You know how it is when company comes to town, Journeyers? Life gets busier and better and crazier and it’s nice to see them come, but it’s also nice to see them go? I know this woman who begins counting down the days ‘til her children go back to school, the second she leaves to bring them home for break. … Read More
A Mother’s Love Gone Wrong
Journeyers, it’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks. Family in the hospital. Family coming and going. Skeletons leaping from closets. Gatherings and celebrations have collided with worry and heartache and painful memories. The flurry of activity kept me from writing yesterday. The emotional drain of last night’s and the previous evening’s events leaves me exhausted. Limbs seemingly drained of life. … Read More
I’m Home
I’m home, Journeyers, literally and figuratively. We’ve spent a fair amount of time on the road since last fall, following our three children to and fro. Though I feel at home wherever I am, it sure is nice to be able to plant myself in my office chair and sleep in my own bed. This week, I got together with … Read More
It Takes Two
It happens to all of us at some time in our lives. Criticism. How we dress. Act. Eat. Sleep. Chew our gum. Wear our hair. Write. Somebody’s going to have an unfavorable opinion. What’s that saying, “We can’t please everyone, all the time?” Yeah. That. When we choose to live in a way that puts us out in front … Read More
The Dirty Eye
It happened at a family reunion. On a bus tour of Valley Forge. Warren was shaking my mother’s and my aunt’s seats, playfully picking, as is his constant nature. I noticed my aunt looking over her shoulder in Warren’s direction. “Is she giving you the dirty eye?” “I think it’s ‘the evil eye,’ Annah,” he said. “That’s another one of … Read More
On Courage, Wisdom, and Triumph
I try to refrain from writing a great deal about my children for two specific reasons. Firstly, I don’t want to be one of those parents who whip out the six-foot accordion file of wallet photos when asked about my cherubs. And secondly, they have surpassed that age of “Look, MOM! TAKE A PICTURE OF ME!” but haven’t yet come … Read More
Family, Food, Founding Fathers, and a Housekeeper
Washington’s Quarters, Valley Forge Winter Encampment If you’ve been around these here parts very long, you know how…well…disheveledmy office is. I am six months behind on my paperwork, and neither my floors nor my furniture have been tended to in weeks. On our last road trip, I was among a few who were drooling over another couple’s glowing testimonial … Read More
Training Tips for Pets…and People
We are on the road, again. Late night laundry and packing and phone calls and lists had us all up late. Having seen the other side of midnight every night for nearly a week, I finally apologized to my family for ditching them and collapsed into my bed at two. The nagging, sleep-deprived nausea I felt when my feet hit … Read More
A Day of Letters
I spent yesterday writing. Long-hand. A belated Father’s Day wish to my dad. I had phoned him, but the card I’d purchased sat on my desk with the many other seasonal well wishes that would be late. I’m not one to scrawl my name on someone else’s sentiment and call it a day. I thoroughly enjoy writing letters and putting … Read More
Pampering, Peace, a Piebald, and Hope
The end of the school year is barreling down on us. For all intents and purposes, classroom work is done. The students are all but singing School’s out for summer! They are bounding off the walls off Hurricane Andrea’s barometric barometer. And the conclusion of this academic year can’t come fast enough. Times like these call for some serious pampering. … Read More