You know the above picture, the one of the lady in the beige sweater, holding the wee pumpkin? It’s not me, but could be. I have the same sweater; it’s from Costco a few winters back.  And the pumpkins in the background?  It reminds me of the pumpkin display in front of Central Market.  I was there today.  I dashed in for a moment, between walking the dog and fetching the Twedtlings from school, to hunt down sweet rice flour and to replenish my supply of Organic Valley Vanilla Soy Creamer, which is harder to find than you’d think.  So is the sweet rice flour.  I need it for tomorrow night’s dairy and gluten-free Fettuccine Alfredo, which sounds disgusting but isn’t.  Greg will eat it, as long as I remember to add grilled chicken.  A meal isn’t a meal without some kind of protein in the form of meat or poultry, according to my husband.

So, let’s get this party started.  It’s time for the Weekend Roundup.  If you’re new around here, the Weekend Roundup is what happens when I showcase the work of fellow Hope*Writers.  Basically, it’s a chance for you to get to know my writer friends.

Wait! Before I dive  into the weekend roundup, I have BIG NEWS to share about my little brown-eyed girl.  I’m feeling all the feels right now because my baby girl lost her two front teeth this week, which makes for three teeth in one week! I didn’t think it was possible, but suddenly my little pumpkin is even more precious.  In fact, she’s the cutest little jack o’ lantern you ever did see.  There’s so much more I could say about this week; such a wonderful week it was.  I’m afraid if I get started I’ll never go to bed tonight.  Since fall is like January to teachers everywhere (even former teachers like me), I came up with the idea to make a New Year’s Resolution: October Style.  And it has everything to do with getting  a little (OK a lot) more sleep than I’ve been getting.

Some of my online writer friends happen to be friends in real life.  Enter Emily Allen.  In The Hidden Gifts of Humility, Emily ponders being “just a mom.” You can read her lovely reflection here.  Indeed, I could relate to Emily’s younger self’s need for validation, though I’m afraid the “older” version of myself still struggles with this one.  The essay also reminds me of the time I met a group of friends for a dinner party in our college town of Bellingham.  I was thirty years-old and pregnant with our second.  Besides my stint as a teacher, all I ever wanted was to be a mom.  Yet, all of the sudden I was overcome with shame because I had chosen to get married and start a family instead of going on to grad school, like the rest of my friends in that particular circle.

I don’t even know how to introduce this next one, except to say you should read it.   I loved Kristin Vanderlip’s essay, What You Need to Know About Your Tears.  It’s right here.  It reminds me of the Bottles of Tears ministry, which I’m a big fan of.

This is the third time in a row that I’ve linked to Caroline Saunders.  This week Caroline wrote the second part of a three part series about her husband, who happens to look like Brad Pitt and some college football player I can’t remember because I try not to waste brain space on sports, particularly football.  I love Caroline’s voice and how she reminds us that pastors are people too.  Here’ you go, it’s right here.

I interrupt this Weekend Roundup to share some exciting news, as exciting as it gets around here: Chloe and I have now been on five, yes five, walks around the neighborhood without her bag of carrots.  Yep, my little doggy is an overcomer.   There’s hope for us all!  Since I’m not including an essay about anxiety this week, I thought I’d give you an update on anxiety on the home front.  Yep, my little dog Chloe has anxiety.  (Steven and I are working through it too).  You can read more of our story in the ANXIETY section of the blog.  Oh, speaking of anxiety, yesterday I talked briefly to my MOPS group about overcoming fear/living with anxiety.  The talk was brief, as in under three minutes, and it was more for me than anyone else since I can only really talk or write about what God’s doing in my own life.  By the way, after I gave my mini-talk the real speaker turned out to be Jenny Howell, another Hope*Writer/Glory Writer.  The world keeps getting smaller!

Here’s another favorite: Jill E. McCormick nailed it in Why You Feel Awkward When People Ask What You Do?   Here ya go. “When I’m asked what I do, I say it as quickly as possible. Then, I blush, change the subject and hope you drop it. This is the response from a woman who loves what she gets to do—but why? Why do we feel uncomfortable sharing about what we do?” And all the bloggers writers said AMEN.

I love everything Dorina writes, but this one had me at the title: Marathon Lessons: How to Persevere When Your Race Isn’t Turning Out How You Expected.  Not how I expected.  Yep, that about sums up life (in the best way possible).  Obviously, I’m not a marathon runner, or even a regular runner, but I could relate to Dorina’s essay on so many levels.  She writes about grief, pressing on, Jesus, community and so much more.  Look no further, the essay’s here.

It’s about 10:40, which means bedtime.  My goal for tonight was bed by 10:30.  Close enough, right?  I’m really going to go to bed this time.  Good night and have a wonderful weekend.  I hope you have yourself a fabulously lazy weekend with lots of coffee involved. We may find our way to a pumpkin patch tomorrow.  It’s our fall tradition.  What are your plans?

N.

P.S. It’s Saturday now.  We are not at the pumpkin patch.  I remembered that my moody floral boots were thrown out at the end of our rainy season because of a hole in the sole of the boot. (Yes, I live in Seattle and it rains pretty much all the time.  But this year was different.)  I’m not one to visit the pumpkin patch without proper (and cute) footwear.  Anyway, we’re toying with the idea of trekking over to the Apple store to get my 38th year birthday present (I’m now 39).  When I started my blog on my 38th birthday, Greg surprised me with the idea of getting a new laptop.  Both of us go into decision making overload whenever decisions have to be made so it never happened.  And laptops are expensive.   We’re currently lounging in our jammies as one should on a Saturday morning, except that it’s now afternoon, which brings me back to you.  In all of my lounging and Facebooking and coffee-drinking, I came across a blog post from another one of my online writer friends.  Meet Cattie (pronounced Katie).  Here’s what she has to say about waiting for God’s healing. Amen and Amen. You can read Cattie’s post here.  By the way, it’s all part of a 31-day writing challenge.  I plan on hanging around.  I need more of Cattie in my life!