Love Letters

  Dear Alicia, On a quaint little farm in the middle of nowhere was a cow name George. George was a longhorn who spent most of his day grazing the pasture and chewing his cud. The pasture was relatively safe, and the weather relatively stable where George lived. George didn't have a care in the world. George would wake every morning after going to bed every night in the same spot under his favorite tree, and every morning he would make his way down to a small stream to get a drink of water. Life was good for George. Life was easy for George. One cool fall morning when George went down to the stream to get his drink of water he saw something he had never seen in his pasture before. There was a chicken down by George's drinking spot. George stopped for a moment but didn't give it much thought. After all, George is on a farm, so he continued down to get his drink.  While George was drinking, the chicken clucked and said, "Hello fellow cow, my name is Herbert!"  Georg...

  Dear Alicia, I hope that you are finding these little posts more enjoyable to read than scrolling through social media. I really don't think that shit is good for peoples' mental health. We are coming up on being together for 14 years this winter. Man, I am only 12 years older than that. We have had some rough times, but I want you to know that whenever you are gone, I miss you. I wonder if you miss me? I hope you do. I really do enjoy you. I even enjoy the unenjoyable parts of you. Sure I get frustrated when you go to the extremes with stuff because of your anxiety, but I you are you. I would rather you be an anxious wreck and be around me than not be around me. I do wish you could learn to be a little less angry with everything, and I am happy you are finally taking steps to overcome that. That being said, you have been better and when you are in a good mood it shadows when you are not. I appreciate you finally taking your outlook on life seriously and trying to learn how t...

 Dear Alicia, Riley is of the age where she would be eligible for public preschool this year. I know you would say that it was my controlling nature that made the decision to homeschool our kids, and you are probably correct on that point. I am going to try and articulate in writing the basis for my unwavering decision to homeschool our kids, and why it won't be changed. I know I have tried to do it vocally, but I think you have a hard time listening to me when I speak sometimes because you see it as me being self righteous (which I can be) or just an asshole (which I can also be). I am also going to try and debunk some of the reasons I feel that you have against homeschooling, which I believe are founded in blanket observation and projections.  Point 1: All about the academics. The most important thing about school is academic achievement. Homeschoolers on average score 15 to 25 percentile points higher than their public school counter parts on standardized tests. (Click here...

 Dear Alicia, Right now you are sleeping up in your room after a long weekend of work. So I thought I would get on and write to you in while I bribe the wild things to clean their mess up by telling them it is about time to wake your sleeping beauty up. I thought I would inundate you with some facts that you may or may not have known already. Here you go: Did you know that you have only gotten more beautiful the more you age? I mean seriously, you could should start a self help program for the rest of the world, cause all these other ugly middle age women look pathetic in comparison. Did you know that 9.999999 out of 10 women in comparison don't hold a candle when it comes to your looks? I mean I have been checking, and I have yet to find a single other woman that comes close to how good you look (your mother is the exception, but come on...that isn't fair). Did you know that when it comes right down to it all I have to say about you is, DAMN GIRL. I mean...well just...DAMN GIR...

Dear Alicia, I know that I said I was going to use this site to give you something to look at instead of social media to try and get rid of the social media blues that you get. I have dropped the ball...I admit that. I do that sometimes. It isn't because I didn't want to, but I kind of forgot all about it. However I think I will try being better. After all, if I am good at one thing, it is jotting down a few things from here and there. Anyway, here I go.  Alicia, I know that you have a hard time looking at your life and finding peace with what you have. It is easy to look at others and see what they have and you don't. Worldly things are great and bring a fleeting sense of joy and satisfaction, but if only you knew that is not what you actually need or what you should want.  You shouldn't want what other people have or can offer. Too many people fall into this trap, and it makes them not appreciate, unaware, and distain what they already have. We have had this conversat...