First, we survived. Second, it took twice as much time to recover as the length of time that we had nephews K. & D. overnight. The boys arrived at noon last Sunday, carrying in a suitcase, backpacks, and a giant tote bag of assorted child-necessary items. I feared that there might have been a miscommunication …
How I got "here"
Routine
Today began different than a usual Sunday, with the first flutter of eyelids. We were sleeping in — a glorious sleep-in on a Sunday, unheard of since I started going to church 7 years ago. The Husband has been up late nearly every night for the last three weeks working on our porch: Stripping off …
Mother, may I…
Moms give us life, and they also teach us how to live. There’s the heartfelt stuff, and the truly gushing moments at graduations, weddings and births. But the real lessons? These are in the mundane day-to-day admonishments, chore assignments, scoldings, and one-liners – all the stuff you hear in your first 18 years of life. …
Home Office
Over the twelve years that we have lived in our house, my home office has at one time or another occupied three out of four bedrooms. For years I had one front bedroom to myself for books, computer, and casual writing. Then my husband and I decided to share a home office and shuffle the …
It’s Never Enough
Last week I wrote about our sweet, easygoing dog. Well, we also have a cat. When Elsa was five weeks old, I picked her out of a feral litter born just outside the door of the rural office where I worked. Mama Cat had already produced a couple of litters with the resident playboy, Bobby …
This is 40
In the third season of the Roseanne sitcom, Roseanne’s 37th birthday wish is for time, specifically to write. Turns out that she loved to write as a young woman, but raising a family took priority and as she gets closer to age 40, she wants to make a change. As a gift, Roseanne’s husband builds …
The Future is Today
I love time travel stories. Back to the Future, Quantum Leap, HG Wells’ The Time Machine, Time After Time, Somewhere in Time, Slaughterhouse-Five, even the Terminator movies franchise. Whether by self-hypnosis, worm-hole, steampunk contraption, or DeLorean, the idea of moving forward or backward on a timeline is tantalizing. Why? It is the simple idea of …
The Marmot’s Fib
Groundhog, you lie. Two weeks since your optimism, Then a northeast snowmageddon. Now, this: more shoveling, base layers, And a whiteout driving home from church. From your hidey hole, Whether in Punxsutawney or under my shed, You feign to predict our meteorological future. Your shadow hath not that power! (At least consult your Farmer’s Almanac. …