The House Poet

During this holiday season, people like to talk about generosity or the "spirit of kindness." I try to be generous to others, as much as I can being a super busy stay at home mom on a budget. Yesterday I wrapped some gifts for some neighbors on our floor who are especially kind to me and my family. I also wrapped up gifts for my Irish Dancing class and it felt great to see their surprise when I brought out the little wrapped presents.  I've been thinking about how kind words and gestures can help someone when things are difficult. When I was pregnant with my twins, I was in my early twenties. I had no idea what to expect with twins and I needed support and guidance. I had left college, lost friends, and I had to rethink my entire life. I felt so isolated. Kind words would have meant so much to me and my husband at the time. Even my father, who was excited about his impending grandchildren, shared this news with people at grocery stores or wherever we were. Usually peopl...

Yes, that is what I'm doing. My three sweet cherubs are playing nicely together (miracles do happen!) and I am able to sneak some laptop time. Yesterday I even worked on my fantasy WIP for a little while and that felt really good!  I have been incredibly busy and I really want to write my Feis post! The Feis was amazing and I can't wait for the next one in January! We adults are supposed to get a school dress made for it, but we still need to be measured. So I'm crossing my fingers that it will be ready in time! I'm also learning the Blackbird set dance for my Novice set dance and I love it! I'm trying to get the set part down, with all those fun rocks and such. ;) Oh boy!  New goal: San Francisco Oireachtas 2016! I am THRILLED about this because we live right next to SF and my TC said I will probably be able to do the adult traditional set at the Oireachtas! She's going to help me prepare; I love how supportive my school is. Such a blessing! We are also try...

It's early Wednesday afternoon and I've already done four loads of laundry. It's been a busy day! The kids have decided that naps are not cool any more and I have found that finding time to work on writing or blogging or even just practicing my Irish Dancing has been hard to find. So! Last night I had my dance class and it was WONDERFUL! It was four of us adults in the class and we flew through our dances and even started learning the Hard Jig. So exciting! I was smiling almost the whole class. I know I still have some little things I need to work on, like pointing my toes and kicking up my feet in the back during tip downs, etc. It's a lot of fun! Two of my poems were recently published in the October issue of Verse-Virtual, an online poetry journal that really promotes poets supporting one another through positive comments and such. It's a lovely journal, full of meaningful poetry and insightful poets. Here is the link to my poems "Foghorns" and ...

Hi everyone! Busy times over here. I've done nine loads of laundry so far this week and I've put the twins in underwear the past few days. I'm hoping to finish up potty-training and get them used to underwear and using the potty. Potty-training twins is no joke, especially boy/girl twins. Half the time I think I'm going about it all wrong. Anyway, wish me luck! They've been pretty good about it so far, little cuties. Anyway, I wanted to share a link to an online poetry magazine that I was recently published in. The editor is a very nice woman and I was so excited when she wanted to publish one of my poems. I submitted two poems for the "Short" themed issue, and she chose the one I was most proud of. It's only four lines, but I love it dearly. It came to me while I was listening to "Tears For Affairs" by Camera Obscura. A great song by a great band. :) Here is the link:  Allegro Poetry Issue 3 March 2015 My poem is about three-quarters...

Hello all! Tonight I am utterly exhausted but felt compelled to share a story about a visit to our local library a few days ago. I haven't been able to write for a while and my fingers were itching! ;) So.....the library. We are very lucky to have a beautiful library close to where we live and it has a wonderful children's area. The twins didn't nap that afternoon (they average one nap a week now...yeah, I don't get it) and I wanted to pick up a book that was being held for me. We made it to the library, I got my book, and then walked over to the children's area. It was brightly lit, with parents or grandparents reading to kids in cozy chairs. Very relaxing and peaceful, right? Buggy (my sweet daughter, one half of my three year old twins) found a book right away and sat in one of the cute kids' chairs. Chumba (her twin) zoomed around and started climbing on chairs and benches, with me instructing him to find a book and stop climbing around. During all this,...