The 2024 presidential election motivated me to have a birthday do-over

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At the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater Pointe in Time Emerald Gala Today marks a week since my birthday.  Its occurrence is a tremendous blessing. Because all around us are reminders about the fragility of life. To that end, my brother, who always makes a point to celebrate me, took me to the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater's Pointe in Time Emerald Gala on November 2d. That was the beginning of my birthday celebrations. And then, on my birthday itself, I got a bit of a surprise... My actual birthday was tough. It was Election Day. And, I spent the day working polls as a part of an election protection effort. My efforts were designed to protect all voters. However, deep in my heart I love my AKA sister, Kamala Harris and I hoped for her historic victory. Then, much to my chagrin and despite my efforts—and those of thousands more—she lost. In my estimation, that loss was one of the greatest setbacks in human dignity in my lifetime.  The country elected a felon and self-proclaimed, racist, ableis
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A Peek In the Life of a Working Mom: Creating a Pack 'N Play Out of a Box

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Happy baby in a box

I write about a lot on this blog. However, there is still an entire life that is occurring in between blog posts. We bought a house three weeks after our son was born. That means that our lives have been on hold since then and a lot of our things are in storage, including .


And there is the expense. We still live in our "former" house. So, for a variety of reasons we have been carrying two mortgages since we closed. I was told that the renovations were supposed to take two weeks. (I used the passive voice to protect the guilty.) And we were supposed to sell our home in a few months. Our home has been under contract for some time. The clock is ticking. And it does not appear that the deal will close. I have opinions about that, but I’ll keep those to myself, for now…

Working moms are resourceful


What I do want to discuss is my amazing ability to make do. Growing up my life was a series of extremes. As a young child I rode around in a car that had no heat, walked to get milk in a blizzard, and lacked the latest clothes. I also had the blessing of living in the suburbs, attending the college of my choice, and graduating without any student loans. Same life. Same girl. Very different experiences. I had a resourceful mother too!

I think that my years of living with less prepared me for the experience we have been having since we bought the new house.

Overhead view of the Ghetto Pack 'N Play

Since so much of our stuff is in storage I have had to make do. I have used mixing bowls as serving bowls. I have had to figure out how to coordinate what is left in my closet by wearing nothing but black shoes or boots.That is cruel and unusual punishment for a woman who has spent her entire adult life collecting an envious shoe collection. The other thing to keep in mind is I was nine months pregnant when Andre asked me what clothes he could put into storage. Accordingly, the clothes left were not my first choice. I had no idea what would fit after having the baby and let me be the first to confess, "Mommy brain" is real. I really had no idea what I was agreeing to. For a those reasons and more I have been impressed by my ability to make do by creating outfits out of what was left in my closet.


That said, my proudest accomplishment by far is how I have transformed a box into a makeshift pack ’n play. Some might call it ghetto, but I call it green. Besides, he looks pretty happy in there doesn’t he?! 





Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA

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