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I promise I am writing about the rest of my islands for tomorrow, but I figured that since today is the last day of 2012 and all, I should write something about closure and endings and those sorts of things.2012, I can't say that I will miss you.I know that most of this post won't make much sense to most of you reading, mostly because I go to extreme lengths to avoid actually writing about the big,...

I wrote about my male island earlier, but knew from the beginning that there would be others.I present to you, some of the rest.All-Girl Island1) Zooey Deschanel.  She's quirky and weird, she's gorgeous and has the brightest blue eyes ever.  She gets a ticket to the island.2) Charlize Theron.  I kinda can't stand her personality, but you've seen the Dior commercials. Holy hotness.  I...

You know the drill. Admit it....you've so had this conversation.  You know, the one about the island with the 5 people you'd choose if such a thing ever existed.  Assuming you couldn't choose your spouse, family, children, etc.Besides, this is a fantasy island.  Wink, wink.  In fact, I may or may not have partaken in a conversation about the depth of the pool a few weeks ago.  Imagine...

In the last year, I've written some really hilarious stuff.  I've written some really controversial and politically charged pieces.  And I wrote these. These are the pieces that go the furthest to explaining who I am.  What makes me tick.  What has made me the way I am.  These are the posts nearest and dearest to my heart.  Many of them brought me to tears as I wrote...

It's been a big year around here!  In the last twelve months, I've added over 1,000 fans on my Facebook page, become addicted to Pinterest and actually figured out Twitter. I'm not one to toot my own horn much, but I have to say that I am pretty proud of myself for the first time in a long time.Here is a quick summary of my year in features, guest posts and more!BlogHerDream Big - My daughters,...

Here, for your viewing entertainment, some of the funniest things I wrote this year.  I couldn't decide which one was the best, please vote on the left margin!1. The dinner conversation with my son that almost made me pee my pants.2. A list of terrible birthday gifts no mother wants their kid to get, and ideas for things to get for the kids who have parents you can't stand.3. The...

Overwhelmed.  Overstimulated.  Overtired.All of those overs and more, combined into the body of one tiny being, bursting at the seams for the last two days.  When she can take it no more, she screams.  She cries.  She rages.  She balls her little fists up beside her and explodes.  For now, she sleeps.  I will not wake her.  In her dreams, she is peaceful...

This will be my last post before Christmas.  I still have a lot to get done, and am running out of time. Isn't that always the story of the holidays?The rushing, the worrying about getting it all done, the squeezing pennies until they bleed to make the magic happen?Holidays are stressful. Christmas is the worst.And yet, when I tear up on Christmas morning drinking in the moment with my babies,...

Two days ago, the Iowa State Supreme Court issued a decision in the case Nelson v. Knight.Almost immediately, the media seized the opportunity to sensationalize the case and make it into something it is not. As an attorney, my first reaction to case decisions is not to have a reaction.  I want to read the actual opinion, not the media's interpretation of it.  Far too often, they blow pieces...

Since the world did not end as scheduled, I am sitting here this morning reflecting. Thinking.Realizing how much has changed.On this morning last year, I dropped off the kids at school, then took my husband to work.  On the way, he received a panicked phone call from his mom.  The kind of phone call you never want to get.  The kind that leaves more questions than answers.The baby was...

First of all, I'm confused. When exactly is the world supposed to end anyway?  So many time zones, and I just can't be freaking out 24 different times. Those Mayans.....I guess it's a good thing that we've survived the end of the world a few times already. There was the whole Y2K thing, then all the times that the Rapture was supposed to go down.  Harold Camping is a comedian.What if it...

My name is Kelly, and I procrastinate.It's one of my worst character flaws, and it seems to cycle.  Sometimes I am organized and on top of things, and other times I will literally put off going to the bathroom it is so bad. I generally don't get up until I absolutely have to, don't shower unless I'm under the gun to get somewhere in time, wait until the last minute to do all the guest posts I...

Rampaging GunmenSeriously, this has to stop.  We need to gather ourselves, grieve for the most recent tragedy, then do what we always say we will do, but never do...which is address the real reasons why things like this are happening with greater frequency.  We can't do what we've done before, which basically amounts to being sad for a designated amount of time, then arguing with each other,...

There is a reason that we, as parents, are charged with the task of teaching our children that life isn't fair.It's not.In fact, there will be times in their lives where it seems anything but fair.  I know that there have been times in my life where fairness was such a foreign notion that it hardly existed in the distance at all.  I still believed it to be there, present for someone else,...

I am sharing a blog by a woman that I've never met, but that I feel like I know today.The truth is that we all probably know someone like her.  We just may not realize it.Someone struggling with a diagnosis for her child, overwhelmed and scared.  Afraid of what he might become, what he might be capable of.  A system, largely unable to help.  Not enough resources or funding or access....

It seems like every time there is a tragedy like this, people immediately hop up on their soapboxes and start arguing.  Seize the opportunity to make their point, as if that is somehow more relevant than the lives lost.Within five posts of scrolling through Facebook in the first moments after I found out the news, I'd seen posts  blaming all this on the lack of adequate gun control, and...

I spent some time at school this morning after dropping off my girls and as I was heading out the door, I picked up a kindergarten registration packet.When I got home, I saw the news.A tragedy like this one isn't something we can process quickly or easily.  Twenty parents kissed their children goodbye this morning, never knowing it would be for the last time. Twenty children.  Gone.Numb.I...

I am about 13 years overdue for knee surgery. I have this super-d-duper condition called chondramalacia that usually affects marathon runners in their 40's. I got it when I was 5, and nowhere near a marathon runner. Because I'm wicked awesome.Anyhow, I had surgery for it when I was 14.  Because it just made sense to jack up my entire summer, and the absolute best time to be in a full leg brace...

I've alluded to this story a few times in the past few days, but I just knew from the beginning that it warranted it's own blog post. I was just lamenting the fact that I don't have a picture to show you the things that I saw.  Then, I took a moment and I paused and I decided that fate wanted it this way.  I didn't want to relive this moment, and I am here to entertain you, not make you...

Normally, Tuesday is my day to vent about all the things pissing me off. This week, though, I can't be bitchy.  I just can't.  Not after yesterday. This happened, then it just kept going. I owe a debt of gratitude to some friends right now, and I'm still a little giddy when I think about it.  I didn't sleep at all last night, mostly because there is a part of me that worries a bit when...