We lost our beloved cat - Baily - our beautiful Himalayan on New Year's Eve. Baily was my husband's cat - when we decided to share a home together, his two cats came with us.  Lucas, the white Persian, left us two months after Ava was born.Baily celebrated his 14th birthday in December, and 2 … Continue reading A Time for Goodbye

My kids fight.  I mean, they fight a LOT.  I used to worry that something must be wrong with them, or that maybe something was wrong with me.  Eight years in the Mom's Club did little to change that - it seemed most of our children, content to play with other children, seldom fought with … Continue reading What’s All the Fighting About?

This year - a new year, a new decade, and the promise of good things to come - I have decided to declare my personal goals for 2011.I will continue to seek out Joy wherever, and whenever,  I can.  And show my children how to find it too.I will do my best to give back … Continue reading Resolutions

Don't spend too much time wrapping kids' presents - they will undo your perfection in less than 10 minutes.Forget the expensive $15 toy for the dog - chewed to bits in minutes, all for the two balls inside.  Most expensive tennis balls, ever.Beware grandparents carrying very large presents.Don't go cold turkey on medication 3 days … Continue reading What I Learned This Christmas

Contains mature material, those offended by foul or vulgar language, stop here.My daughter is a class act.  And if our children really are a reflection of ourselves, I think I'd better take a long look at myself in the mirror again.  And pray.I have a tendency to be short-tempered; Ava has a reputation for being short-tempered.  My … Continue reading Did She Really Say THAT??

So what else happens when we have that revelation of our true age?  Like Al Bundy reminiscing about his high school football days, many of us still remember all too well our glory days.  Football, baseball, wrestling, hockey, cheerleading... or just walking from the car to the front door.My husband played the Big 33 in high … Continue reading My New Drug

Awakening... to a new day. And Authority, to live life on my terms.Beaches.  Sunlight or sunset, by the ocean, with the one I love.Children... mine.  And, well, yours too.  Chocolate.Dancing... anytime, anywhere.  (see M)Exercise and physical fitness.  Easy-going people/attitudes.Friends.  Good friends, great friends, old friends, new friends.God.  A relationship with and respect for Him ensures … Continue reading The ABC’s of J-O-Y

My hands are starting to look more and more like my mother's.  It recently occurred to me that those little freckles on my hands might not be freckles at all.  Oh the horror!I looked at myself in the mirror this morning and was shocked to see a 40-something woman staring back at me.  This happens … Continue reading Changes

We made it!  We made it!  We made it to Week 9 and haven't killed each other yet.  Oh school week 9, oh school week 9,Oh how I love you, school week 9. I never thought I'd see the day, I really thought there'd be no way.Oh school week 9, oh school week 9, How good to see it's … Continue reading Trials and tribulations