Amber McClain Shaw

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Dear Diary: Life at age 10

Dear Diary: Life at age 10
Feb 15, 2023 by Amber McClain Shaw
The first two weeks of my childhood diary disprove my memory that I grew up mostly without TV (I watched The Donny and Marie Show often), introduce the reader to the main characters of my life at the time including my pet mouse and a frequent babysitter, touch on important cultural trends (Pete's Dragon and Shrinky Dinks), friendship (sleepovers, showers and indignation over a bad grade), and my painfully factual reporting on the illness and death of my grandmother. I had a lot to write about at age ten.

Dear Diary

Dear Diary
Jan 28, 2023 by Amber McClain Shaw
I started my writing career with an existential crisis.

I was ten years old when I got my first diary. 

On the blank page before January 1st, I wrote: Dear Diary, I will try to tell the truth as well as I can.
 

Where Are My People At?

Where Are My People At?
Jan 25, 2023 by Amber McClain Shaw
When the kids were younger we knew where to find each other. Carpool, volunteering at school, the sidelines of all kinds of sports matches or at one of the kid-friendly restaurants in the area. But now that they are off to college and beyond, we no longer have a connection through our children. How do we find each other? Now that, in theory, we have more time for ourselves and our own interests, I’m wondering where everyone went.
 

Bon Mot Newsletter, past issue links

Jan 23, 2023 by Amber McClain Shaw

I Have Not Loved a Car for 26 Years. Until Now.

I Have Not Loved a Car for 26 Years. Until Now.
Jan 18, 2023 by Amber McClain Shaw
I have loved convertibles since I was a kid and my dad had several that were so fun to ride around in; an MG and a Fiat. When I bought my first car, it was a convertible, a Miata. I loved that car and only gave it up when I absolutely had to; I was a week away from my due date and I realized a stroller would not fit in the trunk. I have not loved another car for the last 26 years. Until now.

How to Eat Cereal

How to Eat Cereal
Jan 06, 2023 by Amber McClain Shaw
My boys left me with a Costco-sized box of Frosted Mini Wheats that they opened but didn’t finish. It’s making me question my sanity.
​​​​I don’t consider myself a particularly fussy person, but Frosted Mini Wheats bring out an intense desire for order, organization and doing things the RIGHT WAY.

Connection Was My Word of 2022: How It Went, And Why Social Media Got In the Way

Connection Was My Word of 2022: How It Went, And Why Social Media Got In the Way
Dec 07, 2022 by Amber McClain Shaw
At the start of a new year, I choose a word of the year. More than eleven months into this year, my word is still going strong. I find it more interesting and powerful than a resolution. A word has a way of echoing back to you in a song, in something you read, in a conversation with a friend, and asks you to pay attention. This year I chose the word connection.

Know Thyself: The Practice of Journaling

Know Thyself: The Practice of Journaling
Dec 01, 2022 by Amber McClain Shaw

I’ve kept a journal since I was in about fourth grade, on and off. My first diary had a lock on it, which I thought was such a great feature. I could pour my heart out without anyone else being able to read it. The fourth-grade me apparently had a few secrets to keep. But that lock was easily picked with a hair pin and whatever secrets I had were no longer secret.

I Cried at Erma’s Bombeck's Grave

I Cried at Erma’s Bombeck's Grave
Nov 16, 2022 by Amber McClain Shaw
When I visited Erma Bombeck's grave, something totally unexpected happened. I started crying. I wish there was something funny about why I cried at Erma’s grave. That it was something poignant she wrote or said. But my emotional response was about something Erma did not say, and kept secret for most of her life: a lifetime of living with disease. A disease I am very familiar with. Erma had polycystic kidney disease (PKD), diagnosed at the age of 20, and endured daily dialysis for years before undergoing a kidney transplant at the age of 69. She died from complications of the transplant surgery.
 

What Can You Let Go Of? Comfort is the Enemy of Progress

What Can You Let Go Of? Comfort is the Enemy of Progress
Nov 09, 2022 by Amber McClain Shaw
In the fall, my yoga teacher asks her class to consider, “What can you let go of?” This question echoed around in my head, and I knew there were some things I wanted--needed--to let go of. What has gotten too comfortable, too habitual? I wanted to examine some of my routines, habits, and thought patterns and determine whether they serve my overall wellness.

Comfort is the enemy of progress. --PT Barnum

A Comfort Zone is a beautiful place, but nothing grows there. --Robert Stevenson

My Neighbor Wrote an Amazing Autobiography and I Helped to Publish It

My Neighbor Wrote an Amazing Autobiography and I Helped to Publish It
Aug 19, 2022 by Amber McClain Shaw
I’m excited to announce that my neighbor Dr. Werner Stamm has published a book! And I am honored to have been a part of the process, helping him to self-publish it.

Choose Your Own Adventure: Night Market

Choose Your Own Adventure: Night Market
Aug 16, 2022 by Amber McClain Shaw
Are you ready for a fun food adventure? Go check out a Night Market! Here are ten things to know before you go so you can have a great time.
 

When the Mountains Fell In Love with the Sea Mural

When the Mountains Fell In Love with the Sea Mural
Aug 09, 2022 by Amber McClain Shaw
The most unexpected, wonderfully marvelous, and fun surprise this summer has been watching a beautiful mural painted right across the street from where I live. 
 

I'm at the Book Fair!

I'm at the Book Fair!
Jul 06, 2022 by Amber McClain Shaw
The Tiny Book Fair is all summer long. I'm a participating author. Please go check it out!

Amber's Cooking Collective July 2022

Amber's Cooking Collective July 2022
Jun 27, 2022 by Amber McClain Shaw
Kids are on summer break, kids are home from college, everyone is hungry all day. 

I don't want to be in the kitchen a lot in July. Do you? No, you have better things to do. Pick up a copy of this Mark Bittman cookbook and join me in making easy fast tasty meals so we can spend less time in the kitchen and more time outside doing fun stuff.

Some Things Don't Change

Some Things Don't Change
Jun 23, 2022 by Amber McClain Shaw
As a young child, Kieran loved mud. I was delighted to see this vacation photo he sent. Some things don't change!

Another School Shooting

Another School Shooting
May 25, 2022 by Amber McClain Shaw
In high school, in the early 1980s, a boy I didn’t know very well looked at me through his long fringe of bangs and asked me to come to see something in his locker. He stared at me, eyes mostly hidden. We were not friends. I went, I don’t know why. His locker was near mine.

Inside he had a gun.
 

Coastal Grandmother

May 06, 2022 by Amber McClain Shaw
How to channel the Coastal Grandmother vibe even if you are not a grandmother.

If I Knew I Was Going to Have Three Boys, Volume 1

If I Knew I Was Going to Have Three Boys, Volume 1
May 05, 2022 by Amber McClain Shaw
The title of my book has been my personal tagline for quite some time.

Write it Down!

Write it Down!
Apr 27, 2022 by Amber McClain Shaw
Do you have a goal?

Write it down. Take a photo with it.

Copyright © Amber McClain Shaw.

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