“You do my laundry like once every 2 months, Mom.” “That’s not true. I just did a load from your hamper last week.” “Listen, Mom. I KNOW what’s true. You take FOREVER to wash my stuff.” What’s sad is that I can’t really argue with Abby. Today I just happen to remember last week’s load. [...]

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What do you think of our raised garden? Looks pretty good, huh? What’s that? Where exactly is it? Why, on our back deck, of course! As we entered our first spring here in the new house, we’ve had to rethink our kitchen garden. The house is south-facing, which means the front yard is really sunny, [...]

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I sit at the kitchen table with my laptop, listening to the incessant drumming of the dryer, paired with the sloshing of the washer. LC told me that Tess the Puppy scared herself on his drum kit this morning. Her wagging tail apparently hit the bass drum, making her jump and whirl around. I’ve got [...]

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Edna St. Vincent Millay Last Thursday I finally finished unpacking Abby’s room – from our move in June. The girl just has too many toys. They stayed in boxes for a long time because we hadn’t figured out where to store them. That morning, I woke up with a plan, and after two hours, I’d [...]

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I’m sitting in my office, looking out the front window on a dreary day. The sky is white with the cloud cover, and I’m just a little chilled. Thinking of putting on some socks. Suddenly, the other reason I’m considering socks scurries across the floor. It’s rather big bug. We have a lot more bugs [...]

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So. Tired. Just got home from Florida. Two four-day conferences. Ten evening receptions (2 per night, for 5 nights). Nice to meet fellow conference staff and attenders. Fun to give advice on social media (based on my work for John Maxwell). One dinner out. One movie afternoon (Cowboys & Aliens, meh). A visit to a [...]

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Dear Pinterest, I want to thank you for being you. For being there for me when I need a shot of creativity. Your funny sayings and beautiful gardens amuse and enlighten me. I’ve wasted many an hour browsing furniture arrangements and drooling over desserts. I’m inspired by much of your varied content. But I feel [...]

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Last week it finally arrived! You might remember that Charlie and I had the chance to travel to Greece and Turkey this past June. Well, when we were in Istanbul, we decided to buy a souvenir. We could’ve gotten a coffee cup, like we always do when we travel. In fact, we did get a [...]

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I have a bloggy friend named Joyce who writes at From This Side of the Pond.  I think we connected initially because of our shared love of the United Kingdom. Plus, she makes me laugh. For awhile now, Joyce has been hosting a blog carnival called Wednesday Hodgepodge. It’s kind of a celebration of randomness, [...]

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You know how you feel when your house is really a mess but you don’t have the time or motivation to clean it? And your kids are on their final two weeks of school and are already acting squirrelly? And your spouse is out of town – nay,  out of the country – for almost [...]

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