This was my Saturday. I woke up this morning craving soup because I am a full-blown soup fiend… especially chicken soup. So I made a quick chicken and lentil soup with fresh roasted chicken, red lentils, onions, celery, carrots, and even a tiny bit of corn. Honestly, a lot of my soups end up becoming a “what’s left in the refrigerator” situation anyway, and somehow that always makes the broth better. I had too much chicken, so I also made a quick little chicken salad. Then I decided I wanted salmon salad too, so I made a small batch of that as well. The good part is both salads use…
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The Perfect Saturday
The Perfect Saturday For a long time, I thought the perfect Saturday meant being everywhere. Clubs. House parties. Friends’ gatherings. If something was happening, I was there. Call me “Pat” — party all the time. Honestly, it fit. Home was just where I slept, changed clothes, and grabbed something to eat before heading back out. Even after that season slowed down, I didn’t. I was still moving — cleaning something, rearranging something, finding something to do. Sitting still just wasn’t part of the plan. When Everything Shifted About six months ago, something changed. Instead of filling every minute, I started letting a few minutes just be. At first, it felt…
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Life Keeps Lifing, and So Do We
Some days are heavier than others. You wake up already tired. The weather shifts. The workday stretches longer than you want it to. On days like these, calm living doesn’t come naturally — it becomes a choice. Grief shows up quietly.Responsibility sits close.And still — life keeps lifing.And so do we. Life doesn’t pause for us to catch our breath. It keeps moving, whether we’re ready or not. Being human means carrying hard things and hopeful things at the same time, even when we’d rather set something down. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about calm living — not as a perfect lifestyle, but as a choice we can come…
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Some Days Just Call For Soup
Some days just call for soup.Not the kind that takes all afternoon or requires a handwritten recipe card — just the kind that comes together because it needs to.In winter, comfort soup has a way of warming more than just your stomach. Today was one of those days. I made what I call cheater soup. And honestly, for some people, this is the only kind of soup they know how to make — and that’s perfectly fine. I roasted a few chicken thighs.Poured in low-sodium, store-bought organic broth.Used up every vegetable sitting in my crisper drawer — including the ones that were starting to look at me like its now…
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Lessons in Living — Lesson #2: Why Saying No Is Okay
I’m sharing small lessons in living — the kind you don’t always recognize while you’re learning them. They don’t arrive all at once. They show up quietly, over time, usually after you’ve already lived through the hard part. This one took me longer than I care to admit. For a long time, I thought saying yes was proof that I was a good person. Over time, I’ve learned that saying no is okay — even though it took me a while to believe it. If someone invited me somewhere, I went.If someone asked me to do something, I said sure — nothing illegal or immoral.I believed that showing up —…
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In The Blink Of An Eye
By the skin of my teeth, I missed getting caught in a blizzard this morning. It started as a quiet winter day, and then—in the blink of an eye—everything changed. When I got to work, the skies were clear—or at least I think they were. I didn’t look up. It was Midwest windy, the kind that makes it hard to open your door and then slams it shut behind you. Nothing that suggested what was about to happen. No sooner than I could remove my coat, the temperature dropped, fog appeared, and everything changed. I watched from my window as it went from a few flakes to blinding white, no…
