Los Porchs

There's something about cold, crisp winter air that reminds us we're alive. And sadly, some of us need that reminder. I'm happy to receive it. It's easy to get wrapped up in daily routines & take little things for granted. Today, in our sweet city of Chicago, the temperature is a fabulous 27° & the air hits you with a force you can't ignore. As my lungs fill with cold air, I'm simply thankful to be alive. To have family & friends whom I love dearly & my basic needs met. I'm thankful to feel this air & the magic it brings. As we head into the new year, I thank you all for your presence in my life (be it as a blessing or a lesson) & wish you awareness, peace, and love in 2013. Enjoy growing old, it's a privilege denied to many. Cherish each moment. And go play outside. It's good for your soul. Xoxo Mrs. Porch

Some people are just incapable of leaving middle school behind.  Unfortunately, the internet has made it incredibly easy to spread nasty emails with hateful and harsh words to anyone, even those closest to you, with little more thought than a quick mouse click on the send button.  You can't take words back.  You can't retract a hurtful email.  It's out there, in the universe.  Long after the email, the comment, the post-- whatever -- is deleted, its hurtful feeling will long remain.  That bridge will likely remain burned.   If you don’t have the balls to say it to that person's face, then don't say it at all. Remember Thumper?  It's amazing to me what people will say when that person isn't there in person to defend themselves. I've long believed that we are responsible for our own destiny.  You're writing your story every day when you wake up and make the choices that lead you through that day.  With that understanding, we're also then r

As I sat at work today, slaving away, solving the many problems in early childhood, Wisconsin residents were enjoying and continue to enjoy [and if they aren't enjoying it, they suck] wicked amounts of snow.  I'm talkin' blizzard -- over a foot of snow today. The Facebook pictures were nauseating as I saw drifts that covered cars and garage doors and then turned my head ever so slowly towards the window, hoping for even a solitary snowflake... and saw nothing.  Well, it did rain all day.  So there's that. Most schools were closed in Wisco & I have many teacher friends on Facebook (maybe I should delete them) who made it difficult to concentrate as they announced their double snow day.  Double?  Are you kiddin' me?  It was a big deal a few years back when Chicago got nailed with that blizzard and Lake Shore Drive was a hot mess -- Chicago Public Schools closed for the first time in like a million years (and for two days!!!) which was newsworthy.  We don't

We can all see it. We know when someone we love is in an unhealthy relationship. But why is it not until that relationship hits the bottom that we express our true thoughts?  I know we don't want to squash others' happiness, I get that.  And we all need to make our mistakes, I get that too.  Further, I've come to appreciate that we shouldn't throw out obscenities about someone's ex because if that person comes back into the picture and then we just look like bitches.  We don't want to meddle.  Sure. But I'm at a point in my life where I expect and hope that those who love me most will be secure enough in our relationship to be able to say --- WTF are you thinking?!  Most of them do.  I've come to rely on my mother's infinite wisdom, though it pained me when I realized I had been wrong all those years in doubting her.  Sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees and need an honest (and sensitive) reality check. So back to those craptast