I’m sitting here, two kids way past done with potty training, and I’m crying over diapers.

This is such a weird time. Social What?? Sheltering-in-Place? No TP left? Hand sanitizer a thing of the past? Everything is closed?

Guess what? Not all is lost.

Who’s tired? Who’s stressed? Any takers?

Who feels like they desperately need to take time to take care of themselves, but each day gets filled up with work, kids, chores, “have-tos,” and the general chaos of life?

Who feels like there’s never enough time in the day, so you keep doing the daily grind and wind up at the end of the week with nothing left to give and have to start the new week and do the same thing over and over again with an empty tank?

It’s a vicious cycle, and it’s easy to get stuck. I think it’s safe to say most of us have been there.

Did you know that it’s still possible to get self-care and get rid of some stress, even with a full schedule? Just a couple minutes can give you the rejuvenation and calm you’re craving. Best part? Most of them won’t cost you a dime.

I was sitting at a table with a handful of women, most of them brand-new acquaintances to me as of that morning. The goal was to eat breakfast together and while doing so, go around the table and ask and answer a few, previously chosen questions in the quest to learn more about each other and become better acquainted.

Let’s go over a few definitions together:

Justice is righteousness. Righteousness is freedom. Freedom is liberation.

Darkness is absence of light. Light allows vision. Darkness is blindness.

Hatred is hostility and avoidance. Love is attachment and devotion. Hatred and love cannot coexist. Avoidance and attachment are opposites.

Devotion is dedication to a cause. A cause necessitates action.

I said goodbye to you tonight.

I knew this day would come; I’ve known it for a long time. I even knew somehow that it would come soon, but I’m still not ready.

This disease that slowly stole you from us the last few years is finally coming to take you for good, and even though the grieving has been a little bit at a time, it never accumulates into anything tangible, and every time I think of you, the sorrow begins anew and my insides ache with longing for what once was.

I wrote this letter a couple months prior to having my second child.

My precious children,

Life is full of choices. Things do not happen for an unknown reason. Things happen because of our decisions—not because of luck, and not because you or anyone else is entitled to anything. You can only control your own choices, not those of others. Good things are earned and should be celebrated; they happen as a result of hard work, determination, and perseverance. Perfection is impossible; excellence is not. Bad things happen, but even then, life is still good and lessons can be learned.

Let me tell you a story. When we lived in Tucson several years ago, we had a two-year-old, it was about 10 pm and we were totally out of diapers. There were none on the changing table, none in the closet, and none in the diaper bag. I know there are fellow parents reading this who have been there, done that. A certain, unnamed discount merchandiser to the rescue, right? Our daughter was in bed, asleep, so while my husband stayed home with her and finished up a couple of work assignments, I relished the alone time and drove down the darkened outer road next to the freeway the almost three miles to the store, parked in the well-lit parking lot, walked inside, found my diapers, checked out, and then walked back out into the parking lot to head for my car. I probably should have been, but I honestly wasn’t thinking at all about my safety at that moment in time.