New River Lessons

Last night, I read of the passing of Father Ron Perkins, the Senior Chaplain for Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, and our community and for once, I found myself at a loss for words. (Yes, I know… doesn’t happen often.) Father Perkins wasn’t just a man of faith; he was a quiet source of strength, comfort, and compassion for so many in our fire and police family. He showed up when it mattered most, offering prayers, wisdom, and that warm, reassuring presence that always made the heavy moments feel a little lighter. The last time we spoke, true to form, he asked about my family. Kevin, Kira, and Corwin. I caught him up on Kevin’s hospital stay back in November, shared the latest on Kira’s health, and we had a good laugh over the fact that I still hadn’t convinced Corwin to move to Florida. It was a quick conversation, but his smile lit it up like it always did. That was Father Perkins—present, kind, and always making others feel seen. As tears have threa...

Of course I had to do an update (also posted on Facebook) At 6:00 p.m. the cavalry arrived! The line workers rolled in, jumped straight into action, and by 7:40 p.m. and just like that, the lights came back on.  The heroes? Those amazing line workers out there working in the heat to bring back power while the rest of us complained about sweat and snack access. Huge THANK YOU to the crew that fixed our transformer and to every single person out there keeping our power running and our ACs blasting. You’re the real MVPs. 

At about 11 a.m. (give or take), a transformer near my house decided it had had enough of this world. Cue: dramatic pop. kapow. BOOM … and just like that, the entire block (16 homes + a marina full of boat folks) was suddenly and battery backups everywhere start going off. And yes, I described the sound like that to the power company. He laughed. I did not.  It’s now 4:30 p.m. and here’s where we stand: ✅  Phone call from Florida Power and Light that power may be restored by 6:30 p.m. (We may be shriveled up jerky by then.) ✅ Took a surprisingly nice, long nap ✅ Curtains have not moved all day (we are now a cave people and I am I search of 100% blackout curtains) ✅ Forgot to eat breakfast ✅ Have not started hurricane shopping ✅ Did, however, risk it all and break into the fridge for cream cheese because bagels felt emotionally necessary ✅ Miss my AC with a passion ✅ Have removed nearly all the clothing I legally can without starting a neighborhood scandal ✅ To-do list is a mil...

With today being National Best Friends Day , I have to take a moment to write about mine. Some people are lucky enough to have one best friend. Somehow, I scored two,  one in Florida, one in Tennessee, both brought into my life by the beautifully unpredictable world of homeschooling . We haven’t known each other forever, but you’ve been there for: The wild jobs The volunteer nightmares The health scares and seizures The meltdowns and ledge talks The venting, the crying, the “can I talk for three hours?” kind of days You’ve saved my sanity more times than I can count . You’re the kind of friends I absolutely cannot sit next to during anything serious  because we will laugh. It’s going to be inappropriate. It’s going to be uncontrollable. And it’s going to be the highlight of whatever we were supposed to be focusing on.  And it has already happened more than once! You’ve driven me places in every sense of the word . You’ve shown up, listened, carried ...

 Pinched Nerve Chronicles: Episode… Who Even Knows Anymore?  PT is going surprisingly well, shoutout to Matthew and Carlos, my dynamic duo of muscle magic. I just came up with that and honestly might tell them on Tuesday. Anyway, they’re keeping me mostly functional and only mildly dramatic, depending on the day. Matthew suspects I’ve got Double Crush Syndrome. Yes, it sounds like a soap opera, but it’s really just nerve compression in two or more places. Basically, my nerves are being bullied from multiple angles. Carlos wasn’t fully sold until today. The PT guys and Dr. Troy (more on her in a sec) do not agree on what's going on. Who doesn't love being a medical mystery? ⚠️ Needle warning for the squeamish In my quest for relief, we ventured into dry needling.  Week 1: my neck. Huge mistake. My neck was NOT on board. Week 5: The arm (elbow to wrist) needling? Much more tolerable… until Matthew starts twisting those tiny 15–30 gauge needles like he’s dialing into an old ...

If you’ve been following along for even five minutes, you already know that Maribel —our adorably unhinged kitten—is a full-time menace disguised in fluff and cuteness. She has entered her “personal assistant with a flair for petty theft” phase, and it’s… a lot. Let’s talk about my work setup , shall we? You’d think having a feline assistant would be cute, even comforting. But Mari’s version of “assisting” involves: Swiping pens Stealing pencils Running off with erasers Walking off with my earbud case like she’s got a Zoom meeting Hiding lotion tubes like she’s preparing for winter Seriously! M y assistant should be fired. She is obsessed with anything not nailed down and somehow manages to swipe it right in front of me with zero shame. And when I dare to call her out? She hits me with “Why you fibbing, Mom! I’m a saint! Look at this face!” Yes, she actually looks at me like that. Big round eyes. Tilted head. A smirk hiding behind her whiskers. It’s the feline...