Although it was an interesting taste day (fat CostCo hotdog on pleasantly soggy bun with churros for lunch before helping R pick out glasses, poached salmon and new potatoes tossed with dill for dinner), I’m just not in the mood.

I am very, very, very tired. I had a hard time sleeping last night, and M […]

Continuing the sense memory theme:
“Waaaaaaah!”
M at 5 a.m., lamenting molar #4, which has emerged halfway.
“Hi!”
M at a more civilized hour, waving in greeting.
C: I love God.
Me: Why?
C: Because God made me.
Me: What else did God make? M?
C: No! You and Daddy did!
“C is doing very well… she’s right on track with [list of skills]… she […]

I started to respond to the previous post’s comments, but it got too long.
The “writing as spiritual practice” thing will not be a class so much as a small group that I will facilitate. Because, what do I know about writing as a spiritual practice other than, yes, it is?! Or can be.
I am really […]

So the other day I described the mechanics of a typical day. I realized that in twenty years I won’t care so much about the mechanics of life, but the details. So. As an exercise in attention, here is the typical day, told in visuals:
M is scribbling on a Magnadoodle. She’s finally learned which tip […]

It’s nasty and cold outside, and I was about as low-energy in worship as one
can get while still retaining a pulse. Blah! Yuck! Ptui!
This anniversary of dad’s death has been harder than some of the others. Partly because I know that my dad’s ashes are being scattered today (assuming the weather has cooperated) and partly […]

I’m in the thick of life with two kids under the age of 4 (and I’ll only be able to say that last part for two more weeks!). And while I can’t imagine forgetting what this stage of life is like, I know I will. So this post is a typical “day in the life,” […]

Songbird poses this delicious question: List four ways you like to relax or give yourself a break. Then name a fifth, something you’ve never been able to do, a self-care dream.
1. Sing. I’m told that I sang to myself pretty much constantly as a child—not hard to believe, since little she-who-is does the same thing. […]

[another “stafford poem.” See here for explanation]
for dad
on january 28, 2003,
i folded down a corner of the secret garden
and placed it atop a stack of books, way too optimistically tall
for the fortieth week,
and i turned toward the door to my husband’s ashen face—
i turned toward the door, the door, the door beyond which
there be dragons, […]

My friend SC always has the best signature quotes in her e-mails. For a long time she always signed off with:
To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.  –Karl Barth
Here is her latest:
May God give you grace never to sell yourself short, grace to risk […]

It is reported that when William Stafford was asked how he was able to write a poem every day, he said, “I lowered my standards.”
And in that spirit…
for the CGs
we had often giggled over dinner,
doodled the names of our future children on butcher paper,
ripped into hot bread, too hungry to wait,
passed it one to […]

I’m going to write for ten minutes then hit POST.
Today I noticed that little she-who-is has actually learned to play Go Fish strategically—will actually pay attention to who asks for what. She also likes playing “tic tac taco” on the Magnadoodle.
Took the metro today and walked the three blocks to Crankypants, which was considerably less […]

Pretty low-key day. I cheated slightly on the ‘net fast by writing a work e-mail or two, but mostly I worked on some computer stuff, and rested after a very full church day yesterday. Also hung some pictures that have been sitting around way too long.
Little she-who-is seems to be feeling better. She watched way […]

The girls are tucked into bed, I’ve got a glass of wine breathing nearby, and R is making homemade coq au vin, having already baked some rustic European-style bread this afternoon. Life is good.
It finally snowed today. It started while in an after-church meeting and by the time I left it was coming down at […]