Who's cooking with rosemary this Thanksgiving?  A few springs in your turkey will flavor both your bird and your gravy, and some dried leaves in the stuffing pair perfectly with sausage and onion. Yummy!

Every time I cut a small branch or rosemary from my yard I think of Ophelia's grief laden seliloque in Hamlet (Act IV; scene V) where she says,  "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance."  And in early Greek traditions, students wore wreaths of rosemary on ex...

I remember the day that just the right definition of a word popped out of my mouth.  We had hiked up and were now atop a nearby hill, overlooking a valley on the one side and the Ocean far off to the other.  The sun was about to set and the sky, which had been cloudy and overcast now reflected the colors of the setting sun in a brilliant display that stretched from one end of our visible creation to the other.  Magnificent!  The boys all gathered round and I said, "Praise ...

I've read multiple good parenting books now that teach the glorious and effective "Uh-oh."  Especially useful for a talker, like me, who tends to lecture over every little wrong my children commit, the "Uh-oh" let's them know that you know they've made a poor choice.  It's also the sound that naturally comes out when we make a mistake, and so it reminds me that mistakes happen.  And it sounds so much nicer and more Gracious than, "how many times have I told you..."

The first time I remember waking up

in the night was in the winter time

when I was about six.  Papa had sent

the tobacco crop to Louisville

to be sold, and we sat by the fire

I love Merle's old Country anthem, Mama Tried.  

Last week Matt took me to Vegas to see Garth Brooks in concert.   Now Haggard and Jones were two of Garth's Daddy's favorite singers, so their themes and styles were part of his earliest inspiration.  And when he belted out Mama Tried, for the sweet pleasure of the old-school country lovers in the theatre, you can bet I sang along.

I've joked with friends about my psychological condition I've finally labeled, "Homeschool Envy."  Recently, however, it's become quiet intense.  Not only do many of my dearest friends homeschool their children, but most of my on-line mentors educate their children at home as well.  But the deepest pull is that three years ago I felt God ask me if I would be willing to homeschool... it was a long road before I said, "Yes."  And then a number of things...

It's Tuesday, or Gratituesday as I've come to know it.  Ironically Tuesday is the toughest day of the week for me to practice a Grateful Spirit because it's Laundry Day for this Mama.  

Knowing Laundry day is a challenge for me I have two things hung above my washing machine to keep me moving when I'd rather let the laundry sit in heaps.  The first is a darling sign my Mother bought for me ...

Last night my husband and I went to a fundraising event in San Francisco for the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation. As we mingled with courageous Lung Cancer survivors, the Bay Area's most generous donors, and some of the greatest minds in Oncology today, a beautiful young lady walked up to us wearing a stunning Diamond Pendant.  She pulled her long blond hair back behind her ears, in pure Vanna White fashion and ...