in one of my many english classes (does that sound weird to non-native speakers? do they think i mean classes to learn english?), one assignment was to write in a daily journal. i am a stellar procrastinator so i would wait until the day the journal was due for review and scribble away to fill the pages in the period before that english class. once, i thought i was being clever by just writing down each item in my biology lab room without description. pages of “desk, linoleum, glass beaker, curtains, a girl sleeping at her desk” took up the space which was the only requirement for the journal assignment.

my teacher handed it back the next week commenting, “good idea. turn it into poetry.” damn.

i remember this lesson seventeen years later when i get an email alerting me to update my blog or lose my ads. i don’t care about the ads. i tell myself i don’t care about this space and maybe i don’t but i probably do or why would i be telling this story.

my first inclination upon being told to update is to blurt out what’s been going on in my life.

triplet’s 4th birthday, party, bounce house, guacamole, grandma holding a friend’s infant, slip n slide, school started, triplets riding the bus, oldest started fourth grade, nightly homework, great-grandparents visited, van’s transmission went out on a hill, husband away nightly after work searching for a new van, the triplets’ screeching and whining grating on my already raw nerves, getting blood drawn, thyroid not working at full capacity, feeling run down, walking the dog in the woods, frustration, watching true blood with mike on the laptop, immersing ourselves in battlestar galactica dvd’s, seeing inglorious basterds with my brother, organizing the garage and laundry room because no van and too much energy, running out of money, feeding the kids scrambled eggs because not much else available, getting a different van, adventuring with the family, scrounging for change, trying to not get frustrated and failing, pushing deadlines, cleaning the kitchen over and over and over and over. life.