I started getting in trouble for my 'to be' verbs in junior AP English. It was my favorite class of my whole school experience, but it was also the point at which i realized i was not the greatest writer of all time. (WHAT???) My teacher, the legendary Mrs. McNulty, would take a red ink pen and circle every be, is and was, leaving the whole thing in a marked-up red mess for my further revision. I didn't really get what the big deal was, until I saw what happened when i had to eliminate those … [Read more...]
A Perfect Day
May 26, 2012 By 1 Comment
Following a pretty rotten day, the universe will sometimes throw you a nearly perfect one. Or maybe it's just that, for me, two consecutive rotten days are unacceptable. In any case, yesterday= pretty dang crummy. Today, however, rolled something like this: Day started, per usual, with a small girl crawling into bed with me and firmly wedging herself in my back to snooze for a few more minutes. Then it was up and around for breakfast with the fam at our favorite pancake place. Unseasonably … [Read more...]
Immediately
May 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment
It was a beautiful day in north Phoenix. In MAY. That’s saying something. Sometimes, May can melt your socks. But this particular late morning was mid-80′s, sunny and breezy. My husband was setting up lounge chairs and misters, and I was trying to get the kids set up with snacks and toys, content, and playing together happily, so that dad and i could chill and enjoy the weather. If you’ve ever spent time with small children, you are laughing right now. I got the snack, they … [Read more...]
A Moving Picture
May 8, 2012 By 1 Comment
My 3-year-old has a new catch phrase response for when you ask her a question and she doesn't know the answer. Or at least, doesn't have the words handy. She says, "I don't know. I haven't seen the movie yet." Now, somewhere in her quickly-developing brain, there is a very literal connection in there, something that has to do with an actual movie. Not that she's seen many movies--she does well to sit through a 20-minute cartoon--but she thinks there is a movie that goes with everything. … [Read more...]
Good Stuff
April 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment
How do we develop a taste for good things? Is it an acquired taste, cultivated by careful nurture? Or are some of us just born with a hunger for life that drives us through every transition, challenge and heartache with the promise of good news on the other side? I ask my 3-year-old, "What are your favorite things?" I see wheels turning, and finally she says, "I don't know." (Translation:"I do know, but I don't quite have the words in my 3-year-old sense of self...") So I start … [Read more...]
Spinach
April 19, 2012 By 1 Comment
When I was pregnant, I could not eat green vegetables. I couldn't stomach the tastes and textures, plus the heartburn that ensued was unbearable. (I often think that nature uses pregnancy to prepare women for motherhood in many ways. Including, perhaps, making us empathetic to a picky toddler's eating habits). So, I ate lots of fruit and took my vitamins, and hoped that God would work out the math on all the fingers and toes that were knitting themselves together inside me. Well, God (and … [Read more...]
The Business of Babies: A shopping list, a Lent reflection, and a bit of a memoir…
March 28, 2012 By 1 Comment
I recently cleared my house of ALOT of baby and kid stuff; not just outgrown clothes, but bouncers, extra strollers, baby seats and... on and on. Which caused me to reflect on how much of the stuff had actually been useful, and how much had just been in the way. Don't be fooled--babies are a business. The folks at Target, Wal-Mart, and Tiny-Stuff-R-Us KNOW how to play on 1-your hormones, 2-your loss of control over your life and/or 3-your feelings of inadequacy. They play up all the … [Read more...]
Road-Trippy Soul Food
March 6, 2012 By 3 Comments
I know, I know, it's been almost 2 weeks since I've written anything. Nearly a week since I've had any real exercise. Several days since I spent any real time in prayerful meditation. But I am being faithful in at least one discipline this Lenten season--no fast food! Since breakfast is the hardest time of day for me to 'just say no' to the drive thru, i'm doing an installation of The English Major Diet, reminding myself that the best breakfast on the planet does not come in paper … [Read more...]
The English Major Diet: Valentine’s Day Edition
February 14, 2012 By 3 Comments
Like many of you, I have mixed feelings about Valentine's Day. I'm all for telling our loved ones that they are...well, loved. But needing a special day to do it is kind of like needing New Year's to make a resolution. Mostly, the whole day is a commercialized fiasco that wastes a bunch of paper, feeds kids too much sugar, and makes single people feel like they are missing something. All the while, real and lasting love dissolves into Hallmark processed cheese, and all the sparkly princess … [Read more...]
Day 2; Burgers, Burritos and Beginnings
February 11, 2012 By 1 Comment
Ok, so we start. Read back a day if you want to know why i'm recounting the best meals i ever ate. Basically, I figure that reflecting on the divine dining experience will keep me from eating crap like, you know, cheeseburgers. So why am i starting my 'best meals ever' series with a cheeseburger? Stay with me. I have been a Route 66 nerd for however long...a long time. When i graduated from seminary my sweet (then new-ish) husband bought me a road trip guide and an old set of maps … [Read more...]
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