7. Have drinks with umbrellas...

I have to admit, my blog has been gathering a bit of dust lately. I haven't been as diligent as I should be -- my writing energies have been focused elsewhere...

I love spring and its perfect weather, not too hot but not cold either. Just right for kicking back and finishing that book you've been reading. I have just a few more pages of Catcher in the Rye that I decided to re-read after J.D. Salinger's passing...

It took me back to my young self when it made such an impression on me. It's also a favorite of Husband's. Teen angst, class distinctions, unaware parents, rebellion, depression, sadness -- it's got everything a young person could ask for...

When I was a young girl, far-off relatives would send the family a fruitcake every year before Christmas, and every year it would sit in the middle of the dining room table untouched. In moments of desparation, I'd try to carefully extract the tiny bits of cake from the surrounding fruit and nuts only to end up frustrated, cursing it. But maybe a fruitcake is more than just a fruitcake...

Charlie, our middle schooler, brought home "Diary of a Wimpy Kid, a novel in cartoons" by Jeff Kinney the other day. I don't think I've ever seen him laugh so much at one book. Silly, gleeful laughter. But, many parents don't like this series. Why..?

Some of you sharp people out there have figured out that for the past few weeks, StoryRhyme.com has been putting up a picture of the week on the front page of our site. Husband scrolls through his collection and picks one that strikes his fancy. We'll see what the coming weeks will bring...

Yesterday, my mother-in-law was put under anesthesia and this robot removed the upper lobe of her left lung....

Fall feels like the possibility that something new and exciting is about to happen. There's something in the air. Even the color of the light is a little different. To make sense of this...

Somewhere along the line, a paradigm shift occurred in party giving from the old model of games, party hats, cake, and presents to throwing up a bouncer in the backyard (or the front -- ugh) and leaving the kids to fend for themselves while the adults sit around talking...

Update: The roof was raised (while I bit my nails nervously) and the rest project proceeded without incident until Husband injured himself (twice) on the final day of the build...

Monday, August 10, 2009 • This morning, I sat on the newly-installed floor and read the morning paper while Charlie counted the bumblebees making their way to the Angel Trumpets. The breeze was cool and lovely.  Charlie told me about the falcon he'd spotted a few minutes before...

We see the couple starting off as newlyweds and watched them age before our eyes. I thought of my own marriage and growing old with Husband...

Ash has fond memories of growing up with sugar cane everywhere. Sugar, theirs for the taking, all they had to do was cut it open (carefully avoiding the outer stalks with their razor-sharp edges)...

I was going to title this story "Big Dog and Little Dog" until Charlie, resident Captain Underpants scholar and expert, informed me that that was the title of a line of Dav Pilkey books. Well, live and learn...

Patience is a virtue when it comes to thrift store shopping, and as the Stones say, "You can't always get what you want." I have to say, though, we've been pretty lucky. We have great memories of great finds at the now-defunct BargainTown, including a two-foot tall authentic (made in Japan) Godzilla action figure...

A few days ago, Chance was doing some serious barking in the backyard. I thought maybe there were men working in the trees (the phone company), so I went out, only to find him, full of righteous indignation, barking at a jet that was leaving behind a very long contrail...

Once again we celebrated with family and friends at our annual Christmas party. Children and adults decorated ornaments, cookies, and a gingerbead house (which Husband had assembled the night before using brute determination)...

Growing up, part of our family tradition was going out every year to pick out a tree with Dad. I've kept up the tradition of fresh-cut trees until just two years ago. Lazy? Maybe a little. Now we have a beautiful (okay, well, it’s fine) artificial tree. All we need is a little pine air freshener and we're set.

Go on, vote. The poll’s right over there in the right sidebar...

Oh and if you have the time, share a Christmas Tree story..!

This holiday, take a deep breath and relax with some of our very own StoryRhyme.com helpful hints. Here's number 9: Don't serve that greenbean casserole with the canned mushrooms and shoestring onions because it's just gross...

First of all, we're way too cool for this catalog (or so I thought), yet it comes anyway...

Charlie made decorations and signs for everything including a "Chamber of Secrets" sign that he put on the toilet tank; a "Leaky Cauldron" sign for the kitchen; and a "Platform 9 3/4" sign that we hung at the front door to welcome guests. Our Chamber of Secrets and Leaky Cauldron signs remain to this day...

Yesterday, Charlie came home from school in a whirl of excitement, clutching a cardboard box. No one knew what happened to the poor thing, but Charlie, who has a reputation for being an animal saver, was sought out for his expertise...