Oh my! Finally my slippers and I are getting the recognition they deserve! In this season of scandalous awards programs, I am HONORED to have been given this truly wonderful Stylish Blogger Award. For those of you who are new, you can see that my incredible fashion sense — from head to slipper — has…
Category: Life in America
Depending
by
I’m on the train on the way to meet two old friends in New York. A part of me is terrified to put my foot on the platform at Grand Central. I am a traveller. I don’t stay put. I go places. Yet in the last 8 years I’ve mostly been with my travel companion,…
To Be of Use: Beyond Making Do
by
Here’s a tandem response today: integrating #Reverb10’s Day 13 prompt on “Action,” asking “What’s your next step?” with my dovetailed thoughts to Tara’s question posed to us: “Why do you make?” (I am going to put aside for now the fact that when I nannied in 1989, the family used the word “make” as euphemism…
On Not Walking
by
Walking is joy. I love walking like I love Ira Glass and peanut butter cups. I am surprised that since I moved back to America from London, that I have given it up. Just basically decided that even though it is one of my favorite things to do in the world, I am not even…
Parties: Math Made Fun!
by
Day 9, #reverb 10: Party.What social gathering rocked your socks off in 2010? (Thanks, Shauna Reid) Here’s the best party advice I ever learned: Never –ever– hang your invite up on a wall. Parties are simple mathematical equations. They are algebra. On one side of the = sign is everything you need for the party:…
It Takes a (Christmas) Village?
by
#Reverb Day 6 Prompt: Make: What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it? (Thanks, Gretchen Rubin) I made cookies (seen pictured), 500 or so of them for a church fundraiser. Well, actually I just rolled…
No One is Looking: On Letting Go
by
So I continue to take part in #Reverb10, a 31-day write-in. Here’s today’s post. Day 5 Prompt: Let Go. What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why? (Thanks, Alice.) This year, I let go of Kevin. Kevin is the name of the man I really and truly fell in love with in…
Zen and the Art of Tedium
by
A conversation about boredom at Scoutie Girl yesterday got me thinking again about the daily tasks that constitute part of the “work” of my life. Not the least of these is feeding a family of six. Not the worst of them is laundry. Some I despise for no particular reason, like emptying the dishwasher. Whenever…
Where Wisconsin Is…
by
…And Other Existential Observations on Home My colleague (we both teach at university) said, quite innocently: “I guess I don’t think of Wisconsin as the Midwest.” This while I was rapping a heavy mix of Madison virtues and Midwest easiness. “Oh,” she said when I called up the map. “I guess I thought it was…
Laundry, and Love
by
I get to feel superior to socks when I am conquering a load of laundry. That is sort of cool, isn’t it? There’s a swathe of the backyard that is leaf-free. Just one corner. (Well it was yesterday). I did that. I own that. Housework is menial work. Which is to say “humble” or “lowly”…
Where the Wild Onion Grows
by
Wild onions grow everywhere here. I smell them through the moon roof on those particular weekend days when men are at home in their kingdom yards, busy mowing alone and in harmony. If I made this up, forgive me, but I think maybe someone told me that a long time ago this entire area was…
I’m Smarter Than You…
by
Or, At Least That’s What You Think My oldest sister, Kathy, felt the crush of competitiveness in our family the most. And why shouldn’t she? After all, she was succeeded, one after another, by 5 cute little bundles that usurped her crown. And meanwhile, more and more responsibilities were dumped on her little shoulders Coming…
The Keepers of Risk and Possibility
by
Tara Gentile and her posse of Great Minds have twisted my head up today. Being a working artist is a continuous rubber banding between being true to love and brushing off the fairy dust to face life’s sharp corners and heavy footfalls. Walmart is real. And even if don’t want to accept it, the status…
DIY: ‘Between Desire and Reality’
by
Ok, so I know it’s Thursday — one day late for We Scout Wednesday— but isn’t that status quo on any DIY project? Scoutie Girl asked us: why do you DIY, then answered herself better than I could ever put it. “DIY fills the void between desire and reality. If God can create an Eve…
Vampire Power and the Money We Lose
by
When I started dating my hubby, I owned the following electronics: A cheap, 3-disc changer stereo that was roughly the size of a large breadbox A CD walkman that ran on AA batteries (rechargeable) A Sony Dream Machine clock radio A laptop A small point-and-shoot film camera A cordless phone One cellphone and one charger…
