hootenannie

I AM ONE GIANT STRESS BALL.

I am flying to Nashville tonight, and am the world’s worst packer.  No, really.  War is to mankind as Annie is to packing.  I ruin everything.  I pack too little, or too much, or all the wrong shoes. Speaking of shoes, I bought a yellow dress to wear to Brook & Cara’s wedding this weekend,…

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More questions than answers

How is 7-11 still in business when most of them don’t even have gas pumps?  Are Slurpees really a big enough draw? How can I lose so much hair every day, and still HAVE so much hair every day? What does a stress fracture feel like?  Do I have one in each ankle? Where can…

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Declarations

I am torn between wanting to say two unrelated things, so I’ll say them both: Queso is the best. I totally believe in miracles.

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Some thoughts on grief

“As long as I kept moving, my grief streamed out behind me like a swimmer’s long hair in water.  I knew the weight was there but it didn’t touch me.  Only when I stopped did the slick, dark stuff of it come floating around my face, catching my arms and throat till I began to…

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Are you ready for joy?

One of my nearest and dearest, Christina, sent this to me yesterday.  She remembers well my deep and abiding love for “Newsies” (to this day, Jack Kelly might remain my biggest crush), and combined with my newfound fascination with one Lady Gaga, this is pure magic. Who was your favorite newsie?

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Welcome mat

I’ve heard it said that to start anything requires a certain willing suspension of disbelief.  You have to allow yourself, on some level, to dare to hope – even in the face of potential disappointment or failure or heartbreak. What a scary place to live.  There is no guaranteed win.  But thankfully, as a sweet…

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Different

I’ve been doing some thinking.  I’ve been crunching some numbers. To accomplish Tuesday’s boldly declared goal, I would have to walk 10.6 miles a day, every day, for the next 94 days.  And seeing as how I have walked 0 miles since Monday, I’m thinking that 1,000 before Labor Day may have been a WEE…

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Outside

This weekend marked the beginning of the Best Summer Since 2007. The summer of 2007 was my favorite to date.  I still lived in Seattle, and spent every waking moment outside in the sunshine, on the water, in the mountains, with friends.  I knew that my life in the Northwest was a ticking clock, as…

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Tic-tac-toe, 5 in a row

I am always making lists.  I cannot operate with out lists.  They make me feel productive and safe. Why “safe”?  Don’t ask me these questions.  It’s how I FEEL.  I don’t need to have a REASON.  GAWL. [When I was a teenager, “gawl” was my biggest expression of disgust.  I said it ALL THE TIME. …

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Pillow talk

I ordered a $39 throw pillow from Home Decorators Collection.  They charged me $15 in taxes and shipping.  It arrived and was ugly, so I sent it back.  UPS charged me $12.04 for return postage. Returning items via mail always makes me nervous – I hope they credit my card like I asked them to. …

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