It seems like an entire lifetime has transpired since I last wrote a weekly update. If we’re talking the life of an adult cicada. Speaking of cicadas, have you watched Slow Horses? I have and I love it.

To catch you up: the Eagles won the Super Bowl. I don’t get crazy over football but I love my home team and it was a great game.

I finally managed to get together for lunch with my new friend Kelly from the Frenchtown Bookshop Writer’s Circle. We went to the Lumberville General Store which was cute as hell. I mean, Bucks County knows how to be historic and quaint and all that. I wasn’t surprised when I drove through a covered bridge on the way. We talked about art and kids and of course, writing. See Kelly’s artwork here.

Valentine’s Day came and went with very little fanfare. I went to a funeral. My friend Meaghan’s mom was given a beautiful send off and I’m glad I could be a part of it.

The big event of the month, and probably the reason I didn’t write and had a hard time focusing on anything else was our son’s “procedure.” Not a “surgery.” My husband and I went down to Children’s Hospital in Philly and spent about seven nail-biting hours waiting while our son had an ablation, or multiple ablations in his heart. It was so stressful, so scary that I felt unable to do anything in that waiting room. I don’t think I was even breathing. And as I thought about all the possible outcomes, all the reasons why it might go well or not, I realized how much I live my life based on superstition. There’s no controlling life. It’s hard and often unfair and it doesn’t discriminate. And sitting with other parents, some with really young children, I became acutely aware that life is happening for other people, all the time. It was profound. And humbling. But I knew we had so many people praying for us and I was grateful. We left Philly as it started to snow and we ended the day driving through a blizzard. Our son started his new job at Panera three days later and baseball season a week after that. So I guess you could say he’s doing well!

If you’re looking for something fun to do in the winter, check out a semi-pro hockey game. Three of my friends and I went to a Lehigh Valley Phantoms game and had a girls night out. I stole my son’s Phantoms jersey and felt really cool wearing it. They have pretty good food there, just don’t get the pretzels, they’re terrible. Jahan Dotson of the Eagles was a special guest that night and that was fun.

I visited the Michener Museum of Art and met with the director of marketing, hoping to do some design work for them, and had an amazing time there. I’m hoping to plan a trip there with friends and clients soon. I am so completely at peace when I’m walking through a museum. Can you imagine working for an art museum, every day? And I went to an art opening for a friend of mine, Glenn Harren. You can see his paintings here. He was showing at the SVA in Frenchtown, which is owned by another friend, John Schmidtberger.

And a lot of other things happened that I don’t have photos of, or can’t share photos of. My daughter and I went prom dress shopping. It was fun but utter madness, at the King of Prussia mall on a Sunday. It was a workout! The kids finally got their photos taken for their driver’s licenses. The DMV. On a Saturday. We have survived a lot. Oh! AND, I drove into NYC for a mini high school reunion. Although I went to school in DC, an inordinate number of alums live in New York. We met at a shabby little bar in NOLITA. I got to see people I hadn’t seen since I graduated. So crazy. And it felt like no time had passed.

This week, as I drove through town, I passed a church that said, “Only Jesus Saves.” Then, right next door, a bank, with no sign. “Really?” I thought. What a missed opportunity.

Last Friday, the husband and I went out to dinner at the PA House. It’s an amazing little restaurant in Hellertown that feels right out of LA or NY. Either way, it’s swanky, and I love it so much. My husband got the lobster risotto, I got the Cobb salad, and we shared “the warm cookie.”

Saturday we had a follow-up Christmas with my sister-in-law and her kids, down from Connecticut. There were hot dogs and mac-n-cheese to eat, legos to build, and football on tv.

Sunday I went to the Yoga Loft even though I promised I’d go to church, alternating each week with yoga to make it fair, but then Yoga drew me like a self-care magnet that I couldn’t resist. And I don’t feel bad. It was a packed class which makes me so happy for Lisa. She’s so good and everyone should know it. But I never noticed yoga being resolution-effected. And then we celebrated the husband’s birthday. He asked for fancy macaroni and cheese, like he does every year. I always serve it as the main dish with a salad, but this year I added meatloaf and it was a big hit. I had a lot of help from the kids and it was probably the most fun I’ve had cooking for and hosting a party. Even though I failed on the cake frosting again. If you want the M&C recipe, it’s from the famous Vegetarian Epicure cookbook which you can get on Amazon. Or ask me and I’ll share it. I also have the world’s best chocolate cake recipe.

Monday it snowed. They cancelled school even though we didn’t get very much snow at all. And then the kids had “late arrival” all week due to standardize testing. It sort of threw us back into the Christmas break mentality so it’s been a very slow return to normalcy. I booked my trip to St. Louis in April. I’ve never been! Sort of want to do the Arch.

I finished Remarkable Bright Creatures and started James.

Tuesday I had my first class with Abigail Rasminsky and it was awesome. If you don’t know her, she’s an amazing writer and teacher. She’s a regular contributor to Cupojo.com as well as many other publications. This is the second writer’s workshop I’ve attended and it’s the most fun. You sign up for eight weeks of one hour zoom sessions with Abigail and a bunch of badass women writers where you get a writing prompt, a ‘space’ to write, plus tons of community, camaraderie, and hilarity.

The week gets better. Wednesday I went to see the musical Dear Evan Hansen at the State Theater in Easton. My friend Meaghan, who I’ve made a secret pact with to get out and do fun things with this winter had an extra ticket to the show. OH MY GAWD. The best Broadway musical, I think, of my life.

And then, AND THEN, Thursday, I had my Writers’ Circle at the Frenchtown Bookshop. This is where area writers meet and read their in-progress work and get feedback. It’s fun, funny, terrifying, helpful, and uplifting. I’m learning so much, and getting to know very interesting people.

And now it’s Friday. The husband is going to his Whisky tasting night so no date night. Maybe tomorrow.

DAUGHTER

Necklace that belongs to a friend

One navy blue hair tie

Juicy fruit gum with one piece left

“Strawberry Fields” tic tacs

Two erasers

Eyeglasses with no lenses

Compact mirror

Rainbow pencil

Pen

Lip balm

Burt’s bees tinted lip balm

Home made lipstick

Journal

Change purse with $10.05

Ear buds

Sunglasses

Answer cards

(Not pictured: old iPhone 5)

I’ve been pondering this topic for a while: What do you do with a fur coat that you don’t feel good about wearing? I’d been wanting a leopard coat forever—faux leopard, obviously. I’ve pinned lots of options:

Then, one day I was talking to my mom and she said she had a vintage fur coat I could have. It was “ocelot”. I pretended to know what that was and then promptly Googled it. I’ll save you a click and tell you: “The ocelot is a wild cat native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central, and South America. Its population is estimated to comprise more than 40,000 mature individuals and is considered stable. Its fur was once regarded as particularly valuable, but legal trade of its fur ceased decades ago.”

My mom said she’d send me the coat, she didn’t wear it and probably wouldn’t need it in California. When it arrived, I quickly opened up the box, took out the massive garment, and tried it on. I knew immediately. I would never wear it … Not as clothes. Not in public. Now what? I hung it in the closet and put off making a decision about it.

Recently, I decided I needed to find it a new home.

I’ve never been really definitive about my feelings on real fur. I feel pretty awful about that statement. It’s as if I don’t want to offend anyone. But the longer I think about it, I can never condone wearing real fur. I can’t even be okay with wearing a fur that was made a really long time ago.

You can’t sell illegal fur. I didn’t want to just take it to the thrift store. After a little research I found a few options: donate it to a museum, to a place that helps the homeless like PETA’s fur campaign or to a place that helps animals like Cuddle Coats.

I contacted Cuddle Coats and arranged to send it off.

I haven’t told my mom.

I thought more about finding a faux fur. They look so cool. But, now I don’t know. Do they?