Tempered Cass

I go to buy a coffee after a 4am wake up and a string of I don't even know how many days straight of crazy stress. No. No coffee. I turn to face my travel companion. She, having just stirred in a little sugar, samples the hot tasty goodness of the apparent LAST cup of coffee gold. So relegating myself to the task of finding some overpriced alternative, I look up in the middle of my search only to see that the man who had been standing behind me walk away with nothing other than a cup of coffee. WTF? Where is Alanis Morissette when you need her? Digging in my purse I discover that I may have forgotten my coin purse full of the local currency I opt to pay for my 5 Euro half cup of yogurt with blueberries with my VISA. Swipe one...the card won't read. No problem. With determination, I whip out my Mastercard... NOPE on that one too. I stare at the European goddess in front of me behind the cash register wielding all her "its impossible" power. My companion leans ove...

How do you spend time together over the summer with your kiddos?               We usually spend the summer with a dream itinerary of swimming pools, gelato, traveling, bible study/prayer time, a goal of a certain number of books to read and brushing up on the next level in Math and English so that the boys start the year with lots of confidence. Oh and sweet snuggles.             Reality looks a little different. We end up with full schedules of training for football, Daddy goes TDY most of the summer so our trips get cut by half, the dog has to be neutered and the price for pet sitting goes up so the trips would have to be less extravagant anyway because coupled with the bazillion unplanned van repairs on our 15-year-old Ruby and the news that we will PCS a full year sooner than expected we have less cash flow. (Not the worst problems to have but not the dream list)          ...

If obsessing with weight, and general perfectionistic narcissism and procrastination were superpowers I have them. I am the winningest winner of those issues...okay add humility lacking in the above diagnostic list and we have Cass. The truth is, like you, I am a lot of things. I am a woman (maybe like you, maybe not). I am the daughter of a heavenly king, and an earthly hero, I am the wife of the most really in true life fairytale love servant leader and soldier (yep...all wrapped up in one blue-eyed hot hubby) and mama to two wicked smart, handsome, genuinely awesome young men and a shepherd pup and his sister cat. Like you, my life is full of stress, craziness and joy and unfathomable love. I am on a mission to live joyfully. That has been my insta hashtag for forever but today...TODAY....I embrace it in a new way. I really want to embrace happy, manage stress, lose fat, be healthy, and be a good human. If I can "be less of a jerk" like Dan Harris says that would be...

Writing this letter has been something I have been gnawing on for some time and while I have debated my approach, lost my hair, cried some tears, and balled my fists I realize like so much of the human experience I surely am not the only one who may feel my plight. Friends, in this letter is the PERSON we refer to lovingly as "coach". Meaning the human being I entrust my most precious treasures to, and I do so with a few expectations. The person the dictionary says a coach is, is: "one who instructs or trains  <an acting  coach >   <a birth  coach > ;  especially   :   one who instructs players in the fundamentals of a sport and directs team strategy  <a football  coach >   <a pitching  coach >   <a gymnastics  coach >" -Merriam -Webster Dictionary For the Purpose of this letter I will use the sports coach. Coach,  First, I want to thank you.  You have taken what you lo...

IF ONLY If only my soul and my mind would remember together that each of these trials are beautiful and merciful gifts that you will use to deliver me from a life long separation. My heart aches, and so my challenges are reacted to with the fiery temper housed within my breast so full of anger and pride that it is like ravenous beast gnawing at the opportunity to be released. They are met with irritation and still among the rage within me, I find in my age the urge to fight as result is being replaced with near obsessive longings to flee. I yearn to run away at times, to be in far away places where no one demands that this problem (a problem most often they created themselves) be fixed immediately. Where the sounds I hear are of sweet birds and laughter and either the rustle of aspens or waves breaking on the deep sea. Where the feeling on my skin is only the gentle kiss of the sun and cool breeze and the tender affection of my kind, patient and strong husband and even the soft grasp...

Dear woman/parent/adult breather , who might be feeling like me....  You are okay, you are better than okay you were fashioned out of the finest clay. You have been molded and set afire to be strengthened; to carry many a load: like water to purify, cleanse and heal. Like the number of marbles, candies or Pinterest count down calendars, that represent the number of days until the other half of yourself returns from far away places. Like the rice that just may be the meal needed  to keep death by starving at bay. Or in our case the spoonful of peanut butter because The grocery trip hasn't made it to the top of the to do list. Like the football gear, musical instruments, homework, medicine, laundry, proposals, pleas, documents, flyers, and notes. Calendars for parent teacher conferences and tryouts and the hopeful free day for a date. It's funny...you may feel so full of these things and yet so very empty at the same time. Your kids or loved ones may break a hole in that t...