When I was 33 weeks into my first pregnancy, my water broke 7 weeks early. In our Seattle living room, my husband and I had just finished watching our beloved St. Louis Cardinals win a playoff game in their bid to get to the World Series. We ditched plans to watch Law and Order and…

4 Key Elements and 5 of the Best Free Tools for Successful Hybrid Work I am still haunted by the stories I heard in the early days of the pandemic of parents struggling to do the best they could by their children and their employers. There was the bus driver who left her house in…

Do you remember what learning to ride a bike felt like? People remember the first bike they rode like they remember their favorite stuffy, or their first concert, or their all time favorite pair of jeans. Mine was a blue Schwinn I got for my birthday. I was so excited to join the bigger kids…

Most parents have experienced the oxymoron of family vacation. We envision: reading that spicy thriller everyone’s been talking about, siestas in the afternoon by the pool and the joy of discovery made even sweeter because we’re seeing it through the wide-eyed wonder of our kids. Instead: that pool becomes a death trap, the siesta happens…

I learned an important lesson about repair over spilled guinea pig shavings when my daughter was 8. When my daughters were in elementary school we had two guinea pigs that were not your normal skittish, high strung guinea pigs. Zeus and Conware came to us highly socialized by the family who had them before us.…

I was in the Methow Valley in eastern Washington over the weekend when a helicopter flew up the valley. The energy in the valley changed. Everyone paused and looked skyward and I swear even the trees held their breath. The helicopter, which was in the valley to carry logs upriver for salmon habitat restoration, was…

For the first time since the pandemic started I read two books back to back. This was huge. Reading a good book centers me. I was an English major in college. I love the arc of a story, the way stories challenge my assumptions and broaden my perspective. I love developing relationships with the characters…

Several months ago I started using daily wear contacts. My doc recommended them because the monthly ones were irritating the insides of my eyelids giving rise to little bumps that were chafing my eyeballs. I believed her when she said this would not be good for my vision long term. The change to daily wear…