Hello, friends!

A couple of weeks ago, I was trolling Blogland and found a course entitled "How to Grow Your Blog."  My first reaction was to jump on that to truly validate the time and effort I spend here, but a split-second later, my mind told me very firmly that I simply wasn't interested, that blogging wasn't really my thing anymore and isn't journaling for myself so much nicer.  Well, I listened to that voice, and I have been journaling every day since.  I was once an avid journal writer, and I truly felt the benefits.  I used to say I wasn't really sure how I felt or thought about something until I had written it down.  Then, years ago, we had a very hard year, and I didn't want to sit with my thoughts for a single extra minute.  In that year, journaling was abandoned.

It was time to return.

Once again, I am feeling the benefits.  On the days I don't journal, I feel less centred and more overwhelmed.  I hope that the journaling habit is back to stay.  With that in place, I felt ready to return here too.  I have missed you.

Did you have a nice weekend?

This was the easel in my big girl's class on Friday, asking the kids to name a nice thing they notice about their moms.  My favorite (which I hope is big enough for you to read) says, "She is noisy in the morning." Awesome.

Mother's Day can be very fraught, I know.  For those of us who are blessed with children we desired and felt ready for, the day can be a day of treats and indulgence (if we are lucky).  For others, it can be a white hot mess.  Challenging relationships with mothers. Longing for mothers.  Loss of mothers.  Challenging relationships with children.  Longing for children.  Loss of children.  Infertility, secondary infertility, miscarriage, adoption strain, the IVF roller coaster...  Women of the world, we hear you. We all have mothers.  Many of us would like to be mothers.  Many of us are blessed to be mothers.   On Mother's Day, let us offer up our love and support to the women in our lives who need it.  We all deserve it.

Wishing you a smooth start to your week!