Essays

  • Snoopy thinking he has a pretty good life.
    Essays,  General Thoughts

    A Lesson in Gratitude

    There’s always something to be grateful for, even in the darkest of times. One of my goals for 2024 (and beyond) is to maintain an attitude of gratitude no matter what life throws at me. Life’s thrown a lot at me lately, especially with property insurance woes, which I will write about as soon as the situation is resolved. What’s kept me sane is my therapist’s advice to focus on gratitude to drown out the bad thoughts. Sometimes it feels easier to complain In the daily grind, it’s easy to focus on the negative. Maybe you overslept, the kids are cranky, or your dog puked on the rug. There’s always…

  • Green piggy bank
    Essays,  General Thoughts

    Finances and Frugality in a World Where Everything Costs a Freakin’ Fortune

    Let’s talk about some F-words (no, not that F-word). Let’s discuss finances, fortune, and frugality. I’m not a financial advisor, but I wanted to share some thoughts about money and some practices that have worked for my family. Finances Money. We need it to live, but everyone makes different amounts of it. And we all have different financial situations, systems, and priorities. Some of us budget every penny and others are comfortably wealthy or don’t care to keep track of spending. Some people spend, and some people save. Some are good at both. Then there’s debt, and credit scores, and debt-to-income ratios. What’s good debt vs. bad debt? Do you…

  • Woman dealing with mental health issues.
    Essays,  General Thoughts

    When your mind betrays you: depression rears its ugly head again

    I haven’t been silent about my (past) battles with depression, anxiety, and insomnia. All those issues hit me as a teen and came back in my 20s, 30s, and now 40s. I was fortunate not to experience postpartum depression after my two pregnancies, but I’ve known women who have. Mental illness is rarely a “one-and-done” situation. It’s often a lifelong battle. There’s less of a stigma about mental health than ever before, but it can still be isolating feeling trapped in your own mind—a mind that’s betrayed you when you thought you were okay again. Triggers I think everyone has different triggers that can jump-start a depressive episode. Sometimes, there’s…