Author Archives: Jaclynn Loibl

I feel like I’m all over the place, and self-conscious of every word, sentence, and paragraph I write. I’m splitting my attention between a Hallmark Christmas movie, texting, and playing my Total Battle app. Did I mention I have a sore throat and a nose that hurts? I can’t think straight! I’m in a weirdContinue reading “Ninny Muggins McGee”

There’s a snail’s pace to our morning, tracing a maze on the back of the Honey Bunches of Oats box, spies at the fog hanging like tinsel over the trees, and slow sips of a homemade two-shot espresso with steamed half and half in a red and green tree Christmas-mugged coffee. And then, unexpectedly, it’sContinue reading “It’s Not Your Fault”

With one foot out the threshold, the night air rushed in. A step away from closing the door behind me before heading to the car, Evelyn shouted her concern, “We forgot to hug and kiss Dad!” She darted back inside. Considering we’d be gone for only 20 minutes, a final curtain call seemed, well, aContinue reading “Uncoordinated Presents”

“I don’t get it,” Dave says, holding up a craft of a glob of clay attached to a bottle cap. The two pipe cleaner antennae had been ripped off, along with the googly eyes – remnants of a project Evelyn had brought home from preschool. I strategically placed it next to the garbage can, aContinue reading “C’mon Ride the Train”

I’ve been searching for the perfect bread – not a baguette, not a super-soft hoagie, but that Subway or Quiznos-style bread. My looks at local groceries was met with bummer after bummer, so I did what I do? I did it myself. And with just three ingredients – bread flour, yeast, and sugar – myContinue reading “Quest for the Quintessential Loaf”

Do you ever notice that delightful melody right before you ascend an escalator at a mall, where a person in a nice shirt is skillfully playing a piano? Well, at home, that same mood is recreated when Dave takes his seat at the piano. Tonight, his practice included Charlie Brown’s “Christmas Time” and another pieceContinue reading “Real-Life Rudolf”

Strolling down the sidewalk with my 50% off Grande Crème Brûlée Starbucks coffee in hand I’m on an hour break in my workday. A few block walk to Fred Meyer for lunch and a happy hour coffee was an unexpected, but welcomed surprise. On the trek, I felt empowered. Not necessarily like an ape poundingContinue reading “Blue Ribbon Life”

With a spare moment, while flipping backward dollars and unfolding folded bills, a fond memory of my Grandma surfaced. “Can I hold it?” she had asked years ago upon seeing my large billfold of cash. I can’t quite remember why I had taken it out; Was I proudly showcasing the hundreds of dollars worth ofContinue reading “Alligator Creeper Crawler”

“In your eyes. The light, the heat. Your eyes, I am complete. I see the doorway to a thousand churches.” Certain songs, they have that magic. They make your body move with a chicken-like head bob and get you rocking as if the San Francisco earthquake is happening in your pants. An hour break meansContinue reading “Magic Eight Ball”

I revisit old wounds like a gravestone in my mind, pressing charcoal to paper, stenciled words emerge. “These things happen” is the message today, reminding me that the best of the best lessons are forged in blood, scarred in the heart, and ache when we least expect it. A flying swan dive off the highContinue reading “The Little Engine”