At the request of my dear sister-in-law, I’m begging each person who reads this for their most sincere prayers for a soul who is in much distress. Please go to your knees and ask God to have swift mercy and compassion on our friend Garth, that he might find the comfort and peace that he desperately needs in this very hour. O most holy apostle, St. Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, people honor and invoke you universally, as... Read more

Yesterday I made quite a bit of progress packing. I attribute this almost entirely to the compilation cd I made myself in the wee hours of the morning. My taste in music is…eclectic. Some might even say it’s bad. I tend toward classic rock, with a particular emphasis on 80’s hair bands. The only two bands I’ve seen repeatedly in concert are the Scorpions and White Snake. And let me tell you, the sexy gyrations in the slick leather pants... Read more

Between packing, moving, and getting settled in Texas, I’m going to be extremely busy this week and next, so I’ve asked a few of my best blogging buddies to pinch-hit for me. This first guest post is brought to you by the irrepressible Dwija of House Unseen, Life Unscripted.  If you haven’t made it over to her blog yet, you must go! She is an absolute delight, whether she’s regaling you with tales of Wal-Mart-ing in rural Michigan or describing... Read more

Today is the day of the Rapture. Oh, yes. Domenico Bettinelli is hoping for the rapture just to end all the lame rapture jokes, but I for one am gleefully enjoying them. Is it because, not so long ago, I was among the number that anxiously watched for signs of the impending apocalypse, all while desperately hoping that I would be raptured with my brethren? Maybe. Or maybe it’s just because, having actually spent some time studying this thing called... Read more

Ah, sweet, glorious Friday. Our last Friday here in the desert, in fact. After I got Sienna ready for her last day of school, I stared out the window for a little while as I sipped my coffee and thought...I’m really gonna miss this place. Not like I missed Texas, mind you. Texas is my home, my heart, my blood. It’s where I grew up, where four generations on both sides of my family have grown up. It’s all I’d... Read more

Yesterday, Sienna did a spectacular face-plant off her scooter onto the concrete parking lot. The Ogre hustled her upstairs, where he immediately got some ice on her already swelling cheek. A few minutes later, I left off chopping shallots for dinner to wash and inspect her face. We were in the bathroom and I was gently scrubbing the dirt out of her scraped, bruised cheek and temple while explaining to her the necessity for keeping ice on her face. “It’s... Read more

and you’re totally unprepared for them. Sometimes you stayed up way too late hanging out with friends, drinking gin and tonics, letting your kids watch Jimmy Neutron on repeat, and then watching Aliens with your husband because you just couldn’t rest until you saw Sigourney Weaver being her pre-butch, badass self. Sometimes you wake up on a Monday morning with all kinds of children laying on top of you and you can’t remember where you are or how these children... Read more

I just love my Ogre. I really do. Sure, he picks on me and teases me and endlessly laughs at my romance with chocolate, but he is such a gem of a guy. On Friday, I woke up feeling awful. I’ve had either some sort of lingering, evil cold or (weirdly, for the desert) pretty severe allergies for about two weeks now, neither of which are particularly conducive to packing. But the Ogre needed to study, and the house needed... Read more

Holy gods of the internet, ye have failed us miserable bloggers. Big time. In case any of you happened across my little blog yesterday and noticed that posts were being randomly taken down, put up, taken down again, and then put back up in the wrong order with all the comments missing, never fear. I was not suffering from some sort of mental breakdown induced by the stress of packing. Rather, blogger was totally skitzing out. I have no idea... Read more

I still haven’t heard back from Housewifespice, the giveaway winner. If any of you know this blogger, could you please notify her that she’s won? If I don’t hear from her by Saturday morning, I’ll choose a new winner from the remaining entries. Thanks, guys! Read more