Long Hollow

Where seeds of thought have room to grow

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Realtor, writer, blogger in Austin, TX

Category: Procrastination

  • Truths

    I've been busy all afternoon, taming the piles of laundry and bills that were taking over the house. I'd much rather have spent the afternoon writing or watching movies with the kids or taking the dogs for a walk, but even procrastinators have limits of what they can ignore. Tom is laid out flat on our…

  • Not Your Ordinary Summer Vacation

    My dad's cousin left for China this morning. This is her 17th visit, most of them mission trips. On this one, she'll be part of a team teaching English. The Big Trip of my summer will be up north to Wisconsin to visit some of Tom's family. Our last visit was for his cousin's wedding…

  • Adjusting the Focus – starting a Gratitude Journal

    I started a gratitude journal this week… an idea I stole from my friend Nancy. I've kept one before, making lists of the things I'm grateful for each day, but I get too busy or too distracted and the next thing you know it's been months since I've taken the time to write them down.…

  • At First Light and Saturdays

    It was dawn, but little light filtered through the gray clouds; Belle was merely a shadow on the other side of the French doors, a silhouette of a well-behaved puppy, sitting politely, patiently. I couldn't see her eyes, but I knew she was watching me, silently begging for an early walk. I can't resist puppy…

  • Heart beats. Heart POUNDS.

    It started in my dream, the boom, boom, booming in my chest. Before the Dream Me could finish googling 'heart pounding' and 'anxiety attack', it shook me awake and I realized it was real, not a dream… my heart was actually pounding so hard, so fast and furiously, that it woke me from a sound sleep at 1AM.…

  • Loose Ends, Apologies and Clarifications

    I owe my kids an apology. I implied in XOXO Nina Barbara that they were slackers in the Mother's Day department. I didn't intend to, but nonetheless, reading back over it now, I understand why my sweet Tommy slipped a pressed flower into the card he sent me with a note explaining "I couldn't let…

  • At Least It’s Friday

    At dawn the hollow was bathed in an ominous yellow-green as if someone had swathed the sun in colored tissue paper. Thunderstorms were on their way. It figured that this was the day I picked to run errands. By the time I dressed and stepped outside, racing to get a walk in before the storm hit,…

  • Decisions, Decisions…

    Frankie the Guinea Fowl usually escorts me to my car every morning, then runs alongside until we reach the property line. I have no idea why; it's just what he does. For some reason, he feels this is his duty and therefore, I'm honored. This morning, however…no Frankie! I finally traced his chirps into the…

  • Oh, Saturday, Saturday…How I love thee…

    You wake me gently with promises of long hours spent together…hours and hours to fill with a week's worth of dreams, plans and longings. I rise and we have a leisurely breakfast. No rush, you tell me. There's plenty of time. With your whispered reassurances warm in my ear, I linger a few extra minutes on the…

  • Saturday Snippets…the End of a Week

    Ah, we're such bad "parents"…here we are on the coldest morning since 1996 – it got down in the teens last night – and we had barely a spoonful of seed left for Frankie's breakfast. I gave him a couple of nuggets from Max's canned dog food to tide him over – he loves those!…