Some days it feels like I’m getting “pitched” by PR people in droves. Five emails in a day, all addressed to… “Ms. Stephanie Wetzel, Blogger, The Red Clay Diaries.” My favorites say something in their opening paragraph to “personalize” the pitch. Of course, it’s hard to feel like they know me when their opening is, [...]

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Yep, that slack-jawed yokel is my Beloved Husband, in character as an extra for a short film, The Candy Shop. What? You didn’t know he was an actor? Well, he’s not really. I mean, he had dreams of being one. He even did some community theatre before we met. But he’s never seriously pursued it. And [...]

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This post is for Bridget Chumbley’s One Word Blog Carnival. Go visit to read more on this week’s word: Ego. Two of my children are approaching their teen years. They’re tweens, in today’s language. And their tweenitude comes with a healthy dose of insecurity, embarrassment, and self-centeredness. Everyone else is looking at them, making fun [...]

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HOW long has it been since my last post? It feels like my summer has been kidnapped. Which is why I found this site so entertaining: The Ransom Note Generator. Simply type in the text of your ransom note, and it’s magically converted into your generic everyday disgruntled loner magazine letter script. Take a look [...]

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What is it about the spiritual disciplines that I so strongly resist? I’ve been a Christ-follower for over 30 years. I know how much I benefit from keeping a regular appointment with God. It’s the only reason I get up at 5:30 a.m. every school day — ostensibly to give me time alone to pray, [...]

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It’s a sign of the apocalypse. If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you’ve already figured out that my writing comes in waves. Sometimes I go weeks between posts; others, I’m a posting machine. If I could predict it, I would. If I could modulate it, I would. But I can’t. So [...]

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Sittin in a noisy Starbucks, listening to the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack on my earbuds. (Jai ho!!!!) Trying not to get up and dance. And thinking that then again, maybe a little dancing would do me good, what with the accidental exercise it would involve. But then I’d have to explain my silent Bollywood moves to [...]

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In my real life, I have a lot of friends who just don’t “get” Twitter. They say they don’t have time for it  (WHAT? Do they think I do?) And they always ask, “WHY would I want to know what a total stranger had for breakfast?” (I always answer, “It’s at least as interesting as [...]

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Lately it seems like my neck has a crick in it all the time. Not one of those “I can’t move my head and therefore have an excuse for not doing laundry or dusting” cricks. (I WISH.) More of a “This is annoying and every time I turn my head I sound like a bowl of Rice [...]

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Illness update: Hannah… …does NOT have pinkeye. WOOOOOO! She has a scratch that’s healing on the surface of her eye (thankfully, NOT the cornea). (No pinkeye means I get to send her to school today! After two days at home! And right before a 5-day weekend with all of the kids here! All day! Every [...]

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