This morning, I was reading an article on procrastination during my writing group hour instead of working on a long essay I need to edit and submit later this week. Then I started writing a new piece instead. The joy of endless procrastination and the infinite ways of doing so. The real question is, what […]
I am my own person, and I have all the freedom to explore my curiosities and try something new. I inherently know that. But sometimes, if not usually, I need other people’s permission to go ahead and try out new life experiments and directions. I don’t need strict authorization, per se. A subtle reminder or […]
My four-year-old son, the youngest, asked my husband and me earlier during dinner, “What would you do if I was not here, like if I was not born?” My immediate response was, “Oh, it would be so sad and lonely!” Because he’s such a sweet guy, and he’s great buddies with his sister, who’s only […]
I have three online courses finishing up at the end of the month, including Ship 30 for 30. I am exhausted. My brain is tired. And I just want to sleep more. I’ve been in simultaneous cohort-based courses since late February, and it’s time for me to take a break from all this damn learning. […]
I’m writing a long piece about my childhood upbringing, how constant conflict with my father shaped who I am today and led to the choices I made in raising my kids. It is very emotional. It is pretty draining. And I am exhausted from trying to relive the past in my mind as I work […]
My six-year-old daughter decided yesterday that she wanted to sleep alone in her bedroom tonight. I didn’t think she’d do it, but she did. She asked my husband for her book and a book light and put herself to sleep. She even asked him to close the door! He said she was reading when he […]
My first name has always been difficult to pronounce and spell for pretty much everyone I first meet. Unless they already know another Maile, they won’t say my name right just from reading it, nor will they write it out correctly when I tell them my name. Like at a Starbucks. The mispronunciation and misspelling […]
What’s missing? That was a writing prompt I came upon last week. The first thing that came to my mind was, “I need a wife.” I do! In talking about it further with a fellow writer, I expressed that I wanted someone to support me with taking care of the home and the kids. I […]
Last weekend, we finally got around to taking care of the heap of dry tree branches that my husband had trimmed off our trees over the past three years. The three-foot-high pile spanned about 30 feet along the side of our long driveway and was around 10 feet wide at one end and tapered to […]
There’s a red flag warning issued in our area, off the coast south of San Francisco, starting tonight until tomorrow afternoon for dry thunderstorms. We had dry thunderstorms last year, which ignited a few fires less than five miles from our house. I’m worried again tonight, but not as much as I was earlier in […]