I will un-ashamedly admit I am not a house cleaner.  There is very little about housework I find remotely satisfying or enjoyable.  My preferred way to keep my house clean is to contain the mess.  If the mess is in one place then only one place needs to be cleaned. The one household chore I…

I always liked Charlie Brown’s expression of frustration.  ‘Argh!’ communicates so much.  I am having an ARRRGGGGHHHH!!!! moment.  Possibly a moment that requires even more than what can be expressed by a single Argh. So here I am, on my birthday no less, attempting to get my son’s passport application in.  I filled out the…

The other day, for a point of comparison, my kids and I read two versions of Rapunzel (neither being the Disney version).  I used to believe that there was a moral to the fairy tales.  I thought that was the point to them.  There were minor differences in the two versions.  In both; the couple…

The other day, I had a parenting moment.  Not one of those stellar look back upon and smile moments.  I do have those, but this wasn’t one of them.  I took three of the crew grocery shopping with me.  Sounds pretty innocuous, right? I often think to myself, if only one child was having a…

My vegetable garden is this amazing space of green-ness.  It is dense, tall, and wild.  I plant and tend, but I mostly let be.  I am amazed every year by how a wee plant, a tiny seed, or a bristle of sticks become the wild, entangled thicket that is my garden.  My dear husband says…

I live on a corner and have a rather large fence that is aesthetically devoid.  I have grown morning glories and nasturtium up it.  I have thought about cutting holes through it, re-spacing the boards, and reducing the height.  During the winter I decided I would create a mural on the fence using thin plywood….

I am a puddle jumper.  Actually, more of a puddle stomper.  I am a slush stomper too, but that is another season that I don’t particularly want to think about now.  There is something joyful about summer puddle jumping.  You head out in the warm summer rain (for whatever reason, or no reason at all)…

Did you know that only 50% of the population reacts to poison ivy?  This is something I  recently learned.  I knew I was one of the 50% because I had experienced poison ivy as a kid.  I was very recently reminded what a poison ivy rash looks like. I am pretty good at plant identification.  I…

One of the rocks of my life died yesterday. He wasn’t someone I saw frequently, or spent a lot of time with recent years.  He was someone I always knew would be there if I needed him.  He helped me work through my creative ideas.  He was always enthusiastic, encouraging, and supportive.  When we did…

I think that when you become a parent there are conversations you imagine having with your children.  There is the “talk”, where you intelligently and insightfully tell your children the mechanics of where babies come from.  Then the chats about the other varied and sundry things about life, living, and the pursuit of happiness.  Of…