Author: Mae @ Rainydayinmay

Desert native who claims the Pacific Northwest at home, while currently residing the Northeast. Lifecoach, Podcaster, PR writer, essay author, imaginary poet and every day dreamer...

My moments…

Published on by Mae @ Rainydayinmay6 Comments
The Homeschool Mother's Journal


In my life this week…

A lovely day date with my husband, to celebrate our 17th anniversary. We had so much fun doing the simplest of things like talking, dreaming, boutique browsing, brunch, frozen yogurt, going to the movies, lots of walking, fresh roasted peanuts and sharing a crepe from a local creperie. Just lovely… 


Skyped with Lucas on Sunday which was probably the BEST Mom moment of the week!

I also started a new writing project. I’m not sure, at the time, whether this will be something that is going to be bigger than “just something I need to write, right now” or not. At any rate, it’s a mixed bag of emotions penning it out… 
In our homeschool this week…
We are so close to the end of the school year that our energy is electric. (yep, this is in between the bouts of fits, back talking and whining…) We are already wrapping up a couple of subjects that she’s ahead in (Literature and Language Arts) which frees up more time for the others, and will hopefully lead to being done (for summer) by the third week of May. 
We are studying the weather which means we’ve got to do lots of fun projects. Some of them we’ve done before but it’s fun seeing it all through this stage in Gen’s learning. 


We took a “field” trip to see Soul Surfer. If i set all acting/production criticisms aside I can say I honestly loved it. My little book worm loves the story so I ordered a copy of Bethany’s book for Gen’s Easter Basket. Nothing like the last minute… 
Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
this weekend we have our sweet little (turning 5 year old) friend’s birthday party! I am hoping to take some great shots because I think it will be divine! We also have a trip to the Theatre to see Hairspray– which we are SUPER excited about! 
My favorite thing this week was…
I have taken to capturing mental snapshots of moments. It’s my new goal to be super aware, or something. Anyway, we buy our milk from a dairy a couple hours outside of here. When the farmer’s market is closed for season we have our produce delivered through a local organic company that couples with this dairy to deliver milk too. When it’s farmer’s market season though- we have to buy this milk from a local shop. Wednesday Gen and I went in to said shop (which is incidentally an Antique Mall) to buy some milk so we could make fresh ice cream. There I stood, at their old fashioned counter, paying for my glass bottle of milk while Genny was choosing which sort of old fashioned candy stick she wanted. I felt like we’d stepped right through a portal. It was awesome. Then the woman handed me my bank card and latte (see how i failed to mention they also deal in espresso??? ;) ) and my little antique moment was shattered… 

What’s working/not working for us…
this weather… oh my gosh. Rain (and clouds) seriously- GO AWAY! We need vitamin d and sunshine. (and my head needs a break in this barometric pressure!

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

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All Grown Up Now…

Published on by Mae @ Rainydayinmay12 Comments



This week’s writing prompt from Mama Kat is 1.) The moment I realized I was a grown up


In a lot of ways I think I always felt more grown up than I should have. I grew up conversing and connecting with other adults and that never really went away. At seventeen I felt nearer to forty than anything adolescent. It was my twenty-fifth birthday though, that really shifted my adulthood-self perception axis… 

I was working in a group home, happy and fulfilled, at the time. That morning, however, waking up slapped me in the face with the most severe depression I’ve ever had. I was well aware of the details of my life and the journey that had led me to that place, but suddenly the weight of it all felt far too heavy to embrace any ownership in. 

I was twenty-five years old… 
This was an age that had never scared me before. Suddenly though, I realized that- at 25- I was already divorced. I was surrounded by pseudo-religious people who reassured me of the completely sinful notion of marrying anyone else. Ever. I had it ingrained in my brain that I had messed that up, and my marital chance had passed… 

Twenty Five felt terribly young for such a sentence… 

Having had an emergency hysterectomy the October before- despite how well I had handled the entire situation before that morning- suddenly the notion that I was 25 and divorced {never to wed again}, deep in the trenches of sudden menopause and never going to be a mother… I felt old. 
Prematurely old. 

Every decision felt deeper, bigger, weightier, meatier… 

I had good friends who were graduating from college and still partying it up. When they had started college I had been a wife, desperately trying to get {and stay} pregnant while worrying about things like how to pay the electric bill and what to make for dinner… and now, just one degree (for them) later and I was facing my death sentence. 

That day sucked… 

Despite any maturity I’d had, beyond my years, though- that day I grew into an adult. I realized how much moments matter, and how things flee beyond our control or wishes. I caught a glimpse of the giant world beyond me and my immediate one… I learned that I wasn’t my circumstances, I was more than that… 

Some of those things are the toughest lessons we face. 

Thankfully, it didn’t last. I don’t care that I had a hysterectomy (evil menopausal health and body complications aside) because i LOVE my kids… I don’t want any other kids. I don’t want babies with my nose and Chw’s eyes… I want kids with the eyes and noses attached to the faces of THESE kids! In fact, it was loving my two older kids (who were 10 and 11 then) that pulled me through that. They weren’t legally able to be “mine” then, but I loved them as if they were… And Chw and I reconciled. And things are really good. 

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One Gem of a Vlog…

Published on by Mae @ Rainydayinmay5 Comments
My little actress thought it would be a really fun idea to have an occasional Vlog episode, on my blog, entitled Genny’s Entertainment Minute. The point of the episodes would be to share entertainment with her adoring public. Maybe a reenacted scene from a movie she loves, a song she loves, a recap of a book or some type of one minute review… She’s gone over countless scenarios but when it came time to actually do the minute long video she got nervous and quiet. 
I know… every who knows Gen knows Gen is contemplating she and quiet in the same room… Aside from my friend Clint, that is, who is a cop. Genny is terrified in his presence. ha… 
Anyway, here’s episode one of Genny’s Entertainment Minute (GEM)… Give her some love. :) 

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Categories Art

I sense something, A presence I have not felt since…

Published on by Mae @ Rainydayinmay10 Comments
If I were a broken record, I would be stuck saying something about choices. 
Criticisms for my kids’ choices… Urging Genny to really consider her choices… Criticism for myself and my own stupid choices… 
Choosing to lose patience. 
Have no patience. 
Facebook instead of writing. 
Computer instead of a walk in the sunshine. 
Fast food over making dinner… Ok. In all fairness that decision hasn’t been made in forever because we don’t really do the fast food thing- (Panda Express aside) 
But still… choices… 
Last night, the second my husband walked in the door, Genny sort of stepped over into the dark side. She does this a lot, actually. She becomes the most condensed version of a class clown that you can imagine. It’s intense in a hyperactive kid shooting up pixie stix kinda way… 
Did I mention that the period between him walking in the door and her going to bed last night lasted about twelve decades??? She just gets so over stimulated… Do you know what really helps that? Mowing the lawn. I’m not kidding… She’s actually been asking, for the past two weeks, when she can start mowing the lawn. Even she admits it helps. It’s weird, but whatever. 
Anyway… Throughout those said decades, as I aged and greyed with each passing minute- I kept mentally urging her to take a deep breath and consider her choices. 
Choices… 
My choices. Me. 
Can I love my kids so much that they will just make the right choices? No. I can’t. As ideal of an idea as that may be- it is completely impossible. And maybe my highly opinionated theory that if my kids loved themselves a little more they might make better choices is right on the nose… but I can’t make them love themselves. I can’t air up their self esteem so that they soar above the gutter style choices I fear for them. 
But I can choose differently. 
I can choose to love me. I can choose to do what I need. I can end school with Genny, good day or bad, at a specific time so that I can write. I can do that… and it isn’t selfish. It isn’t horrible parenting… It is meeting my needs so that I am better equipped to meet hers. 
And added bonus: I’m slowly teaching her to value herself too… 
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How much is that doggie tied up outside the window…

Published on by Mae @ Rainydayinmay5 Comments
Dear Jack {aka: the guy who tied is Lab up outside the coffee shop down town on Saturday morning.}, 
While your name likely isn’t Jack, after much thought I concluded it to be the nicest thing I could address you as- all things considered. It, of course, is also no secret that your middle name begins with an A… 
But I’m veering off course from my post… 
It was lovely chatting with you, in the freezing rain, on Saturday. Your completely idiotic and narrow-minded response input to my concerns about your dogs morning has managed to stick with me for the course of the weekend. While I initially stormed into said coffee shop in search of your poor dog’s completely selfish and neglectful owner, in hindsight I wish I had just had a chance to dial the humane society before you emerged… It truly was a sad moment when your beautiful (and freezing/soaked to the bone) dog left with you. 
Being that I majored in Psychology, I’ve given much baffling analization to your ignorance choices and have come to the conclusion that obvious self consuming blindness aside- your main issue is the doubly ignorant shrew your mother, who was with you that snow flurrying morning… Though she is obviously defensive of her son, (I’d like to point out here that your father walked away from the situation entirely… Interesting.) as that beautiful Lab’s “best friend” you should be the one who knows better… When your pet is violently shivering, yelping(a sound derivative of pain, not playfulness, you idiot) so desperately loud that people from blocks away can hear him, and has such a small amount of slack in his tie out that he can not even lay down or turn his head- how can you SIT in a heated coffee house and chat with your parents for an undetermined amount of time? What kind of pet owner are you? Why do you even have a dog?
There is NO WAY you did not hear him, instead you chose to ignore him…
There is also no way you couldn’t see him epileptically shaking as he desperately called for help, since the entire front of the coffee shop is glass and you were kind enough to tie him right in front in case he felt the need to torture himself by gazing inside to see you happily sipping a warm beverage and laughing with your family… 
Much guilt and worry thought about your dog has led me to find a more suitable pet for your selfish, abusive and ignorant lifestyle… 
Do us all a favor and find someone who gives a crap about your dog and focus your efforts on something whose life isn’t dependent on your effort… 
Kernal of Wisdom: Not an animal lover??? Don’t have a pet… 
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image courtesy of  John of Witney