As the lyrics in the title track of this blog suggest, so many of us wonder, “Is there a place for the hopeless sinners?” and the answer is a resounding yes. Whether it’s on the death spiral that is Twitter, in a well-meaning Facebook group, through a local organization, or with existing friends you connect with virtually by way of a podcast network or gaming platform, your community is out there and it’s filled with good-hearted, hopeless sinners just like you.
Read MoreAlthough Black Sabbath’s masterpiece, “War Pigs,” was inspired by the Vietnam War and not the war on women, the song still resonates with me on an eerily familiar level. As our elected officials continue “making war just for fun,” read why both the lyrics and voting in Tuesday’s midterm election are more important now than ever before.
Last week, my student loan debt, a total of nearly $55,000, was entirely forgiven. All of it. Gone. Poof. Good riddance. Buh-bye. Although the timing of my loan forgiveness aligns nicely with President Biden’s cancellation of up to $10,000 in federal student debt , my own loan forgiveness has absolutely nothing to do with his historic announcement. Rather, my forgiveness is due entirely to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) temporary waiver the same president put into effect in October 2021.
Read MoreLast week, on Mother’s Day, I found myself poolside in Las Vegas oddly thankful to be a woman at this exact moment in time. Despite the draft decision of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to overturn Roe v. Wade having just been released, l realized, while standing in the bathroom line at the Flamingo Hotel pool, that we, as women, have more collective strength now than we have ever had before.
Read MoreThe first Wednesday of April is Start By Believing Day, which seeks to stop the cycle of silence among survivors by improving how we respond when someone makes the very difficult decision to come forward about an experience involving sexual harassment and/or assault. In this blog, I discuss my own experience and address our collective duty to help victims heal and recover simply by believing.
Read MoreParents being offered more paid time off than their colleagues without children during the pandemic is one thing. Parents who either must work from home or take vacation time to care for their kid(s) is another. And it’s this second complaint I simply can’t go for. No, no. No can do.
Read MoreSooner or later, COVID’s gonna get you. Sooner or later, COVID’s gonna win. And, in the Morgan household, in January 2022, it finally did.
Read MoreOur family is finally, personally, grappling with the virus we’ve been attempting to avoid for the better part of two years. Here’s our four-day experience with COVID-19.
Read MoreAt the beginning of 2021, I decided to start a hand-written journal to document the books I read this year, including the title, author, date of completion, rating, and my personal review. Not long ago, Rod suggested I turn the journal into a post so I could both publish a new blog and share the many stories I consumed with you, my readers. The following is a list of the 23 books I read in 2021, complete with a publisher’s overview, my star rating (between one and five), and the thoughts I jotted down in my journal just after finishing each book. Enjoy.
Read MoreOnce again, my friends, it’s Festivus, that magical time of year when we’re encouraged to air our grievances and tell the world how we really feel. This year marks my fourth annual Festivus blog, one I spend nearly an entire year writing and refining for your reading pleasure. I hope you enjoy this year’s list of my top five complaints and become inspired to share your own, too. Cheers.
Read MoreI’ve spent the better part of the last several months celebrating lives lost far too soon. Since June, it seems, I’ve been in a perpetual state of praying, remembering, consoling, crying, and wearing a lot of black. Needless to say, I’ve learned a lot about the do’s and don'ts of grief; things you may not think of until it’s your time to ask what you should or should not do to help the people you love.
Read MoreHere we are, nearly a month after the Texas abortion law went into effect, persecuting women, denying both COVID-19 and the vaccines proven to prevent it, and abusing immigrants in our country’s second largest state. This can’t be what pro life looks like, right? RIGHT?
Read MoreThe world hates working moms. It hates a lot of other people, too, but it especially hates working moms. If you’re a working mom, no matter the number of children you have, the world is going to make it leagues harder than it needs to be. This I know for sure.
As I leave my thirties behind in just a few short months, I thought it might be worth sharing some things I’ve learned over the last decade; things I know for sure. While I know this list doesn’t (and can’t) encompass everything I know (or the far more valuable things other women I admire know), it does provide some pretty decent advice. Nuggets of wisdom I think all women, regardless of their age, should take to heart, and some of which you may not have heard until now.
Read MoreFor the better part of 20 years I’ve wanted a tattoo, but it wasn’t until my early 30s that I decided to give myself the deadline of 40; by the time I turned 40 I would get a tattoo. So today, at nearly 39-and-a-half-years-old, I crossed off a long awaited item from my bucket list and I got my first tattoo.
Read MoreTidbits of life shape what we like and dislike, how we approach our days, what we want more of, and who we eventually become. So many experiences and so many people have molded my own character, but I’m not sure anyone has left a bigger imprint on my design than my mother, the lovely Mary Rooney. Happy Mothers Day 2021.
Read MoreOne year into a global pandemic and there are actually some things I truly hope don’t end when we finally remove our masks and resume asking strangers to use our phones to take our photos in crowded public places.
Yesterday, on the eve of my only child’s ninth birthday, I learned my son no longer needs me. More specifically, I realized he no longer needs my help building his LEGO sets, which of course translated into me believing he’s ready to start a new life all on his own.
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