I’m partway home, in Atlanta, after an iced coffee (I speed-walked to my gate and was too hot for hot coffee) and wrestling with the wifi for 30 minutes.
Yesterday was low key for Jena and me (and the kids). But we ended the day by walking on the beach, and that was fabulous. Not specifically because of my name (but I like to think that makes it more concrete), I belong at the beach. I know I’ll live near one someday, and back in the days when I was deciding what to do after college, a warmer climate near the beach seemed relatively close in my future (after I worked long enough in Boston to transfer). But life changed things—and I wouldn’t change that now. I lost my sister, but gained Matthew as a bigger part of my life than just my “nephew.” There used to be times when people would ask me if I had kids, and I’d say, “no, but I have one nephew.” And in my head I would be really wanting to explain that it was more than that. I don’t feel that way much anymore, because I care less what people think or know about me. It’s funny though, because as he gets older the relationship gets even “more” than it was previously when he was tiny. I won’t wish away time, but I wonder how we’ll be when he’s 15 and 20 and 30.
Jena is one of those people who is just My People. We are different in many ways, but we not-so-randomly reconnected after not being super great friends growing up (when I returned back to NY at age 25, my mom and I lived next door to her mom, so I saw Jena when she visited). I admire Jena as a mother very greatly. She admires my work path—we spent hours and hours this week talking about how strange and funny life is, and how it’s important to connect with people who matter and make life what we want it. And to slow down and step back a little before life makes things so overwhelming and full of pressure that you don’t have choices about how you spend your time (obviously you can’t escape that altogether). Jena’s an amazing artist, but with small children, she’s had to put that on the back burner completely and focus on other things. She teaches at a Montessori school, and this works well with her lifestyle (her older child attends that school with her).
Being in Jena’s life for a week, and having the conversations we had, made us realize that now is a great time for us to collaborate on a project. So we made a plan. A pretty big one. We have wonderfully complementary skills and knowledge for this project. It makes so much sense that it’s like the universe dropped the idea in on us effortlessly, and now all we have to do is execute the plan. I’ll tell you much more soon, but the focus is on nutrition for children, how to feed children in ways that are both positive (enjoyable) and nourishing. It involves recipes, information, and practical advice—for people who don’t have the time to do the research or don’t have the practical experience (yet).
I really can’t wait.
I’ll keep you posted.
And now, I’m heading back home to my people.
I'm hoping I can entice some of my little people to help me test recipes. I am betting this little one is adventurous enough to try new things to help me out!
So much for getting my work done while waiting for my flight–but whatever. There’s time for that later.
Side note: I have another fabulous wonderful project I’m working on with Laury from The Fitness Dish. I had less time to work on it during my trip than I anticipated, but Laury and I are going to release the details very soon! It involves sharing information that I think many people will be interested in, so I hope you’ll be excited too.
How is your Monday!?
Do you have any new and exciting projects or news to share?
