The Burrow

Megan had been thinking about Christina-Taylor while brushing her 9 year old's hair and she commented yesterday that she had to keep myself from crying in front of my daughter.  She'd gone right into protective mode.  It's a reaction I've seen a lot of lately.  More often than not I am on the receiving end of the equation.  I haven't had much energy going toward protecting other people.  Please don't ask TBG how that has been working out.  I'm self-involved and reference everything in life vis-a-vis my situation and my situation is all that I can think about and my friends and family and strangers on the street have been enabling my addiction.  Protecting anyone but myself has been beyond my capabilities for the last 4 months.  I couldn't even take care of a 9 year old on a Saturday morning in front of a grocery store in an upscale neighborhood.  I couldn't keep either of us out of harm's way.  How in the world could I possibly ...

I am many things to many people. Mom. Friend. Hiking Buddy. Babysitter. Weighlifting Partner. Wife. Recently, though, I seem to have added another title - Reliable Informant. There were inklings of my new status while I lived in Marin. Around election time, people would begin to ask me " Who should I vote for?" Not "For whom are you voting?" Nope, they were asking me for the name they'd put on their ballot. We've all done it. Does your neighbor work in the courthouse? I bet you've asked her for recommendations on judges and district attorneys before you made your decision. I looked at my questioners in the same light. They knew I attended School Board meetings even before I was elected to serve. Closeness to the operation in question seems to be the go-to point when information can't be found elsewhere, I guess. And so often, especially on small local boards, the ability to get along with one another is the difference between success and or dissensi...