Monthly Archives

in December 2014

11 Reasons Why Winter is Not All Woe

Brian Williams' puppy-dog eyebrows furrow further as as the mercury plunges. He announces the arrival of winter in apocalyptic, gloom-and-doom tones on the evening news. You'd think we're all stuck in a permanent Fargo. Winter, I believe, has an unfairly bad rap. Admittedly, I'm spoiled by living in a snow-shovel-free zone of the Pacific Northwest, so the list is ...

Making Space for Christ

It's been stuck in my head. Like a line from a song. Oh, wait. It is a line from a song. One that probably topped the charts a little while ago. It's a line from the beloved Christmas hymn, 'Joy to the World.' It's a song of triumph and celebration. It lifts your spirit. And it's just so... joyful (yeah, super ...

So, about the Common Core…

Everyone’s griping about near impossible Common Core curriculum. In some circles, the term has become a choice expletive. You hear harassed moms shaking their fists and venomously muttering the phrase under their breath. In my limited experience,  it should probably be renamed “63 Inane Ways of Doing Simple Addition” curriculum. Sometimes the curriculum dictates that my first grader to do ...

Free, Fab, FOB Christmas Art Project

If you told me last week I'd be blogging about an art project created by moi, I would have snickered. I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, crafty (neither in the conniving sense, nor like a sweet, old lady with knitting needles) But when you combine the need to make your fireplace mantle look Christmasy with the budget of ...

Aaarrgghh!

Dear Mr Woodpecker, I'm known to be a soft-spoken, friendly person. Ask anyone - except my kids and my immediate family - and they'll tell you that I'm patient, even mellow. But you are revealing a rather sinister and scarily violent side of my personality. I kinda want to punch your beak. Don't start calling your lawyer ...

An Unlikely Example

Leaf through the Bible and you'll meet some amazing women of faith. Just think of one familiar Biblical name, Mary,  and three examples of virtue, courage and faithfulness come to mind. But it's one of the Old Testament's less-venerated heroines - or possibly anti-heroines - who has been on my mind recently. Hagar, the Egyptian slave girl, is an unlikely ...
MEET SUSAN

I love words. But you probably figured that out by now, considering this website essentially collates my words on the web. Read More…