I have not been reading much recently. No time, no mental energy, and what little reading I could wedge into my schedule needed to be for research purposes. So when my friend Kathryn posted, as she does daily, a little quote from a book, it caught my eye and I decided that I was going… Read More A Book Study: The Wonderful Garden
Sometimes I could get drunk on my freedom. It’s heady stuff, and just like alcohol, if you get enough of it it makes you giddy. I get in my car, and think “I could drive… anywhere.” I could. I don’t, but that’s a choice I make. I don’t have to carry my papers with me… Read More The Intoxication of Independence
There should have been a blog post today. Nominally, I write them in the morning (veery early) or the day before and schedule them. However, well, what I would do on one day rarely works on another day around here. I thought, when I was a young and naive mother of babies and toddlers, that… Read More Shoulda Woulda Coulda
This is a recipe 40 years in the making. You know those family legends that are told and re-told at every family gathering? Usually a source of embarrassment to the her.. er, culprit in the tale, who was too young to know any better but can’t live it down? Well. my family has one they… Read More Mustard Cake
I’m going to share a part of my friend Richard Hailey’s blog on the Gillette Ad. Coming right on the heels of my own take, he’s taken the time to thoughtfully dissect the ad’s scenes, and he’s hit the nail on the head when he calls it propaganda, and why. I highly recommend you follow… Read More Male Propaganda
I haven’t yet watched the ad. You know the one I mean, the one with the well meant intentions that went off the rails. Look, the underlying concept is sound. Men need mentors. Men, societally speaking, don’t have a lot of healthy male role models. Look at the statistics. We live in a world of… Read More Nurturing Men
So the Little Man is a big fan of Fallout. He’s explained the premise of the video game to me a few times, and I’m still a little fuzzy on what’s going on, but I’ve gathered that American culture, in the game, froze about 1950, but nuclear power got bigger than it did in real… Read More DeathClaw Steak and other Adventures
The Little Man rolled out of bed and hit the ground talking this morning. “Would you buy me cookie dough mix?” “Why?” “So I can make cookies.” “Why not from scratch?” “I don’t think you want me making cookies from scratch.” “Yes, I do. Why do you need cookies? Did you commit to making cookies… Read More The Privilege of Motherhood
I took a week off from the blog. It wasn’t something I’d planned to do, it just happened. Work has been work, but family has been… It’s an interesting season of life. You’d think, with four teenagers, one of them completely independent and out of the house, I’d have more time, not less. Ha. Hahahahaaha!… Read More No Babies Here
In years to come, when I look back on this era in my life, I might possibly miss it. Possibly. That’s a bit of a stretch at the moment, while I seem to be perpetually tired, hungry, and exasperated. Then again, I didn’t think I’d miss having wee ones who didn’t sleep through the night… Read More Mom’s Taxi Service
Today the Junior Mad Scientist went to college. Just to take her placement tests, now, but this does mean in a few short weeks I’ll have three kids in college. (eeeeeek!) She has been prepping for this for a month, now, but this morning I gave her a little pep talk as we drove to… Read More Analysis Paralysis
The hardest thing to do is to do nothing at all. I was reading an article about medicine, medical care, mental health, and psychotherapy, and the motto of ‘first do no harm’ which is part of the foundation of medical ethics. The Hippocratic Oath contains the phrase “abstain from doing harm” and the idea is… Read More Mother’s Touch