What I'm thankful for today: Today August starts a full morning preschool art program! That means I get three (that's 3!) full hours to myself once a week. I can't explain how excited I am. He's pretty pumped too. Two nights in a row of dinners with new friends. New friends = good. We got our car back with a clean, pretty, non-shattered window! And who needs a GPS anyway? I'm thankful for google maps. Speaking of Google maps, I'm thankful that my husband finally caved in and agreed that … [Read more...]
The Mama’s Boy
May 14, 2010 By 5 Comments
For the past two weeks my husband’s job has kept him pretty busy. He has a demanding profession that he’s very good at, which has recently resulted in the kind of promotion that a woman like me loves (for her husband’s sake) and fears (for her husband’s and child’s sake). I don’t like how careers can chomp on people’s lives like an owl swallowing a mouse whole and vomiting out the skeleton. (Did you ever dissect owl pellets in middle school? Those were awesome.) Chris doesn’t … [Read more...]
Molly Ringwald and “The Pretty”
May 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Friends, I sat for two hours last night staring at my computer screen with an utter blankness in my head. What was there to write about today? I wanted to find a meaningful poem to share...nothing. I wanted to tell some powerful story. Plum out. I wish I was funny but actually I think I'm just fake funny and it only comes out once a month. But I'm happy to report that in spite of my failures as your blogging person, I read an article today, an excerpt actually, from Molly Ringwald's (yes, … [Read more...]
Gently, Truthfully, Simply
May 12, 2010 By 3 Comments
We should speak gently and seriously with words that are weighty and restrained. We should be brief and reasonable in whatever we have to say and not raise our voices to insist on our own opinions. -The Rule of St. Benedict, Chapter 7 On a sticky note above my desk, I’ve written the words: “Speak gently, truthfully, simply.” That phrase comes from David Robison’s book The Family Cloister and it’s his application Benedict’s instructions above (44). There are some aspects of … [Read more...]
Thankful Tuesday: A Weekend Survival Story
May 10, 2010 By 6 Comments
What better way to begin a Thankful Tuesday post than by stating what’s really been a bummer lately. This past weekend was a thing of beauty with some pretty fierce toxins thrown in. Toxins tend to poison everything. Friday night, we rejoiced to host Sarah the super sitter! When I left the house, husband on my arm, decked out in my hippest skinny black pants and heels, August was staring lovingly into Sarah’s babysitter eyes (did I mentions she’s the greatest?) and he shed not a tear. We … [Read more...]
A Small Victory in Hospitality-Land
May 6, 2010 By 6 Comments
Last night we threw a dinner party. For ten people. It was a last minute decision. We’d been wanting to have my husband’s “team” from work over sometime and on Monday he realized that a few were heading back to Europe this weekend (I will not try to explain the complexity and fluidity of Chris’ company and how often people are going back and forth to Europe). So we pulled it together. Chris and I both love having our home filled with people. We loved our lifestyle when I was on staff … [Read more...]
The Oil Spill? I’m Guilty.
May 4, 2010 By 8 Comments
I can’t stop thinking about the oil spill today. Yesterday, I read this blog post by Ed Brown, director of Care of Creation, Inc and author of Our Father's World: Mobilizing the Church to Care for Creation. His post is short and powerful. You should take a second to read it. In it, he asks the question: How should we pray about this oil spill? Should we ask God to miraculously stop the flow of oil into the ocean? Immediately bring healing to the animals and creatures already devastated by the … [Read more...]
Mah Aysay!
May 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Yesterday, as we drove the hour trip home from a weekend with friends in Napa Valley, our son noticed a small airplane flying past. We watched it seemingly float midair in plain sight of the highway and eventually zoom around and make its way toward the county airport we were passing. It landed. “Mah Aysay, Mama! Mah Aysay!” That was August’s demand after the entertainment of the fly-by was complete. More airplanes. He was not only asking for more, but doing it with deep emotion. This … [Read more...]
Thankful Tuesday Q’s
April 27, 2010 By 15 Comments
It's Thankful Tuesday and it's raining. My boy slept longer today but 6:30 still doesn't cut it for me so today I'm avoiding deep, contemplative thoughts about my thankfulness. Instead, I really really really want to know about yours. I'm serious. That means you have to leave a comment, people. So, here are my questions for this Thankful day. 1. What one thing from this past weekend are you are most thankful for? 2. What book are you reading right now that you're most loving? 3. What book … [Read more...]
How the words fall in.
April 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment
A disciple asks the Rabbi, “Why does the Torah tell us to ‘place these words upon your hearts’? Why does it not tell us to place these holy words in our hearts?” The Rabbi answers, ‘It is because as we are, our hearts are closed, and we cannot place the holy words in our hearts. So we place them on top of our hearts. And there they stay until one day the heart breaks and words fall in.” (from The Politics of the Brokenhearted, by Parker Palmer) Let me start by saying I haven’t read … [Read more...]
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