Long Hollow

Where seeds of thought have room to grow

recent posts

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Realtor, writer, blogger in Austin, TX

Category: Family

  • It’s already Saturday? (Sweet!)

    I'm in a calm spot between a busy week and a busier weekend. We've been blessed with spring-like weather, lately, and I admit I'm ready for it to just stick around. Wildflowers haven't yet ventured our way, but we're being serenaded by birds and frogs and a running creek. Storm clouds and sunshine are taking…

  • Kids, Jewelry, Birthdays, Weddings and other (belated) Sweet!s

    A rumble of thunder and whisper of rain woke me in the night. It continues today, another steady, soaking rain falling from a colorless sky. We've had enough rain in the past few weeks that I almost take it for granted, despite the months of drought. Almost, but not quite. Waking to the sound of…

  • He Said, She Said

    He said, "Will you marry me?" She said, "Yes."   After dating five years… after hanging on to a relationship and seeing each other every chance they could while going after their dreams and getting their degrees at different colleges and getting jobs in different cities and sharing custody of their puppy…   …they're getting…

  • Sweets On Christmas Eve Eve

    Who is rich? He that rejoices in his portion. ~The Talmud Dishes overflow the kitchen sink. Fudge waits in a lined pan to be cut into squares and shared. Three twenty-something kids and I huddle around a laptop within the glow of Christmas tree lights, laughing at You-Tube videos. Favorite cookies fill gold and silver…

  • A Birthday, a Graduation and Texas Heaven…

    We let Max sleep inside the past two nights. Belle, too, of course, although it was more for Max's sake than hers. They have a large dog house, nestled up against the house and the hill, protected from the elements, but even though temperatures were just in the low forties Sunday night, it was bone-chilling…

  • 26 Sweets (and then some)

      I was 26. I had felt the life inside of me, kicking my ribs, pressing on my bladder. Had heard the amplified swoosh swoosh of the heartbeat in the doctor's office. Had spent all night and most of the morning gritting my teeth and breathing heh-heh-heh through the waves of pain. And then, there…

  • Ssssh! Don’t Tell my Mom! (plus the Shutterfly winners)

    Life has gotten crazy busy. My oldest son and his girlfriend are heading here this evening, joined by a few of his 'old' college buddies who are driving in from Dallas. Tomorrow is his birthday and he's letting me celebrate it with him for the first time in years and years… well, since he left…

  • Summer, a fading memory

    A splash of light from my iPhone guided me through the dark to my car last night. The wedding guests were long gone and only one light glowed in the winery Bistro behind me.  Pausing in a clearing, I gazed up at the stars crowded around a sliver of moon. My frosty breath rose to greet…

  • Shutterfly goodies and my weekly Sweet! report

    Back in October, Shutterfly approached me with a holiday card offer. I love Shutterfly, although I haven't used it as much as I'd like, and now (yay!) they were offering me the the chance to get 50 free cards, plus offer three of my readers 25 free cards each! But because of my "Thanksgiving Comes…

  • The Glad Game

    My sweet sister, the very one who is still recovering from hip surgery and lives daily with Parkinson's, found out this week she has glaucoma. To treat it and save her eyesight, she'll need to put drops in her eyes every day for the rest of her life. Listen to what she told me about…