As if Andrew and Rita didn’t do enough damage, pity the great state of Florida which now has the Seabolts to contend with. When the unexpected but delightfully generous offer of a beach-front condo dangled in front of us, we jumped on it.
Granted, with the spate of midwestern blizzards that have beleaguered us lately, we […]
Exactly one day after agreeing to purchase our ancient wreck of a house, we discovered, as do many young marrieds, that the good Lord had a much bigger project in plan for us: our first baby.
This sped up our original “five year plan” of home renovation considerably. Indeed, we spent the next six months […]
Eating used to be so much fun before food snobs ruled – and ruined - the world.
For generations, down home cooking like pies and gravy (or pies WITH gravy) vied for buffet space next to burgers, fries, and an ice cold shake. Sure you always had your fancy types with their steamed salmon and […]
I am probably the only parent in history who has requested a parent/teacher conference with the playground monitor.
Rules
Generally, I teach my children that their teachers make The Rules and that, just as in all walks of life, we don’t necessarily have to agree with them to abide by them. I call this the “don’t come […]
Leave it to those same fine souls who brought us “cocoa powder” that tastes nothing like actual chocolate, in any form, to be up to their old hijinks when it comes to “fixing dinner.”
Food giant Nestle is now linking healthy families with gathering around the table at dinnertime in a new advertising campaign for their […]
His was, by all accounts, an ordinary life. I first met him when he was nearly 70, and I was not yet 30.
He was a quiet, Mennonite man who enjoyed reading — and writing — poetry in his spare time.
I was an newlywed expecting my first baby. I wrote nothing remotely close to poetry.
Serve
[…]
“Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can never hurt you.”
I have always hated that fable. Words do hurt.
Words can kill.
Fifteen-year-old Phoebe Prince chose to take her own life rather than deal with what has been characterized as “relentless physical and cyber bullying.”
Prince was besieged in school, via text […]
You hear all the time about embracing your inner child, but what if what you have is less an inner 8-year-old and more an inner 80-year-old?
So to speak
I was kind of mature even as a kid, downright stodgy even.
Take grammar for instance. There is an attempt by “kids these days” to embrace the […]
It was the men with guns at the door that convinced me more than anything else that I wasn’t living in the suburbs anymore.
Thirteen years ago, I faced my first morning alone in my “new” old house by way of crouching low by the door, peering up over the windowsill, as three strange men […]
Though not as young as she once was, she still prepares up to three meals a day (and snacks!) without complaint. She manages mountains of holiday cooking as well, rising early to make cinnamon rolls before moving effortlessly to roast turkey and ham.
Year-round she is always up for a quick batch of cookies, and […]
