A few days ago, I pathetically bemoaned mentioned my lack of a salad spinner. One of my friends joked with me about it and then bought me one on Amazon and had it mailed to me. Yeah, really, he did. It was completely unexpected and delightful. But it wasn’t shocking, per se, because this particular person, along with his wife, have spent the better part of the past decade becoming two of my most cherished friends. Their generosity is just... Read more
I’ve been reading and re-reading Kathleen Norris’s Amazing Grace for almost a year now. I pick it up often when I find myself distressed. It’s prose that reads like poetry, which soothes my mind, and it’s full of beautiful reflections on a life of faith, which soothes my soul. Her musings on conversion radically altered the way I understand conversion. The word ‘conversion’ comes from the Latin for ‘to turn around’. Thus it denotes a change of perspective but not... Read more
Simcha posted this today. I clicked on it idly, needing to work but exhausted. Exhausted not by the endless work of each day, but the turmoil beneath it all. The tension we all inhabit, now, with the government and the economy, the Church and Pope Francis, the culture, the world, these uncertain, esoteric times. Days like today, when I glance out the window I am surprised to see the sun shining and the grass growing. I’m surprised that the world... Read more
Yesterday we went to the pool to hang out with some friends, and when I put on the cute tankini my mom bought me this summer, I was appalled to realize that it no longer fit. I mean, I could put it on my body, but it did NOT look awesome. It was like muffin top hell. I can’t exactly be surprised by this, since I totally lost my mind with Smitten Kitchen’s World Peace cookies and kind of stopped... Read more
That awkward moment when you finally meet someone you’ve been wanting to meet for a while and you jump up to say hi, knock your chair over, awkwardly try to save the situation while ignoring your clinging, whining 4-year-old, then finally give up and erratically try to exit the conversation while covered in children, only to realize later that you had food stuck in your teeth the whole time. (Your front teeth…and I mean all of them.) That moment seems... Read more
The Ogre brought home a toy airplane for Liam from his last conference. Liam was instantly attached to it and has been sleeping with it every night and taking it everywhere. Even to Trader Joe’s. Where he accidentally left it in the grocery cart. We realized we had left it there as soon as we got home and I immediately called the store. The blessed man who answered put me on hold and checked every cart in the parking lot,... Read more
#7 Last night the Ogre worked late, so I thought I would surprise him by doing the budget for the month BY MYSELF. This is huge for me, by the way. I have trouble with things involving numbers. I have to use my fingers to add and subtract. Math is hard. #6 Luckily I remembered that calculators exist, and spent the evening virtuously (not to mention selflessly) working on the budget for the month. By the time the Ogre got... Read more
Since I’m on a domestic tranquility kick, I’m going to tell you why the absolute, best way to reduce stress is to give up. I mean it. Just give up, already! If your husband is anything like mine, he does this thing where he just throws his clothes on the floor. Not all over the floor, mind you, but in one designated spot. This spot is absolutely never the laundry hamper. It’s not that big of a deal, really, except... Read more
For five solid years, I refused to make the beds in our house. I didn’t see the point. I mean, you’re gonna get in them again and mess up the sheets and pillows in like fourteen hours anyway, so why bother? It isn’t like laundry, or dishes, or sweeping and mopping. There’s no sanitary issue with bed-making. It’s pure aesthetics, and as far as I was concerned, it was a waste of time. I don’t know when that changed exactly,... Read more
I confess that I find myself more than a little dismayed at the outright snark unleashed in the wake of Pope Francis’ latest interview. I have it on good authority that the translation was very badly done, so I’m waiting until a more reliable one is available before commenting on the interview itself. But in the meantime…I’m starting to understand what the phrase “more Catholic than the Pope” means. I always thought that was kind of a silly phrase, since... Read more
Barefoot and Pregnant
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