Small Town Stories
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Christmas Candles*
A little while ago, I found a “Buy Nothing” Facebook group for my community. I joined, and fell in love with it immediately. It works in two ways: you can either post a picture of something you have but no longer need / want, or you can make a post looking for something. Then people will comment and an exchange will be made– absolutely free. I’ve seen some incredible things go through: furniture, toys, clothing, home decor, Christmas Trees, food, baby items, the list goes on and on. People have given and received some pretty neat things, and the only stipulations are that you have to live in the community…
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There are good people in the world.
My kids love Hallowe’en. It’s this magical evening of dressing up, staying up a little late and eating all the treats they wait all year for. They were SO excited to go Trick or Treating, and this year they were practically sprinting from house to house. Our new neighborhood was so generous, and they came home with huge bags of candy. Each year, when they get home, they do the classic bag dump to check out their haul… and that’s where I come in. Almost immediately S & H begin holding things up to ask if they are “safe” for their “special tummies”. Neither one can have dairy, which means…
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Reason #18262 I love living in a small town:
I am almost out of groceries. I meant to put in a grocery order to pick up last night, but I was exhausted and didn’t get it done. There’s a grocery store a short walk from the kids’ school, so I decided that I’d just pop in after dropping them off this morning to grab some essentials. It’s a gorgeous fall day, so after our shop, W fell asleep in the stroller and I just meandered down a few streets on the way home. On one street, I could see an elderly woman walking on the sidewalk towards me. She stepped off onto a driveway so there would be room…
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I can’t believe it’s the end of August.
I was reflecting on our summer the other day as I scrolled social media and saw photos of families on trips or at Wonderland or at Water Parks or other really good adventures. It all looked amazing. …and then I started to feel bad. We didn’t do any big trips this summer. In fact, it’s been pretty low key. I began to feel guilty that I hadn’t tried to do “more” with the kids. Yes, we have a new baby, but other people take their babies to these places… should I have tried harder? Then I saw this photo that M snapped the other night. It’s just a bunch of…
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Tonight was a perfect summer evening.
As we were sitting down to dinner, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to see three boys our kids have become friends with, asking if S, H & P could come out and play. My kids began to shovel food into their mouths, and it wasn’t long before they were sprinting out the door to meet their friends. Now in a mostly kid-free house, I moved into the living room to feed W. A moment later I heard the front door open, and H called out, “Mom, can we have a water fight?” In a whirlwind they changed into their swim suits, grabbed their super soakers…