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Yikes, UPS, & the Elf With a Secret Baby
By the time Sunday rolled around, I wasn’t sure whether to laugh, cry, or stage a hostile takeover of VRBO and UPS simultaneously. We came to the cabin for peace. Rest. Family time. Marshmallows by the fire like a picture-perfect postcard. Instead, we landed inside a chaotic, backwoods reality show with plot twists nobody asked…
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THIS YEAR, THANKFULNESS HIT DIFFERENT
Thanksgiving didn’t hit me like a Hallmark moment this year. It snuck up slowly…ike crumbs under a couch cushion or the way little kids show up beside your bed at 5 a.m. whispering “Mom? Mom? Mom?” until you finally open one eye. It started at the cabin. One by one, my people spilled into the…
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The Great Wine Heist of 2025
(AKA: Why I’m Packing 27 Gallons of Hot Cocoa Instead) If you ever need a lesson in emotional resilience, don’t read a self-help book. Just order wine online and wait for UPS. Yesterday was supposed to be simple: wine arrives, I pack like a functioning adult, we leave for our cozy little family getaway, I…
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Glitter Promotions, Jeep Surgery, SoulCycle Trauma, and a Lambrusco Crisis
Some Sundays are quiet. Peaceful. Restful. Mine… was none of those things. Mine came with cult promotions, mechanical chaos, toddler Christmas explosions, questionable online shopping decisions, and a wine emergency so dramatic it deserves its own documentary. Let’s begin at the top. Hailey’s Glitter Promotion (and My Cult Status Upgrade) Hailey officially became the JV Winter…
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The Christmas Joy Heist
There is a very specific kind of magic that lives inside a three-year-old at Christmastime. It’s loud. It’s sparkly. It squeals at random intervals. And in my home, it’s named Harper. This child wakes up every morning in December ready to steal Christmas joy like it’s her full-time job. She pops out of bed squeaking, “IS…
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The Day Harper Painted the Floors
There are moments in motherhood when you look around your house and think, “I’m being held hostage… by someone who can’t pronounce spaghetti.” Today was one of those days. Harper, my three-year-old tornado in a tutu, decided to be a big girl. And by “big girl,” I mean she quietly tiptoed into Lynnlee’s room, swiped a…
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Angry at a Corpse, Grateful for the Men Who Show Up, and Stirring Coffee With a Twizzler
Today I found myself mad at a dead man. Like, full-on “pacing the kitchen, muttering under my breath, sloshing my coffee around like it owed me money” mad. And the worst part? The man I’m mad at hasn’t been alive for years. What does that say about me? Probably that abandonment doesn’t magically resolve itself…
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When Mom Almost Didn’t Make It
No, this isn’t a potty-training story…though it sure started like one. I was deep in task mode, ignoring every signal from my body like a true multitasking pro, when it hit me: run or regret it. So there I was, sprinting through the house like an Olympic hopeful, singing, “Don’t have an accident, don’t have an…
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The Night the Sleigh Stole My Daughter
Some mornings I wake up feeling like I’ve been robbed. Not by burglars… not by raccoons… By Christmas elves. I went to bed exhausted, the normal kind of mid November exhausted where you swear you’re going to “slow down and enjoy the season,” and then immediately start scrubbing dried hot chocolate off the cabinet because…
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The Things We Forget (On Purpose)
Yesterday I read The Sleigh That Took My Sister at Barnes & Noble, signed books, hugged babies, smiled till my cheeks hurt… and then immediately came home and started decorating for Christmas like the North Pole had sent me a personal email saying I was behind. Now it’s 4:30 a.m., and I’m awake again, trying to get…
Crumbs and Chaos 