alternate drinking out of … Continue reading Breaking Out II
