My Sunday morning today was the epitome of a vanilla suburban life. I hopped in my station wagon and hit Starbuck’s on my way to church. A venti iced coffee to power me through a four hour morning at work. I mocked myself as I pulled into a parking spot. I live in a snappy …

My life is riddled with moments when I wish I was considerably cooler, smarter, wiser and more thoughtful than I actually am. I long for eloquent sounding words to tumble from my mouth on a regular basis. I wish my book shelves were stacked with the likes of Victor Hugo, Charles Dickens, and James Fenimore …

Oh a New Year. . . . time to make all sorts of harrowing vows and promises. Time to eat less, drink less and somehow still be merry. Time to own the flabby holiday poundage by exiting my elastic waist yoga pants and running again. Time to give more, spend less, not speed or curse …

My son, a big time First Grader has come home every day this past week with a pile of patriotic papers. An American Flag sheet, a map of the US, a poem on loving his country to be memorized by Friday, an invitation to join the Boy Scouts. And in general, I’ve no problem with …

Church attendance in the US is on a downslope. As a churchgoing gal I hear reports and see the squirms of pastors and friends who recognize that folks just don’t wake up on a Sunday morning the way they once did. Researchers like George Barna point out that while church growth happens, in most cases …

My father-in-law served in Vietnam. He has three purple hearts and a wild streak of patriotism to prove it. He is awesome (and no, I am not just kissing up to gain favor at the dinner table). Three purple hearts, scars all over his legs and some hard stories. One that includes leaving a fiancee …

I love the clerks in my local grocery store. The same women scan and weigh and slide my yogurt and tortilla chips every week. At first they appear pretty gruff and I confess to wondering if they love or hate me and my type, us food-eating, grocery store shopping types. I am fairly certain we …

I feel like I am drowning in stuff. Stuff to mail. Stuff to do. Stuff to email. Stuff to think about. Stuff all over my house. As I type, my kitchen counter is piled high with canvas bags, a granola bar, Kiwis, coffee, mail, my purse, a bag of moldy tortilla shells, the garage door …

It is dreary and rainy where I live today. Cold too, a ripe 47 degrees. This should mean shear misery for my little soul that has been longing for spring. It should make me mopey and jealous of the calendar days that play out as they should this time of year, high 60′s and sunny. …

You would think that surviving middle school and high school would serve as sufficient penance for our stupidity and errors in life. Navigating socially awkward moments, bad hair days, PE class, first kisses and the eternal fear of being judged by one’s peers should do the trick and turn us all into fully competent and …