Why is cooking not a generally accepted life skill? Here’s the thing- we all must eat to live, and eating requires, at the most basic level, some form of cooking. We don’t make it a point of conversation to ask people if they know how to brush their teeth or bathe, and then act excited when we find out they are actually very good at such activities. “Oh my goodness, you know how to floss!? Can you please teach me?…
There isn’t much to make you reevaluate all your choices and accomplishments and realize how very little you’ve done yet with your life like hitting another decade. From the wisdom of my upper twenties I scoffed at the thought of minding this birthday, but when it came around the bend, I found myself quailing with the best of them. It’s hard not to, when the next step is middle age and you haven’t yet reached many of the measures of success which culture holds up for you.
Happy (post) Thanksgiving, my pineappley readers! I know Thanksgiving looked very different for a lot of people this year, but I hope that, even if your plans were disrupted, your pie was delicious and your turkey succulent. One can bear a lot with a plate full of delicious comfort food, right? My Thanksgiving was weird too, but what else is to be expected? I started off with an early Friendsgiving in Jersey, which was perfectly lovely, then for my first…
Why does the world not contain more deviled eggs? You know those Sunday evening meetings that happen sometimes when a random guest speaker or singing group comes through the area? Nobody really quite wants to attend, because half the time the music is bad or the presentation dull, but at least there’s food afterward to buoy one’s spirits. You know the spread too- bowls of popcorn and vegetable trays and cookies and (if you’re from my NC church) lots and…
Dear Rachel, Oh, you dear, sweet, naive, innocent, little thing. It’s June, which means you’re just getting settled into life in the city, and still trying to figure out your roommate situation, and you’re slowly making a few friends here and there. The homesickness is setting in with a force, which you’re abating with frequent trips to NC wherever you can squeeze them in. Best of all, you’re still under the impression that 2020 is going to be an amazing…
I’ve been meaning to write this post for dayyssss. So far I’ve managed to… Look through the photos from the choir Christmas party Google my name Apply to a random job I certainly won’t get Look up tall people jokes Look up short people jokes Read a post about celebrities wearing dresses over jeans Listen to Leslie Odom Jr’s Cheer Up Charlie Watch old videos of my dance class and of when I went to see the Brooklyn Tabernacle Singers in…
March marks one year since I made the momentous move from my wee North Carolina town to Queens, NYC. On March 8, 2019, I was saying my soggy farewells to everyone who was gathered at the annual youth conference, then packing my damp self into the rental car with Abby and wending our way toward Virginia where we spent the night at a friend’s house before trekking the rest of the way to Queens the next day. Precisely one year…
I learned that if you want an eternal tube of toothpaste, just buy the worst charcoal toothpaste you can find. It will hardly foam, it will leave your sink and your toothbrush black and weirdly greasy, it won’t freshen your breath by much, and no matter how many months and months you use it, it will never ever run out. Ever. Money saving hack, so you’re welcome for that. I learned I’m not a huge fan of being thought pregnant….
My decade began and ended with a miracle. Around the start of the decade I was living in Honduras, terribly burned out and sad from years of too much loneliness and a few too many griefs. I decided to ask God for the impossible, and asked Him to move us back home in the spring, and not only back to North Carolina, but back to our old house we had left there. This was ridiculous for a variety of reasons….
I know Thanksgiving has come and gone, and Christmas is now making its presence known with blaring music and lights everywhere I look, and even the prettiest snowfall, drifting down on this city of mine and creating a hush in the mania. But for those of us trying to fill our lives with gratitude, every day is Thanksgiving day, right? So without further ado… Dear Tough Decisions, I hate making you, and I love when you are made, much…
I think I promised to tell you weeks (or was it months and months) ago how I was surviving my new job. Time has flown and here I am on my third week in, still alive and kicking although I could be dead in a ditch for all you guys know. I have been too busy to write- too busy moving and staying alive and eating pastries and vegging when my energy gave out, which it does about every three…
Dear Packing, I know people aren’t supposed to like packing, but there is something about fitting everything just so into a box that is immensely satisfying to me. I guess it’s like solving a puzzle, which is one of the best Sunday evening activities (I know, I’m 85). It sure makes this whole moving process a lot easier, all except the books. I started packing my books three times before I could leave them in the box. I’m just gonna…