By eight o’clock this morning the house was empty. My adult children had departed to visit friends, and my husband had left for work. Coffee, which my husband and I don’t drink, scented the air from the haphazard breakfast I threw together as the human migration began. The silence seemed unfamiliar as I started straightening the remnants of our family… Read More

I call her our pet-pimp. Amanda is not only my daughter’s best friend, but has become essentially a daughter to my husband and me as well. Amanda’s family lives on a farm near Madison, Wisconsin and, well-deserved cheesehead jokes aside, they are fine, fine, people. My daughter first met Amanda when they were matched as dorm roommates in their freshman… Read More

I’m an odd person. I actually love the challenge of wrapping presents in a creative and beautiful way. Over the course of the year I look for things I can use to enhance my gift-wrapping. Small pine cones, rocks, buttons, pressed leaves, clearance knick-knacks, and remnant ribbons are all prime objects. Sometimes I tinker with the doo-dads by spray-painting them… Read More

The barks and hisses are laced with spittle. My doors and windows are covered with animal nose art. And, for the time being, I don’t see an end in sight to these unplanned play-dates. Each day I bring Booker into the sunroom of our house to spend one-on-one time with him. We’ve established a routine that includes a training period…. Read More

Now that Christmas music is giving us reason to hum along, I find myself waiting for favorites to come up on the radio or in our home CD mixer. Although, to be honest, I’m hearing less Christmas music on the radio this year. In the past one local radio station would dedicate itself to playing only Christmas songs from Thanksgiving… Read More