Here’s the view out my bedroom window when I woke up this morning. When did the leaves go yellow?

I have not slowed down to notice these things lately. I’ve been pushing so hard with work that I’ve been rushing meals, rushing past friends, yelling, “Sorry, I don’t have time,” rushing past beautiful sunsets, rushing tuck-ins with my kids.

My whole life, I’ve been called gutsy, strong, fiesty, focused, high-achieving. I could give you a whole mess of stories about being bold or fearless. It’s my nature, so it doesn’t really take so much out of me. But I realized I cannot think of one story where I’ve stood up for myself when I was wearing thin and said, “I can’t do it.”

So, here is my big gutsy act: there is no blog today, and I’m not going to comment on individual notes on this post even though I will love reading them. I’m taking myself off the hook because I’m wearing thin and because – if I can focus like a monster on my edits right now – I can have time with my kids after school. They need me, and I’ve been missing them.

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Thank you for your beautiful stories and to Kimberlee Auerbach, the tender reed, who sang for us. And thank you to everyone who linked to LitPark this week: Mary Akers, Robin Slick, Ascender Rises Above, Kimmi’s MySpace, and freezejas in the stream. I appreciate those links!