The awkwardness of silence often causes people to speak before thinking. Filing the air with empty words, we talk when we have absolutely nothing to say.   I've been on the receiving end of empty words many times in my grief. People want to make you feel better, so...

If there's one thing I would do over as a mom (and there's more like a hundred things), it would be writing down more of the cute things my kids said over the years.   From time to time, people share memories of things they did or said (some sweet - some...

Yesterday morning as I was opening a new bottle of coffee creamer, I decided it would be easier to push in the metal protective seal rather than peeling it off (this was not a great decision). As I pushed the metal to the edges, it became a weapon and my finger became...

Yesterday as I was thinking about what I might write about this morning on my blog, I kept thinking about the fact that many of us would be going back to work after a holiday break with our family. I wondered if many of us would be struggling with the early-morning...

Grief. We feel it when we lose someone we love, when we're betrayed by someone we trust, or when life is turned upside down by circumstances out of our own control. Grief hurts. Grief changes us. There's many other things grief can do.   Grief can overwhelms us,...

It's Thanksgiving Day 2013.I'm sitting on the floor in my childhood bedroom and lots of memories are dancing in my mind.  I rearranged this room probably 100 times as I grew up. I loved turning on music, cleaning every corner of this room,moving my bed and dressers to...

One of our cars broke down half an hour from home last night. Tim has to venture there today to figure out what's wrong.   My hair color dripped onto one of my most favorite t-shirts. (I knew I should have changed before starting this monthly project!)   A toilet...

Holding their scripts, the row of second graders prepared for their reader's theater performance. One girl, unable to contain her excitement, periodically hopped in place as she grinned ear to ear.   After a short discussion about using strong speaking volume and an...

Monday mornings can seem anything but exciting. Weekend events often leave us feeling a little tired, and sometimes the thought of another week of same old "same old" just isn't enough to kick us into high gear.   But.......   What if today is the day that something...

Tim and I decided to have a technology-free evening, order dinner out, turn on Christmas music, and dive into our attic in search of Christmas treasures. Five hours later, we sat down. We still have wreaths to hang outside and ornaments to add to trees, but I wanted...