Kimber J.

There were hundreds of people swarming the entryway; it was orderly chaos at its best. Families came together in waves to stand in line to enter the enormous building. Framing the double-entry doors at the front of this building were two 30-foot islands of shrubbery. Each island had 4-foot walls of stone and brick built up and around them to house, protect, and display their exotic plants. The massive, yet very plain, doors were open and hordes of people eventually filtered themselves inside the building one family at a time. My family was dispersed throughout the collective group of people. I could see each member, but they weren’t together like the other families. Mikey’s family was waiting in line just behind us. There were families from all the different eras of my life: Mt. Houston, Berean Baptist School, Pentecostal Church of Humble, Six Degrees, Grace, and The Oaks. There weren’t any of my extended family members, just the core seven Joneses, plus Mikey and his family....

As is the case in most American homes, Saturday and Sunday are the most coveted days of the week. Saturday is generally when homeowners maintain their investments with cleaning or up-keeping chores, while Sunday is reserved for quality family time. As I’m writing this I realize just how “1950s” this actually sounds, and I wasn’t born until the ‘80s. Anymore there’s rarely a day or even an afternoon devoted to building relationships inside a family unit. Instead of mowing your own lawn on a Saturday morning people usually hire a lawn service to do this for them so a few extra hours of work can be squeezed into already overloaded work schedules. For me, the weekends are still my favorite. It’s when I get to share every breathing moment with the love of my life. Lately his work responsibilities take him away from me during the week. Call me silly (or if you are my sister you will just roll your eyes because you hate the word "silly"), but, nevertheless, I set a tim...

At this moment I can’t exactly recall what inspired me to contemplate all the things that make me happy. It seems like it was a riveting reality TV show, but I’m still not exactly sure. However the inspiration was spawned I got to thinking, and, as it turns out, the most challenging part of this list was putting them in sequential order. Once I gave up on the organization of it all my thinking/writing process started flowing much more smoothly. That made me happy…no pun intended. Nonetheless, here’s my list of ten things that make me happy. #10 – Sirius XM radio – It is remarkable that someone found a way to categorize music, play it continuously, and never interrupt the playlist for commercial ads. Of course there’s an annual subscription fee, but nothing is truly free anymore. Having to pay for it isn’t fun, but Sirius XM radio makes me happy. #9 – Shellac – Nail polish was a taboo topic when I was a kid. I even remember having the plastic caps that had long red and...

Two days ago I sat across from the love of my life and expressed to him my frustrations with attempting to prioritize my passions during this glorious, much- deserved, and long-awaited summer break.   As a teacher for the past few years I have experienced the wonder of summer in a whole new manner than when I was a kid. Those childhood summer breaks were filled with church camp, swimming, and sleeping late. These days I sleep until just after dawn, build something, write something, or spend the afternoon with my nieces and nephew. It’s definitely an age-appropriate change, but change nonetheless. This summer, particularly, I’ve been plagued with the inability to sort through my thoughts and projects in a way that would make sense; a way that would lend themselves to their level of importance in my head. This battle is impossible because the level of importance continues to fluctuate with my moods, level of inspiration, supplies available, or time. I keep this running ...