Did you remember to turn your clocks back this weekend? It’s that glorious time of year where we take back that extra hour that was stolen from us last spring. How did you spend your extra hour? My favorite usage of the hour is sleeping. I know it may seem wasteful or sloth-like (one of […]
It’s that time of year again. The season when many dog owners submit their quadrupeds to the ultimate humiliation. It’s worse than the cone of shame. It’s…[not Monty Python’s Flying Circus] the dog Halloween costume! My inbox has been flooded with images of chihuahuas dressed as Yoda, and golden retrievers with Carmen Miranda fruit perched […]
Our next door neighbors invited us over for a BBQ this summer. They are retired and spend their days puttsie-ing (as my Dad says) in their garden and tending to their lawn. Their yard is immaculate — healthy, green, neat and tidy. We crossed our yard with its splotchy brown patches and sporadic colonies of vining weeds, […]
My son took the PSAT yesterday, the first of several rites of passage from high school to college that will be determined by a #2 pencil. Just what is the significance of the #2 pencil you might ask? Well, you are in luck. Here’s the Reader’s Digest version. Pencils have been around since the discovery of […]
Ah (choo), the flu season is once again upon us. All the morning TV shows are abuzz with the latest and greatest recommendations for us to get stung in the arm or swabbed up the nose to prevent the flu. And actually, the vaccination doesn’t preclude us from getting the flu; it only lessens the […]
This weekend marked the release of The Social Network, the film about the creation of Facebook, the website with 500 million members worldwide. I’ll admit that when social networks starting gaining steam, I quickly dismissed them as forums for narcissistic teens and internet stalkers. But when my son reached the age of but-all-my-friends-have-a-Facebook-account, I acquiesced […]
“Let’s eat Grandma!” OR “Let’s eat, Grandma!” Punctuation saves lives. I saw this on Facebook the other day while I was drinking my Constant Comment, and the tea almost came out my nose. Granted, I’m not the grammar police all the time, but I find subtleties like this both amusing and sad. I’m a lexophile — a lover […]
September 14th at St. Francis Heart Hospital. Nine-month-old Mikey has been in the Pediatric ICU for just a few hours. Earlier in the morning, he had open-heart surgery to close a large hole in his heart. His family was standing around his bed watching him as he lay in a medicine-induced sleep, a respirator breathing for him, and at […]
Labor Day. The official end of summer. This is always a gloomy time of year for me because my kids are going back to school. Some parents can’t wait for that first bell to ring, but I actually enjoy spending time with my children and the relatively stress-free nature of the vacation season. I love the […]
“We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass – grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.” – Mother […]