Author: Katie

The Long (Break) and the Short (Story) Of It

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Here’s the short of it: It’s been over a year. I am so ready to get back to writing. And I mean, real writing. Like, creating. You know, the magic – putting words together and making something that didn’t exist before it came together on a blank page.

Here’s the long:

Having a 1-year-old, and the year and change in between her birth and now, is busy, crazy, different every day, and exhausting. It’s also amazing, inspiring, fun, and its own kind of magic. Lucy is my whole life, and finding ways to bring her needs into harmony with my own has been a challenge that I meet in novel, interesting ways every day. Some days, I succeed, and we’re both satisfied. Some days, I…don’t succeed quite as well…and she is happy and her needs are met and I have not even brushed my teeth. Time for writing? Nah. I barely have time to eat. “Well, you’ll make time for what matters.” Dude, have you had a baby? SHE matters. More than anything else. But I matter, too. And I do want to make time.

So, where does that leave me? What does it mean?

It means that, for the next month, I’m going to sit down at least once a week and jot down ideas, and good lines of dialogue, and when I can, a few paragraphs of beginnings and endings. And come January, I’m going to start posting short stories again.

I don’t know if I’ll do a theme like I have in past years, or if I’ll try something different. Back in October of 2023, I posted the start of something fun, and maybe I’ll revisit that. I would like to know how it ends.  

I don’t know exactly what my writing will look like in the new year, but I’m going to do it, and there will be stories. I hope you’ll read them!

But for now, Lucy’s waking up from her nap.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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…to everyone celebrating today!  Lucy, for one, is very excited to help.

I’ll be back in December with some fun posts, but for now, we’re spending time with family and trying to get ready for Christmas. (Will we decorate this year? In our new house? Where we are still not totally unpacked? We shall see…) This is going to be a busy holiday season, I can already tell, and while I’m a bit intimidated, I am also so excited to start new traditions in our new home with our beautiful baby girl – who is now officially a toddler, which is amazing all on its own.

So, happy eating and many thanks for all the good things, y’all. See you next week!

One Year

/ Katie / 6 Comments

This avocado supermodel is one year old today.

I’ve been wrestling with what to say about that. A poem? An essay about motherhood and all the wonderful things about Lucy? A list of that enumerates and explains this experience so far?

Nothing feels quite right.

Probably because nothing quite captures how I feel.

I’ve never loved this big. I’ve never worked this hard. I’ve never felt this tired. I’ve never been this happy.

One year of absolute, complete and all-encompassing joy with my beautiful, strong, smart, spunky, funny, fearless girl.

One year with my Lucy.

I’ve often said that perfection doesn’t exist in this universe. As it turns out, I was wrong. Because this –

This is perfection.

The Big News

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Here’s something I never thought I’d say:

I live at the beach.

It’s not like I didn’t know this was a possibility. Graham grew up here, and we’ve talked for years about potentially moving and living closer to family. Other places always just called a little louder.

How things have changed.

Let me back up.

I teased a big announcement a few weeks ago, and mentioned a few posts ago – back in August, maybe? – that lots of things were happening in our little corner of the world. So, now you know. The big news? We’ve moved! The lots of things? Making plans…to move.

We are officially residents of Virginia Beach.

I miss our village and our farmhouse fiercely. All the time. But now we’re closer to Graham’s parents, and Lucy will get to know them. That feels so important. (My parents helped us move, and plan to visit monthly. The beach and the grandbaby are good incentives to travel. 😊) Graham is so excited for Lucy to grow up at the ocean, and I’m interested in what life looks like in a beach town when it’s not summer.

We’ve set up shop in a lovely (20-year-old…what an adjustment!) house in a very nice neighborhood right on the water. The views are great.

We’ve got room now for a large, cozy couch, which Lucy and her BFF Merlin have put to good use already.

And Graham’s parents are just so elated to see Lucy as often as possible.

And y’all, Lucy has figured out how to climb the stairs at their house.

Her first birthday is next week, and she’s just growing so fast! It’s beautiful to watch.

Things are bittersweet around here, though. There’s so much to be happy about and grateful for. But every new beginning also means a goodbye, and this one hurts. I’m thankful for our time in an old home in the country, for the people we met there and the community that welcomed us and loved us and lifted us up whenever we needed it.

But you know what? You take yourself with you wherever you go, and all of that love is still part of me. It’s still part of us and the life we’ll build from here on out.

And I hope you’ll stay with me, too! I imagine there will be plenty to write about, being that I’m now a country mountain critter making a home in a busy beach city.  

So cheers to the start of a new adventure, y’all! May it be good.

Future (A Poem)

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I have a
little girl
to take care of.
Her world,
her future,
her life –
they start with me.
To teach her to be
kind
and
clever,
to show her
love –
how to and why –
and when it’s right to fight.
And to never deny
the darkness,
but always
always
always
help her shine her light.
Nothing else matters.
Everything matters.

Loudoun’s (Possibly) Most Haunted House in 2024

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Another year, another visit to Loudoun County’s (maybe) most haunted house! And this one might be my last, for reasons that I’ll talk about in an upcoming post. (Are you curious? I hope so!)

Anyway…

Here she is, in all her crumbling glory, as of October 2024:

And here’s last year’s post, for comparison: https://myvirginiadiary.com/2023/10/30/this-years-visit-to-the-maybe-most-haunted-house-in-loudoun/

They say nothing lasts forever, and this house certainly won’t. In the years that I’ve been visiting, I’ve watched the old girl deteriorate a little more each season.  

And who knows if the house’s story will outlast it. I hope I’ve done my part, at least, to capture some of the mystery. It will never be anyone’s home again, but perhaps it can be someone’s memory. Even if it’s only mine.

P.S. As I do every year, I’ll add this disclaimer:  This house is on private property, and there are no trespassing signs posted, so please don’t go poking around where you’re not welcome. It’s easy enough to take a picture from the road.

I’m (Not) Back (Yet)!

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But I will be soon!

This is just a quick post to say: Hi! I’m still here. I miss all of you something fierce! Things are happening around here in my little corner of Virginia, and I’m planning to be back in October with a weekly post. I’ve got a lot to share, let me tell you.

In the meantime, how are you? How are things? How is life?

All good here, if a bit crazy. Lucy’s good.

Pets are good.

Graham and I are tired. But good.

I can’t wait to get back to creating soon. I hope you’ll be here when I do.

Stay tuned and happy writing, y’all!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Success

/ Katie / 14 Comments

Been a while, and I hope to get back to writing in the very near future, but for now, I hope you enjoy this sweet little success as much as I did:

Yep, that’s right. Sweet Lucy Blue-Eyes has started solid foods, and she loves everything so far. It’s a whole new adventure, y’all. And so far, it’s pretty fun.