I have shelf-top cabinets and vaulted ceilings in my kitchen. On the highest wall the space between the cabinet top and the ceiling’s surface seems vast and open, so shortly after I moved in I purchased two obscure members of the philodendron family to grace that lofty margin. They grew, not in viney tendrils like … More If you can read this….
You know in those old Bible movies like “The Ten Commandments” when something spectacular happens and the skies open up and light blinds everyone on the ground and angels are singing, not an actual song but more like background music–one long sustained note that could melt butter? It happened to me today. I stopped at … More My regards to Moses and Charlton Heston
I haven’t confirmed it yet, but I am thoroughly convinced that public school officials drug teachers for the first several days of the semester. I’m sure it has something to do with securing our cooperation for the implementation of whatever new miracle program or improved procedure they’ve cooked up, but it m a k e … More Just say yes
My baby sister turned 18 today. It wasn’t her best day. She’s having a rough start at James Madison University, where I am convinced that things will take a turn for the better and she will be immensely content. But today I’m just sorry JMU is almost four hours away, because I’d sure like to … More Happy Birthday, Megan
My dog Suzanna is afraid of thunderstorms. (It seems random, I know, but all will become clear shortly.) Last fall when Harry the Beagle came to live with me he destroyed a small patch of grass in my side yard*. At the end of May I purchased a large bag of Kentucky Blue grass seed … More Mousie, mousie
In a post last May I explained that May and December are the most stressful times of the school year for teachers. I failed to mention that August is the busiest month. It’s the kind of busy that makes you forget to eat, the kind of busy that makes you have lots of random thoughts … More In a post last May I explained that May and Decemb…
Going to the beach for some R&R. Be back next week.
For Dooce, who must have had a reaction similar to my own upon seeing herself with REALLY BIG HAIR, circa 1988, and who actually posted a photo as evidence for all to see (which I will not be doing). And for my friend Anna, whose bangs are now a quite normal height. I was in … More Liquored up and lacquered down
I had plans to shop with a friend yesterday afternoon, but she had to cancel and it was cloudy in that might-rain-any-second sort of way, so I went to a movie I’ve been dying to see: “Must Love Dogs.” It was wonderful–great cast, cute story, happy ending. I ate popcorn. I laughed, I cried. I … More The miracle that is Spray-N-Wash. Or peanut butter. Or maybe ice. Of course, it could have just been the laundry detergent.
When I was spellchecking my gum story, I got a huge laugh out of the spellchecker’s suggested spellings for the words “freakin’” and “ballcap.” Thank goodness I was paying attention and didn’t click REPLACE. Otherwise I might have been sitting in “a foreskin wad of blue gum” while wearing a skirt instead of shorts and … More Wait, wait, don’t spell me
one small corner of the universe 