The most embarrassing thing to ever happen to me (outside of childbirth which is it’s own kind of shame) occurred when I was 14 years old. I looked very young for a Freshman in High School.  Where other girls had been looking womanly since the sixth grade, I still had the figure of a little girl.  This was in no way helped by my brace filled mouth or my appalling lack of style.  I was a little girl and looked... Read more

The long delayed honeymoon I wrote about here will not be happening. We have hospital bills from when #3 found out that Legos are non-digestible, and now our master bath shower is causing rain in our classroom.  Two strikes and our financial reserves are depleted.  When the Fun Fund is empty, the Computer Guy and I stay home.  It’s the reality of living within our means. Instead of whisking my sweetheart away to Carmel-by-the-Sea in California and spending four days of... Read more

After much poking and prodding and a wee bit of encouragement from my husband and all the internet people, I have begun writing a book for grown-ups and have finished a book for children.  I don’t know that either will ever be available in a book store near you, but I can always dream about it. Writing is a strange thing, and it’s made even odder by blogging.  Here’s the thing… when I write, people listen.  It may only be... Read more

I was asked yesterday if I ever regretted not having a career before I became a mom.  The conventional wisdom of our day is that a girl should got to college and get her education, have a career, make her own money, see the world, and live a little before settling down, getting married and having her two babies (one boy, one girl, if you please).  Do I feel as if I’ve missed out on anything by marrying young? I’ll... Read more

It’s been a while since we’ve played this game.  Ten random facts, only one is not true. 1.  I worked one year as a life guard.  While taking my test, I had to “save” a 300+ pound man from drowning while he kept trying to drown me.  I weighed maybe 100 pounds and was under 5 feet tall.  After wrestling with him for almost 2 minutes, I clamped my hand onto the manlier parts of his anatomy and let him... Read more

I saw her behind me in the grocery store check out line, the girl who could have been me 12 years ago.   Her tiny girl was perched in the seat of the shopping cart and looked much too small to be sitting up so steadily.  Her protruding belly announced to all the world that her second child be arriving within the month.  She looked tired and wrung out and sported a streak of cookie slime on her left shoulder. I... Read more

As is a week of Emergency Rooms, Lego eating, and worry weren’t enough, it now looks as though #6 caught the flu while we were in one hospital or another.  It confirms my suspicion that hospitals are really just a great place to get sick. Or it could be God’s way of telling us that we need to slow down.  His way of keeping us quiet and at home, a brief respite from our usual whirlwind lives.  We can take... Read more

Last week I had the privilege of meeting a long time blog reader in person.  I worry that I may have disappointed her. The person I am in real life is not the same as the person I am online.  I’m just not funny in real life.  I’m amusing, sarcastic, and irreverent, but I’m just not funny.  My husband confirms this for me often when he remarks “You’re so funny when you write.”  I’m okay with this.  I think it... Read more

As I sit at the keyboard, our sweet boy is slumbering upstairs in his own bed.  He is curled up with Reddo the Dragon, underneath his star blanket, and sleeping that boneless sleep of childhood. While he recharges his batteries for tomorrow’s mischief, I am filled with relief and gratitude.  Gratitude to God, Our Father, for protecting my sweet son through this whole ordeal and for gifting his father and myself with the strength we needed during it.  Gratitude also... Read more

Just an update on our #3 in the hospital.  For now, the doctor who wants to let things take their own course out of his body is winning.  My sweet Computer Guy is sitting at the hospital with our son waiting for him to..well…poop. The surgeon who just wants to get this done is waiting in the wings should he be called into action.  I hope he stays right where he is.  I’m sure he’s a nice man, but right... Read more