Spoiler alert: I prefer control over chaos. If you know me in real life, this won’t come as a surprise. Neither will the fact that merely typing the word surprise makes me break into a cold sweat. No, spontaneity is not my jam. My jam is predictability. Or—probably definitely—blueberry, spread on a bagel toasted […]
Author: Julie Gardner
I Try Anyway
I spent this past weekend at the University of Oregon visiting my kids. Yes, they were just home for spring break. Yes, I wrote about that pit in my stomach I get each time they leave. A week later, I went to them. Even though they’d just been home with me. I did this because […]
Dear Kids Who Came Home for Spring Break,
It was a great week—ten-ish days—and I’m not complaining. Much. But when you returned to college, you left behind a few things. In your bedrooms: two twisted-up comforters and fresh dents on your pillows. If I laid my head there, I would probably smell your shampoo, so I won’t make your beds. Not yet. In […]
A Paperback by Any Other Name
PEOPLE! I HAVE BIG NEWS! In fact I might be dancing in my living room! Why? I’m glad you asked. LILY BY ANY OTHER NAME is in print, and I’m beyond happy about it! This is my writing group being happy with me. Want to be happy, too? Of course you do. Head to Amazon or […]
More Flagrante, Less Delicto
Like many of you fine people, I appreciate a good dose of irony. In literature. In life. In Alanis Morissette lyrics. (Hey. Let’s not get nit-picky.) Still, there’s something a little bit ironic I can’t support when it comes to parenting. And that irony is this: The very act responsible for creating a baby becomes […]
What Happens in Writing Group Stays in Writing Group Except When it Doesn’t
*Below is my response to a ten-minute writing exercise from our February meeting. The prompt: Describe “That Moment.” My friend Charlene shared hers first. She inspired me to share mine, too. — We were at brunch, just the three of us, a special treat, for sure. I probably had an omelet with a bagel and cream […]
A Hill to Live On
My home sits near the top of a hill. A big hill. Half a mile up, and pretty steep. We moved here in 2001 after I stumbled upon the house on Mother’s Day. Our kids were not quite two and four, and I’d been getting them ready for brunch with my parents. When Bill noticed […]
Notes from the Library Monitor
If you follow me on any social media platform, you know I got a job working for the city of Thousand Oaks in its two library branches. (If you don’t follow me, YOU SHOULD FOLLOW ME! Up on the right, click those icons below Keep up to date… Now you follow me!) After almost a decade […]
Begin Again
On November 3, 2015, I shared this post announcing that I was beginning to run again after months of not running. I did this partly for accountability, but also because I wanted everyone else to join me in pursuing a deferred dream. Let’s do this, I said. TOGETHER, I said. It was a post aimed at […]
The Old Christmas Poem I Didn’t Publish (Until Now)
Yet Another Gardner Christmas Poem (whether you want it or not…) ‘Twas one week before Christmas in 2010; I’m sorry our cards will be late once again. With so much to do and an absence of time, I’ve just settled down now to write this year’s rhyme. To update you quickly—not much has digressed From […]