The Musings of a Latte Queen: Narratives of Everyday Life

We just signed the final round of papers that will close our home a month from now. My home, not a house, not an investment piece, not just real estate, my home. I remember when my husband and I were looking for the perfect place that we would find in a new city we were moving to after living in two different cities all through graduate school.  We were still engaged when we would travel to our newly adopted city the summer before our wedding, looking at home after home, bring my sons from a previous marriage along to test out how kid-friendly it would be for them. We found the perfect place a month before the wedding.  It was big enough for us to expand a family, which we did with the addition of two little girls.  It had the large front and back yard for our youngest son to run out all that energy.  It had the private, downstairs masters' suite where he and I could, for the first time, live together and have moments of peace.  It was perfect so we bought...

I went for a long drive this morning. There was a lot on my mind. I realized that there are some people who exist only to destroy those who are even remotely close to them.  They destroy because of their own addicted issues and self-absorbed lifestyle. They leave emotional destruction in their wake and never bother to say "I'm sorry" when their hurricane is over. I was driving and looking out at the greenery and realized that years have gone by, years that can not be recovered.  It is funny what a clear sky and open road will give you.  Time to think is precious. We are living in volatile situations every day.  The election, the news, the unemployment, all have people on edge ready to launch out and attack anyone they deem to be weaker or the cause of their perceived pain. Hurricane Isaac is wrecking havoc along the Gulf Coast and many of us are cleaning up the debris from hurricanes that touched down in our lives - loss of life, loss of health, loss of inc...

You cannot rewrite the definition of a thing to suit your agenda, simply because you want more power and greed and think the rest of the nation is too stupid to understand your regressive agenda. Todd Akin, Congressman from the great State of Missouri, my home state, stuck both his feet so deep in his mouth that he actually told the truth of the Republican Agenda that has been brewing under the surface for the past 20-30 years. He said "legitimate rape" will not result in a pregnancy because a woman has something in her "body to shut that whole thing down." Really? They truly believe if a woman was really raped, she would not be pregnant! Tell that to all the young girls who were raped and molested by a grown man and ended up pregnant.  Tell that to the wives even who were forced into a sexual encounter with their husbands that resulted in a pregnancy that she didn't want.  Tell that to the many woman who have been raped and ended up pregnant and makin...

I must admit, I am a back-to-school nerd. The new paper, pencils, folders, and crayons all get my inner child happy and giddy.  I vividly remember when the 64 box of Crayola Crayons was a big step in the school supply shopping list, I believe I was in 7th grade when I finally graduated from the little box. When I was a kid, it was Prang Water Colors, Big Chief Writing Tablets (wrote some of my earliest stories on these), Crayola Crayons, Crayola Color Pencils (for 7th grade!) Bic Pens (for 6th grade, we were big kids then!).  I remember the Cursive Writing Paper required for 3rd grade (some things should still be in the curriculum, like handwriting class!).  I remember picking out our lunch boxes (The Mystery Machine, Scooby Doo for me!) back when they were metal and had the thermos to match (I wish I still had mine!) I am on my last set of children who have gone through the ritual of choosing their "special folder" and deciding what color binder they should have (t...

I can hardly believe that a month ago I was at All-State Jazz with my son. Just one month, thirty days, and so much has happened. Life is like that, one day everything seems to be moving along at the slow pace and then suddenly, life is moving along with the lightening speed. In one month we celebrated his success in his jazz workshop and his little sisters' trip to Kansas City to visit their big brother and his young lady.  We were looking ahead and thinking we still had so much time before we had to pack up the van and drive down to Alabama. We returned home from our respective trips, thinking how much we did this summer, and how it would be nice to just rest for a minute, when a health crisis hit me like a tsunami. I ended up in the hospital and had to have emergency surgery on my submandibular gland.  I have never been that sick, so suddenly, in my entire life.  That was an entire three weeks of my life!. Life is like that, at times, when suddenly things a...

Fear. Power.CONTROL. The Evil Triplets. They wreck havoc in homes, communities, cities, and nations. No one is immune from their grasp, they can be subtle in their charms, casual in their comments, but always, always seeking their own lust.  An endless lust.  Insatiable. Moments come when they are dormant, seemingly at rest, at peace. But.they.still.exist.and.ruin.lives. Fear cripples. Control captures. Power corrupts. All of them steal, kill, and destroy. Yet, there is the possibility, the promise, the pursuit of love, peace, grace, and harmony. One can look at those things that would make us afraid and realize those things only have the power because we give it to them, they only have control because we relinquish our essence to their taunts, threats, and tantrums. The evil triplets are like spoiled children, they want your attention, if you deny them the attention they crave, they wreck havoc to get it, even if they destroy themselves int he process....

I live in the woods. My almost 1900 square foot townhouse is actually built into the mountains. My entire lower level is actually underground. I have a view of the most amazing trees, even with this drought, I can look out my wall of balcony windows and see the sun peaking through the tree tops, hear and see the birds chirping, watch the squirrel race and play. The woods in this suburb are my home.  Beautiful. Peaceful. Serene. And invaded! It is a little cooler right now than it was a month ago when THE INVASION started. One hot, hot July afternoon, the kids and I had just returned home and were chatting away about what quick thing we could make for dinner.  We came up stairs to our open floor plan living space, when suddenly, something raced along the all and jetted under the stove.  I dropped my packages and practically did a back tackle on my son. "What was THAT??!!" "I think it was a mouse," replied my son, through spurts of doubled over laughte...