The laundry fairy has resurfaced in my life. She doesn’t make frequent appearances, but she is always welcomed. I first learned of her existence when I was in college. I brought home basketsssss full of dirty clothes on Friday night. The weekend passed, and I never went near the washer and dryer. Yet, on Sunday I loaded basketsssss full of clean, neatly folded clothes into my car and return to college. Must be a laundry fairy that lives at home, I realized. I tested the theory, and for years I… Read more she’s baaaaack! (soLs) →
“You can’t buy that,” I said through slit teeth, eyes darting up and down the aisle to make sure no one saw us. Mom looked at me like I was the one with the problem. (Hindsight says she might have been the one in the right here, after all, I was a teenager.) “Everybody buys this,” and she plopped a package of toilet paper in the cart. It wasn’t a cute little four pack, but the giant, huge, larger than a small child pack of double-roll toilet paper. I thought… Read more growing up (soLs) →
Sunday morning I woke up, stretched, pulled on layers of exercise clothes and realized I’d forgotten my shoes. My options were orange moccasins or knee-high brown boots. Not exactly conducive for an hour + walk. And then I remembered — Hannah, my daughter, wears the same size shoe as me. Yes. Hannah is ten. Yes. Her shoes fit me. Lucky for me, even though it was barely light, I heard Hannah in the bathroom. I caught her before she made it back to her bed. I gave her a hug and asked,… Read more walking in hannah’s shoes (soLs) →
Christy (R) and I hung out in“real life.” I’m continually amazed at the community I’m surrounded by because of blogging. Sharing stories fosters connections. When stories are shared over time,… Read more serendipity (soLs) →
We arrived at my in-laws near eight and the kids snuggled in for the night. Meanwhile Andy and his mom poured the wine, set out the snacks. Martin (a friend of ours from Austria) shuffled the cards. We gathered around the table, dealt the cards, began to play. And the stories flowed. Of childhood and Austria and the crazy-busy week. We laughed and teased and didn’t want to go to bed. But the hours kept churning and our wine glasses were empty. My head hit the pillow and all of… Read more stress relief →
Words have power. A power all of their own. A power like no other. Words can heal giggle love admire strike fake encourage please ponder Power. I want to tap this power during the Slice Challenge. Not just in the writing I do here, but more importantly in the comments I leave for others. I’m humbled that people trust Stacey and me enough to start a blog, to join the challenge, to document pieces of their lives. How can I show the slicing community how much they mean to… Read more behind the comments (soLs) →
For the past few years, storms have brought an extra body into our bed at night. The good news is, when Sam turned six, he proclaimed: “Six year olds aren’t afraid of storms.” We’ve been waiting to test the theory. Late last night, a storm rolled in, and soon Sam snuggled under my covers, took over my pillow, and whispered, “I need you, Mom.” It’s because he says sweet things like this that I don’t kick him out. The next morning, with my muscles sore from being sandwiched between two… Read more a morning conversation (soLs) →
Tomorrow marks March. After five years, March holds a special place in my year. It is the month of the Slice of Life Challenge, which Stacey and I host on Two Writing Teachers. This year it feels significant. Maybe it’s because of the five year anniversary. Maybe it’s because last weekend people were talking about the challenge at Dublin Literacy Conference. Maybe it’s because I’ve helped more than 20 people set up a blog in the last week. Maybe it’s because the challenge has its own hashtag (#slice2012) on Twitter.… Read more it is about to begin… →
We (Andy, Karianne, and I) are NCIS junkies. It is an addiction. Truly. And I love this about us. Right now, they are waiting for me to watch the episodes from tonight. It’s too late to watch them both (NCIS and NCIS Los Angeles), so we’ll watch LA. Last week it was “To Be Continued.” We’ve been waiting all week. And now we are still waiting. Because I’m writing. Which brings me to the end of this little snippet of time, because I love them too much to keep them… Read more ncis (soLs) →
Ruth Ayres Writes 