Eli is my seven-year-old nephew. Eli is a fantastic kid, mind-blowing in intellect and often infuriating in adventure. He is intensely curious about the world around him and has very little impulse control. As such, there is nothing I adore more than hearing my sister-in-law Lindsay’s rundowns of his daily pursuits. Last week, those episodes […]
Tonsillectomy: The Procedure.
When I first posted about my upcoming tonsillectomy, I was shocked at how many of you also had experienced this lovely procedure as adults. My second shock was how many thought it was the worst thing that ever happened to them. This was not exactly, shall we say, encouraging. But I appreciated the heads up […]
On Disagreements and Marriage.
It’s been fourteen years, celebrated by a trip to Savannah last weekend. Fourteen years happened to mark the time period where our perceived age and length of marriage crossed over a precipice together: after asking how long we’d been married, everyone looked at us like we were lying and/or possibly the victims of an arranged […]
The Runaway Incident.
My parents have what we often refer to as Grandkid Heaven. Right around the time that Chris and I started dating, they went in with three other families and bought 70 acres of land 20 minutes out of town. It was the cheapest land anyone could buy, because it was completely unreachable – a mountain […]
Wal-Mart’s Revenge.
Sam’s Club. Despite my feelings toward his mother Wal-Mart that I shared without reserve last week, I’ve always found Sam to be a delightful fellow. Big quantities, cheap prices, more locations than Costco, adorable little old ladies handing out samples… Actually that last point is starting to change. Because my third to last visit brought […]
People of Wal-Mart: The Live Show.
Wal-Mart. I’d rather dance through a hunting reserve in a deer costume than go to Wal-Mart. Ever. There’s just something about the atmosphere there that immediately stresses me out – I’m pretty sure God removed His presence from all Wal-Marts many years ago after one too many scary human sightings. No matter how little I […]
The Summer of June Bugs.
As Chris and I sat on the lawn of Gorham’s Bluff basking in the wonders it possessed, we noticed an impressive bug convention going on around us. Chris watched them reservedly and said “Are these ground bees or something?” I stared down at them, waiting for one to do a fly-by for me to identify, […]
The Gravity of Granting Permission.
I’m not one to write a post for a particular day such as Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas, and especially not Father’s or Mother’s Day. I don’t even acknowledge it on Facebook or change my profile picture to include the appropriate parent. I know – I‘m a social media pariah. I get my cynical anti-bandwagon genetic […]
The Perils of Sunset Chasing.
So the sunset betrayed me last week. Birmingham isn’t an easy city to photograph – we have hills and trees and trees and hills. BUT. The downtown area is in a basin. So if you can get above it in any way, it’s MAGNIFICENT. Besides the mountain ranges on the south and east sides, there […]
Three Teeth and a Babysitter.
Upon the loss of one’s eldest child’s first tooth, parental discussion has to take place. Are we going to do the Tooth Fairy thing? How far does our willingness to “Fairy It Up” go? How much does the Tooth Fairy pay for teeth these days? We agreed that yes, we would do the Tooth Fairy, […]