I confess, my closet is not the tidiest. But all five of my kids were teenagers at about the same time. Nobody knows the closets I’ve seen. I remember deciding at one point that if any of the teens’ closets were going to get straightened out, I was going to have to be in on it. Then I think I probably went and got a tetanus shot. We started with Kaley’s. She was around 15. Being the word-minded person I am, I thought about the origin of the word “closet.” Isn’t it from the Greek, … [Read more...]
Rhonda Rhea: How do we get these words to fit?
I’m not sure I ever work as hard as I do when I’m trying to get rid of that extra little quarter-inch of poof from the last corner of a fitted sheet. That last little bitty poof! It’s called a “fitted” sheet, but seriously, how do you get this thing to actually fit? I’ve found myself checking the queen tag more than once to make sure it’s not a twin. The corners on big beds that are tight against a wall are the worst. I can wallow and wrestle for 20 minutes and still not get it … [Read more...]
Actively erupting good thinking
A lot of my friends have adopted a more active lifestyle and started new workout routines of late. When they all do it at once like that I’m usually shamed into joining them. This time, I’ve decided to do resistance training. Because nobody resists training like I do. People are always talking about how important it is to have a strong core. And even though I’ve heard from all different directions that I should exercise my core, I’m having a hard time getting past the fact that it sounds … [Read more...]
Season’s meatings and selfish fleshiness
You know how I can tell we’re approaching the Christmas season? I find myself thumbing through a catalog. A catalog. Of. Meat. Potted meat. Pickled meat. Fried and dried and – maybe even poached meat. That just takes us to about page five. Then there’s meat by the log. Meat in a bar. Meat on a stick. Meat in a jar. And okay, that might sound a little Dr. Seuess-y-cutesy, but I get halfway through the catalog and I have to tell you, I’m pretty much meated out. So here we are, heading … [Read more...]
Sometimes chocolate comes with the ‘Great Comforter’
Think chocolate is not the answer? Maybe you’re not asking the right questions. Okay, I do know chocolate is not really the answer to all the world’s problems. But it does sort of make a challenge a bit more palatable. Chocolate-coating our discomforts – couldn’t hurt, right? Sometimes chocolate is not only in my comfort zone, but chocolate is my comfort zone. Did you hear about the recent scientific study that determined 10 out of 9 people appreciate chocolate? It doesn’t matter so … [Read more...]
Things unseen: Faith to see through God’s eyes
We’ve been talking about getting an invisible fence for the dog. Then I got to thinking, wouldn’t it be cheaper to just get an invisible dog? Immediate reduction in food costs. And the yard cleanup? No comparison. If your invisible dog decides to use your sofa as a giant face towel, you’re not any worse off. Not to mention, taking your invisible dog to the imaginary vet could save a boatload of bucks. On the other hand, invisible dogs are not very effective when you try to blame them for … [Read more...]
Giving all – mind, body and brownies
My workout routine for today: stirred brownie batter. It was really thick brownie batter too. So thick I’m probably going to need a nap. Right after I eat this brownie. I was contemplating being out of shape the other day as I pulled out my new gym membership card. I should explain here that my new gym membership card isn’t nearly so much about my workout routine as it is my imagination. But I figure even if I don’t have an active lifestyle, at least I do have an active imagination. So … [Read more...]
Ultimate thrills: Life in Jesus’ power
Thrills. Different people find them in different ways, from different places, according to different personalities and various likes, dislikes and individual pain tolerances. Personally, I get a real charge from an all-day trip to the mall. I get a real “charge.” – Get it? … Never mind. Anyway, if you offered my husband a choice between going to the mall and being covered in poison ivy, you might as well go ahead and pass him the calamine. He said the other day—in a perfectly serious … [Read more...]
Choosy folks choose wisdom
Ice cream is beautiful. I don’t see any reason to scream for it, but I have no problem asking for it—even if I have to get a little loud. Every once in a while I just have to have something cold, creamy and beautifully calorically corrupt. The choice is never difficult. It’s got to be chocolate. But I remember when the kids were younger, sometimes the choosing was no small deal for them. There was one time in particular when Daniel was around 12, he took a good ten minutes to … [Read more...]
Be very careful because anger can sting
It was the wasp nest to end all wasp nests. Maybe it was the fruit punch the kids had spilled on the back deck that first attracted them. But by the time we followed the cloud of bugs to the back of the house – oh, my goodness – it was the biggest nest I’d ever seen. It was obvious these bugs had already finished an adjoining guest house and were beginning construction on the stables and tennis courts. I’ll just tell you flat out that anytime a nest is bigger than my head, I automatically … [Read more...]
O magnify and liquefy; drink living H2O
People say that to survive a volatile stock market you should have plenty of liquidity. That’s why I’m thinking about investing in water. When you’re investing in water stocks, I wonder if you get to decide whether to buy the hydrogen and oxygen together or separately. I don’t know, chemistry was never my thing. Knowing me, I’d mix up my formulas. A couple of extra dashes of oxygen and instead of H2O I could end up with something like H2O2. That might be a better investment stock-wise, but … [Read more...]
The details are a little Etch-a-Sketchy
I was working on a book in a wild fury. My fingers had been flying across the keyboard for the better part of an afternoon. I was in “the zone,” man. The zone is a very happy place for a writer to be—especially when a deadline is inching nearer. And by “inching” I actually mean barreling down like a locomotive. Procrastination, however, just seems to be my way. I think it’s because I work so much better with that good, panic-driven rush of adrenaline. I’m pretty sure I do my best writing … [Read more...]