HomeLife
How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. - Annie Dillard
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end of story.
Kevin and I had the opportunity to listen to Dr. Ed Welch speak at a conference recently. Among the topics were mental illnesses and brain disorders and depression. Gray Matters was the title of the weekend conference, which I found a fitting name. There was an overflow of information and plenty to wade through for many a day. (Which we have been doing in big and small ways.) I was particularly struck by the manner in which Dr. Welch shared anecdotes. He’s been in counseling for nearly as many years as I have been alive so his real-life examples are vast. And in every story he shared he would stop talking…
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Home.
Do you know what is good? Home. You know – home. I just adore that ritual of every evening when the house is still the dishwasher is magically doing the dirty work and I pull off my shoes cozy up in a blanket and stretch out on the sofa beside Kevin. I unclip all the do-dads from my hair and I know it must be a tangly mess and I don’t care at all and my husband doesn’t care and I think that’s my favorite kind of love. We both sigh. Contented sighs that set the world straight again.
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Sunday Crock Pot Meals
I like a crock pot. She’s a genius. We’re kind of good buddies. Like me and Thrift Store and me and Colin Meloy. Almost every Sunday we employ Crock Pot’s clever magic. When we return from our weekly church-attending, grocery-shopping morning we enter our home and a meal awaits us. And although no one in our family minds eating the same meals over and over except me, I would love to garner some new tried and true recipes for Crock Pot to perform. So here’s what I thought I’d do. I’ll share some of our favorite Crock Pot Creations and you guys share some of your favorite recipes in the…
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Rain Day.
A Conversation Between Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh That I Think Perfectly Fits This Rainy Day. I like when you just do nothing. Oh. How do you just do nothing? It’s what you do when grown ups ask, “What are you going to do?” and you say “Nothing” and then you go and do that. _____
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Christmas Gift Giving Guide
Thanksgiving talk yesterday. Christmas talk today. It’s about holidays this week for some reason. Of course you can purchase your gifts on Amazon. And I don’t want to discourage any excessive or extravagant Amazon purchases, you know. However. There is this glorious alternative to the machine that is Amazon. Handmade stuff by people I love. I’ve mentioned both of these before, but at a time like this – with holidays literally breathing down our necks – we could all appreciate a user-friendly all-in-one-location kind of list. And that’s just what I have for you: Lotions. Soaps. Scrubs. Beauty products. All hand created with fabulous ingredients by my lovely cousin…
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Leaves of Thanksgiving
Remember when I couldn’t remember if we had any Thanksgiving traditions? This fall we’ve completely acquired an idea from our friends – and probably dozens of other families too – A Thankful Tree. Or – more accurately – A Bunch of Thankful Sticks. It was easy to designate the task of securing branches to my boy – he took the assignment seriously. We stashed the sticks in a jar of chickpeas (because I had a jar of them and I do not recall the day I ever bought them which means they most certainly had long since expired). I cut out some leaves on autumn-colored paper and Otto Fox gleefully…
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ordinary occurrences
On the laundry room floor a very large bag of acorns sits. Collected. Stored and being saved for currency at their friend’s house. In the living room there is a bright cheery yellow canvas bag loaded with rocks. And. A tap on the shoulder. A seven-year-old confession. “Momma. Otto’s bug catcher is empty now. But it wasn’t earlier. So. If you see some crawly lizard upstairs. Well. That’s why. I thought you should know.”
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decorating inspiration.
Oh – and another thing. DC was like the icing on the cake, really. The entire road trip was actually more inspired by our desire to visit my brother and his wife. The kids loved Aunt Beckey’s craft room where they were allowed to wade through fabric bits and felted bounty and were encouraged to create and craft to their heart’s content. There was no end – miniature sleeping bags and pillows for their Calico Critters, a soft fleece pillow for London, a doll dress for Piper – and fairy wings to match it. Mosely was allowed to use the real deal sewing machine and Piper took a whirl at…
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The Interview: Bergen Hawkeye
So. This interview. Let’s get started. Let’s talk about birds first. Do you still enjoy watching them? Yes! What sorts of birds have you observed lately? Woodpeckers. Robins. Some terns. A few hummingbirds. Terns are seabirds. What kind of bird have you never seen but would love to? Pileated woodpecker. Golden eagle. White seahwak. Peregrine falcon. Golden crested woodpecker. Green woodpecker. I thought we saw a golden eagle this summer? No. We didn’t. What did we see? A bald eagle. Oh. Okay. Besides birds, what holds your interest lately? Fish! Obviously. What have you caught so far? Bass. Perch. Crappie. Bluegill. What do you want to catch? Pike. Perch. Carp.…
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Yesterday. Today.
We drove to Washington, DC yesterday. I didn’t take any pictures. I mostly just sat in the front seat of the car – criss cross applesauce style – because all of the snacks were stored where my feet should have been. The drive was a jaunt through autumn’s glory. It was amazing. The colors were phenomenal, an extravagant, show-offy kind of beautiful. Today we will be exploring our nation’s Capitol with my brother and sister-in-law as our capable tour guides. I promise to take pictures.
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Public Service Announcement or How Your Christmas Gift Shopping Can Benefit My Christmas Gift Shopping
I figured I might as well just call it what it is. Remember how at the beginning of this year this here little website received a visual upgrade? And at the time I mentioned an affiliate program that I participate in through Amazon? You know, the Amazon you already use to purchase clothes and games like I Spy and splurges like a Cuisanart ice cream maker? The Amazon where you already enjoy your prime status that allows the miracle that is free shipping to bring the world right to your red door? Yes. That Amazon. Well. I’m still participating. The link is right over there on the right top of…
Keep Reading . . .
a little grief. how the time passes.
Looking Ahead.
The Things That We Keep Doing
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The Interview: London Eli Scout
London – I used to do these interviews when you were tiny. They were hilarious. I still think you’re a pretty funny kid. Do you think you are funny? A little bit. What kinds of things make you laugh now? Friend jokes. Jokes that friends make – or our family. Just jokes. How do you like to spend your free time? Drawing. And playing Calico Critters and Legos. You haven’t had a hair cut in more than a year I think. What’s your plan there? To grow it very very very very long. Why is that? Because I really like long hair. I’d like to look like an elf. Is…
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Five Reasons I Just Don’t Really Care About Halloween
I grew up on a dairy farm in Snow Creek, Virginia. Snow Creek, guys. Our driveway was practically an entire mile long and it led to a one lane road that connected to another country back road before it ever found its way twenty minutes later to a small town. Halloween didn’t reach us out there. And we didn’t care. I have never felt deprived and I don’t think about losing a piece of childhood experience owed to me. I have never lived in a neighborhood. My children have never lived in a neighborhood. Our house for a decade whilst our kiddos were being born and toddling through their days…
