The cold makes me tired. Yesterday, Chance the Dog was more than happy to take a winter's nap with me. Sleeping is one of his favorites and he's more than happy to have a nap buddy... Read More...

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)...

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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..!

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StoryRhyme.com, your source for all sorts of interesting facts and tidbits. Tune in next week as we celebrate the accomplishments of Millard Fillmore...
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Suddenly I hear shooting and two dogs run off. My neighbor Raul has come out with BB gun blazing... Read More...

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...

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Southern California has been burning the last two days. There are fires all around us, the air is thick and as I look outside, the sky has cast an ominous orange glow over the backyard... Read More...

I think I'm getting to be an old hand at this dyeing stuff. Well, I have done it twice now. Go to the drugstore with the top of the old box (very clever). Husband suggests I go lighter this time (to replicate Michael's results). Sound advice; right (from a guy who goes to SuperCuts)..? Read More...

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

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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...

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Autumn's here, which means it was time to get the Halloween box down from the garage shelves. Charlie's now tall enough to do this himself (growing like a weed), and immediately started pulling out old costumes. Before I knew it, we had a space alien visiting. Charlie takes Halloween very seriously and has been known to wear his costume around the house for a week...

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I made a dogfood cake and gave the dogs individual treats. We attempted to put party hats on them (except for K.C. who was a nasty little thing), and took pictures. What good are dogs if you can't put hats on them once in a while for your own enjoyment..?

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Intuitively I know that change can be a good thing, but for me, change often falls into the category of it's good for you, like eating your vegetables or cutting donuts out of your diet. Not always the most fun; sometimes a challenge. Fifteen years of doing one thing one way are now at an end... Read More...

We tie-dyed about 30 shirts throughout the evening; and, of course, all the adults were the first in line. A couple of Charlie's friends came over in their new far-out tie-dyed shirts today and they looked, well, groovy... Read More...

I feel like such a heel. His friends will all be starting school (right at the end of our street) next week, without him. Today he's blazing a new trail on his own... Read More...

Shag carpets, swag lamps, fake wood paneling, macrame belts, and leisure suits with white shoes. Billy Beer. This unique time seemed to spawn some really bad music... Read More...

In upper 90s weather, with full sun, no shade in sight, we grab pieces of rock and break them open with our little hammers looking for anything interesting. I sat there and hummed "Breaking rocks in the hot sun, I fought the law and the law won..." Read More...

First Husband, then Charlie, then me. And I've had it the worst... Read More...

Last night, my '80s mix tape as wished for on this very blog was placed into my hands. What should I wish for next? A winning lottery ticket? World peace..?

The other day, an interesting person out there found StoryRhyme.com using this search query: "How to Make an Elephant Trunk for a Dog." Well, as you all can imagine, this sent me over the moon. I am very easily amused and entertained... Read More...

The little tyke sitting in front of us performed gravity-defying mid-air somersaults. He did not have a trampoline, but was propelled by sheer youthful exuberance. It was, um, "fun" to see how close he could get without actually crashing into us... Read More...

When I woke up this morning and staggered out to the kitchen to make the day's first pot of coffee, I noticed that Husband had, the night before, lovingly cleaned and polished our little coffee maker. This is an elaborate process... Read More...

It's been so many years since I've read it, I'd forgotten so much. I've seen the movies (which were amazing), and didn't remember how different they were from the books. For instance, Tom Bombadil. I'd forgotten completely about him. Just what is he, we wondered? A quick Internet search of "Tom Bombadil" gave me over half a million entries...
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A while back, my mother-in-law gave Charlie a dry erase board (complete with AARP logo) -- magnetic -- so, of course, it ended up on the fridge, which is almost covered, but there are still a few inches of white space left. Very few. My favorite piece of fridge art right now is Charlie's picture of a monster Hello Kitty drawn in the style of King Kong or Godzilla, towering over destroyed skyscrapers and swatting at airplanes, using his (her?) heat ray eyes to destroy a passing helicopter. The tanks have no effect on him... Read More...

I live with cavemen, I really do. Now, they're charming cavemen. The ladies love them, and they're very polite, but around the house, they really regress back to the ol' cave. My dog is a cave dog. His shedding has been in overdrive lately and I could fill at least one pillow each day with his cast-off cave dog hair...
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When Husband and I were prepping for Charlie to start school, we didn't think the school itself mattered as much as the parent-child involvement. While the aforementioned is certainly key, the other night, I felt a twinge of regret as I watched my sister-in-law doing some last-minute sewing. She was making a tiger for her classroom production... Read More...

At this point she raises her eyebrows, not expecting to hear this coming from the mouth of a 10-year-old. She then asks, "Do you have your pee-pee cup..?" Read More...

By comparison to Eli, Chance is a complete slacker. While Eli would patrol the yard constantly, Chance merely pokes his head out the dog door to see if it's worth his trouble to go out (and for Chance, it's usually not). We discovered that dogs, like children, are their own unique individuals. Eli lived to please us and couldn't bear to be scolded. Reprimands roll off Chance's back like water... Read More...

When the moment came to release Swingset (who, coincidentally, was ready to be released on Earth Day; who knew?). I have to admit to feeling a little twinge. Oh, wait. I'm anthropomorphizing... Read More...

Happy Earth Day, everyone. Last year, Charlie and Husband made their own "hot" composter. Husband recently went into farmer mode and potted some heirloom tomato plants that our friend Bruce gave us, raised from his own seed stock. He's using our compost to feed the plants and they're very happy... Read More...

I know, we're wimps. Husband insists he's had enough from his scouting days to last him a lifetime... Read More...

He walks up to us as if he's about to deliver some important pronouncement and -- burps... Read More...

Just how are we serving our children by turning them into unimaginative automatons? Who will be our future artists, musicians and inventors, not to mention the great scientific minds..? Read More...

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...

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He was a little nervous about going to school the next day and wondered about the reaction he'd get from his schoolmates... Read More...

There he was inside his homemade cardboard spaceship with his astronaut helmet on. In another picture he wore his pith helmet with vest full of tools -- insect net, magnifying glass, and compass... Read More...

As much as I implore him to come in, he refuses, holding his ground. The object of his ire..? Read More...

We have children. We love them; we teach them; we enjoy them. But only for a few years... Read More...

Happy Birthday, Mary! My super sister. A humble country veterinarian who runs her practice with her husband veterinarian... Read More...

At last, Charlie received his ants in the mail today for his Uncle Milton's Ant Farm... Read More...

Last night in bed, I heard the familiar gnawing of a rat in the attic. Here we go again. Read More...

Okay, I'm really questioning my hair judgment at this point. Refer back to first post (mousy hair). Read More...

One day, about five years ago, Husband filled out a form online to receive a free one-year subscription to "Time Magazine." No strings attached (yeah, right). Sounds great; right? Read More...

Have just finished painting our master bedroom and am happy at last. Major undertaking (for me at least)...

Got a bad haircut today. I miss Michael. He cut my hair for years. He moved to the desert a few months ago. Against my better judgement, out of desperation, I went to one of those chain salons... Read More...

The other day we went to the lake, my son (Charlie) wanted to look for new pets to bring home. To backtrack, when he was just a little guy, about four years old, we went to the same lake and he found a freshwater clam... Read More...

Biting my nails. Court reporting (my day job that pays the bills) has slowed down to a crawl. Shout out to all the deposition reporters out there. What's going on..?

The house wine is not bad. Read More...

13. I still haven't mastered our universal remote control.
20. Have never had a manicure.
45. Have learned to love ABBA. Read More...