You know what one of the best things about having a hysterectomy is? Well, besides that. And that. I don’t have to do school supply shopping. <insert dance of joy> Since I’m still recuperating, this year I don’t have to take the kids on that dreaded trip to one store and then another and then [...]
If you’ve got a smart phone and post pictures of yourself or your kids online, you may want to disable your location (GPS) settings for your camera. Watch the video below to see why changing your settings could be important for your safety and for that of your family/children. (You may need to scroll down [...]
I’m heading back to the Blue Ridge Regional Jail tonight through Interfaith Outreach Association’s Progressive Release Program. Tonight’s topic? Anger Management. I’m planning to share this simple children’s story I wrote a few years ago for a friend’s seven year old-daughter, who was struggling with her own mean daddy. Sometimes hearing words from someone else [...]
“But I’m the only person at my high school without a cell phone!” she protested. “Great! Then you can borrow someone’s phone any time you really need to make a call,” was my brilliant response. We’ve had that conversation, or ones like it, for months now. Hannah, now almost 15, has been asking for a [...]
Today I am reminded of Adam, the toddler in the simple cardboard book I Don’t Want to Go by Anne Sibley O’Brien. I bought the book for Morgan when he was two or three. He had such a difficult time with transition! Whenever it was time to transition from one thing to another, he would [...]
They came upstairs from his man cave way later than I had hoped. It was dinner time and they had been called long ago. The table was set and three of us were seated. Waiting. Even Hannah, the messenger child, hadn’t returned from the abyss. I was hungry and grumpy when they finally sat down. [...]
I spent the better part of my day on a fifth grade field trip to Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson. Our tour guide, Ms. Terrell, kept our attention as she talked about the life and home of the author of the Declaration of Independence. She told stories about Jefferson’s love of literature, music and art. [...]
Where there’s smoke, I’m usually cooking. And the taunting sound of the smoke detector is sure to ring out, “She’s cooking again! She’s cooking again!” This was not the case last night. Peter was actually cooking. In his defense, Peter is a great cook. The reality is no one is immune to an occasional kitchen [...]
It took every bit of restraint not to collapse into chest heaving sobs. Somehow I managed, but the tears flowed freely, leaving tracks in the makeup on my cheeks. Our former minister, Steve Cromer, had returned to preach the sermon as many honored a man and his wife for serving faithfully for twenty years. And [...]
Yesterday I was feeling confident about my relationship with Michaela. Today? Not so much. After Michaela finished her breakfast, I asked her to put her dirty dishes in the dishwasher and throw away her empty medicine capsules. She put her dishes away, but left the capsules on the table and walked into the living room. [...]
