One of my favorite coffee mugs was a gift from my sister, covered all over with "famous first lines" of novels. I have a degree in English literature, and I still had to look a few of them up---I guess they can't all be "Call me Ishmael." But I do think there's one first line … Continue reading On Hobbits & Hobbit-Holes
Category: Home
Stop, Don’t Make Me Chinkle!
It's a word of my own coinage, particular to post-childbirth and post-menopausal experiences---a mashup of "chortle" and "tinkle." A mashup word for the mashup experience. A chinkle is a laugh that makes you wee a little. At the risk of venturing into TMI territory: in earlier stages of my life, damp panties were indicative of … Continue reading Stop, Don’t Make Me Chinkle!
A Visit (And a Visitation)
One of the interesting things about working at Home Depot is that our customers have a definite expectation that anyone in an orange apron will be able to answer any of their questions. And the reason our customers have that expectation is because we are encouraged not to answer with “I don’t know.” When I … Continue reading A Visit (And a Visitation)
Addendum to a Eulogy
Yesterday my dad should have turned seventy. He passed away this year on my birthday, so this weekend we've been missing him on his. Ironically, I could still practice my favorite joke-ritual, which was not to call my dad (whose depth of phone-phobia was rivaled only by my sister's and my own) on his birthday. I … Continue reading Addendum to a Eulogy
Living Large by Living SMALL
Sometimes the Stuff we own ends up owning us... Here's a look at life with LESS!
Bathing Ferrets, Idaho Wildlife, & Pumpkin Pie
I used to think that my sister and I had the best-ever outlet for playing with our bath toys. We grew up in an Idaho farm-town that practiced irrigation-watering for the lawns in town, so our front yard was flooded in several inches of water for a couple evenings every week. I still have memories … Continue reading Bathing Ferrets, Idaho Wildlife, & Pumpkin Pie
From Noah’s Ark to Yellow Submarine
I jinxed myself, no doubt about it. When I wrote last week about our growing tribe of pets and animals, I ended by saying I hoped we wouldn't be floating away like Noah's Ark. Just a couple nights later--Saturday night, to be specific, or rather, the "wee hours" of Sunday morning--Keoni woke me to say … Continue reading From Noah’s Ark to Yellow Submarine



