My parents are semi-retired. They visit their grown children when they can, and try to combine these trips with very specialized iteneraries. For instance, they made a tour of exhibitions of the work of their favorite artist, Charles Burchfield image source (The title of this particular piece is “Sun Emerging,” but, like most of Burchfield’s work, it ought to be called “Damn!” or “Wowza!” or “Help!”) And a few years ago, they visited Lost Cove, Tennessee, of Walker Percy fame. ... Read more
Many mothers of big families are at a loss for words when strangers make personal comments about their family size. Other women are able to use their conspicuous presence in public as a chance to witness to the joy of this lifestyle. Still others see it as an opportunity to ditch one or two of the slower kids in the crowd. No matter which description fits you, there will come a day when you are urging an unruly string... Read more
(Note: The Jerk swears a lot. What do you want? He’s The Jerk. Tomorrow, the blog will be heartwarming again. –Simcha) ——————————————————————————– I’ve been bumped! Here’s the deal: Tuesdays seem to be prime blog viewing days (what do you ladies do with your weeks?) and every time I post a movie review, Simcha loses at least one subscriber. OK, four. Now, I could get all angried up about getting moved, but I get paid the same amount no matter when... Read more
We just discovered a new family game! My 12-year-old daughter, who taught it to us, scornfully insists that it’s actually called “Excuses,” and not (sneer) “Excuses, Excuses,” but I think it’s funnier my way, and anyway, who is she? Does she have a blog? Oh, well, actually, she does. But we are good parents, and don’t let anyone look at it. Ha ha! Anyway, we’ve been playing this new game in the evening after supper, when it’s too darn... Read more
As our old pastor Fr. Stan used to say, “And now, my dear friends, I am over on page six.” By which I mean that today, my dear friends, I am over on Faith and Family Live, where I have a feature called “The Case for Siblings: How to Shut Up Jerks In Supermarkets Who Are Yapping About Your Pregnant Belly.” Or possibly they’ve edited the title. Yeah, they probably have. Which is why Danielle Bean has an empire, and... Read more
image source The smartest thing I’ve ever heard about men and women and sex is something Matthew Lickona said. I couldn’t find the exact quote, but it was like this: Men need to have sex in order to feel taken care of. But women need to feel taken care of in order to want to have sex. You could see this situation as an insurmountable dilemma and a cruel trick of nature. Or you can see it as God’s way... Read more
So, Jen from Conversion Diary designed this nice little 7 Quick Takes system for us bloggers. It bumps up your traffic, it automatically gives your post a semi-professional look, with the nifty graphic and all: And above all, it’s easy. For once, you don’t have to come up with a unifying theme. You can just babble about seven random things that occur to you — seven orphaned ideas which never quite grew up into anything, but which you aren’t... Read more
Today’s post was written about three years ago, when I was terribly pregnant and terribly hot. Thanks to Jen from Conversion Diary for asking for a rerun! It brings a tear to my eye to know that my poor scribblings are remembered, even if it’s only because I used the word “spillcock.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There Are Worse Things than Being Hot When we were house hunting, we promised the kids that the one we bought would have a hose spigot. Or,... Read more
Dear Readers, Today, I am very grateful to Hallie Lord, who wrote today’s post. I would also like to point out the importance of proper punctuation in the title above. To clarify further: as far as I know, there is nothing wrong with Hallie Lord, other than the fact that she is pregnant and it is HOT. Enjoy Hallie’s piece, check out her lovely and funny blog, Betty Beguiles, and stay tuned tomorrow for Thursday Throwback, in which I’m so... Read more
Well, looks like I haven’t been fired yet, so here goes with this week’s thrilling adventure. Before I start, I’d like to thank all of the readers who sent in suggestions for future reviews, both of you. Once I can track down those titles, Troll 2 and The Island of Dr. Moreau, for $5 or less, I will put them on the list. (Hey Paula, your package is being delivered.) I also want to thank Simcha for giving me the... Read more
I Have to Sit Down
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In