Life & Family

In between the busyness of work, getting a reasonably healthy dinner on the table and cleaning the kitchen, there’s what I like to call “flashes of clarity.”
It happens when I’m stripped free of being needed – by the kids, Mr. Right, the dog, housework. There, like a ghost,  is the singular person behind the titles.
Melissa, [...]

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Give me some time and I’ll find a way to spend it.
Chores, blogging, time with the kids, reading, biking, styling my hair. I’m sure you have a list, too. Add things like morning routines, a day job and sex and suddenly you’re wobbling to find balance. A priority or two might careen off the rope, [...]

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A good movie has memorable scenes.
Like a lover’s quarrel from the roof of a high-rise or a robbery planned in the junkyard. Scenes like this become the salt and pepper for stories.
That’s what Donald Miller describes in his book A Million Miles In A Thousand Years.
His message is simple:
Memorable scenes belong in real life, not just [...]

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I’ll never forget the first time I saw the footage of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. I was having a beer at a local sports bar with Mr. Right. My heart! It was tearing out of my chest as the plumes of oil puked into the sea. I wanted to stand on the [...]

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“You don’t sit down to form a poem. It forms you.”
I took notice of this line in Bright Star, a movie inspired by the biography of John Keats, the last born of the English Romantic poets. His advice on poetry was for Fanny Brawne, a lover, muse and poetry pupil.
While most of us don’t have the [...]

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My friend Jeffrey posted this little gem of advice: “Don’t make blogging your life. First, go out and live.”
It resonated with me because, well, blogging is a big part of my life right now. I love it, but the truth is, my life misses me. Its the beautiful question of balance. Where does this fit [...]

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“Maybe you’ll make it big!”
That was one of the last things the Press-Gazette ad director said after I quit my day job. I smiled and thought it over.
Yes, maybe.
Maybe I’ll go down in history as a “great writer.” Maybe they’ll turn my novel into a movie. Maybe everyone will know my name.
The dreams are there, [...]

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I learned a new lesson this weekend: camping must be planned.
And yes, I learned it the hard way.
“Throw out the to-do list.” “Go with the flow.” “Don’t worry so much about the details.”
None of these apply to camping.
The Melissa That Plans starts camping prep at least a week before. The menu is decided. The weather [...]

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