Ten lines in ten minutes

1. My brain has been rewired by motherhood.

2. I mangle words, phrases and names in exactly the same way my mother did/does.

3. We teased her relentlessly in the '80s for renaming "Clarence Trent D'arby."



(pause in line-making for 3:33 minutes of deliciousness. Was he wearing a...sheriff's badge?)

4. The theme of so much writing is "now I know better."

5. We are all cautionary tales unto ourselves.

6. On Monday, I taught, met with students, had a great belated birthday lunch at the Indian buffet with a friend, attended a bottle rocket launch hosted by my dad and uncle, treated the family to Taco Bell drive-thru, then heard Cheryl Strayed speak at Butler.

7. Hearing the voice of "Dear Sugar" actually say the word "Sweetpea" moved me unexpectedly.

8. Work days usually mean 1-2 meals eaten in a car, and would like to get that number down and be a civilized human being, but this does not appear to be that season in my life.

9. The baby was whiny, because we were eating our Taco Bell in the car and not sharing, because he sometimes pukes when he eats in the car, and I told him, "Sorry, sweetie, Mommy's face-down in a burrito," which is not kind or civilized but also made us laugh.

10. The kids watched their grandfather and great uncle launch a two-liter bottle a couple hundred feet in the air, spiraling in the wind, and we all cheered at this little miracle of flight; the last launch of the day landed the rocket on the roof of their office, and my dad and his brother laughed so hard they had tears in their eyes.