I went home last weekend – not my current home but the first place I ever knew as home – a little town in southern Arkansas called Stuttgart. I’d planned to make the trip with Jennifer, who I have been friends with since 5th grade. We were planning to attend a funeral for a dear family friend. Something came up at the last minute that prevented Jennifer from traveling, so Tom said he’d go with me instead. I was grateful for his company because heavy rain combined with the rhythmic hum of the interstate is enough to make any driver drowsy. But I perked up when we came within 10 miles of our destination. I hadn’t been back to my [...]

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A wonderful thing happened Sunday afternoon. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I’d carried my laptop to the sofa with every intention of working and trying to get a jump on the week’s long to-do list. But then I noticed Tom was pulling a blanket up to his chest and hitting the recline button on his chair – classic pre-nap moves I’ve seen him do a thousand times. Perhaps the mood was contagious because I convinced myself I’d just “rest my eyes” for a few minutes before I began work. I set my laptop aside, grabbed another blanket and spread it across my legs. But I shouldn’t have picked the big, fuzzy gray one, which has earned a reputation as “the narcolepsy blanket” [...]

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Last night I put three kids, two dogs and one highly annoyed cat into a small closet under the stairs in our house. Then Tom and I stood a few feet away by the television, glancing nervously out the windows while also watching the local weather report. Outside, tornado sirens blared a warning. While the TV meteorologist talked about the storm’s “rotation” and a possible funnel cloud spotting in the area, we stood ready to scramble into that storm closet with the kids and pets. The skies had grown dark and a driving rain mixed with small pieces of hail pelted the windows. Suddenly the weatherman went mute. His lips were moving but we heard nothing. A minute later, a [...]

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Last night was miserable – one of the longest I can remember. I made the mistake of thinking I could take an over-the-counter medicine that helps with allergy congestion before I went to bed. It worked great at helping me breathe but had the opposite effect on sleep. I spent the first hour in bed willing myself to fall asleep, but it didn’t work. So I shifted into problem-solving mode and tried different strategies. Here’s a record of how it went. Strategy No. 1: Change positions and get comfortable. I feel hot and reduce the number of blankets. I feel a chill and add back one of the blankets. I convince myself that once I get the combined weight of [...]

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The fall season gets a ton of attention around here. The leaves put on quite a colorful show before they drop off for winter – going out in a blaze of fiery reds, oranges and golden yellows. But as comedian Jim Gaffigan puts it, this awe-inducing display is part of a seasonal death march for the leaves, as the trees starve them of the chlorophyll that once made them green. It’s gorgeous and a tad depressing all at the same time. Maybe that’s why Spring is my favorite time of year here in the cul-de-sac where we live. Lately it looks like this place is dressing up for a summer garden party. With a flash of lavender and a pop [...]

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When I look around the house, I miss her. It’s been a few months now since she left, and this place is not the same. I met Diana at exactly the right time. I was almost nine months pregnant with our third child. In addition to the baby kicking around in my womb, there was also a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old kicking around the house, making messes wherever they went. I was in that early phase of motherhood when you foolishly believe being a “supermom” is an attainable goal. I was in a constant quest to keep the house clean – awkwardly bending over my pregnant belly to mop the kitchen floor or get Lego blocks off the rug. And [...]

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In our house, we have a doggie dynamic duo. Charlie, who is a rescued mixed breed of beagle and Italian greyhound, is part sighthound and part scent hound. Cooper (the Corgi) is a herding dog. As far as life philosophies go, they couldn’t be more different. Charlie’s personal mantra is this: “Dash out any open door and run wherever thy nose doth lead you. When the squirrel scampers up a tree, stand at the base of the tree and loudly bellow up at it to express your frustration. The neighbors love that.” Cooper, on the other hand, takes his job as C.F.H. (Chief Family Herder) extremely seriously. His mantra is this: “I shall stay with my human sheep. The sheep [...]

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Twelve years ago, I sat down at this keyboard and wrote a column about the day Tom and I took our son to his first day of Kindergarten. And here I am back at the same keyboard typing up a report on an entirely different first – that former Kindergartner’s first college visit. Judging by what I’ve heard and read, visiting colleges during your junior year of high school is a little like academic speed dating. You spend a couple of hours on each college campus sizing it up and asking questions. Then you decide if you can envision yourself spending four years with that college. Not only is this process new for our 17-year-old son, it’s new for us, [...]

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Friends, today is a good day – one I’m especially grateful for as I emerge from a three-day virus that reminded me how quickly a germ can reduce a person to a miserable blob of mucus, praying for relief. This particular germ has become a frequent flyer at our house lately. In our five-person family, I was the fourth to fall victim to it. Our 17-year-old is the only one thus far to escape its wrath, and I’m pretty sure he’s safe because not even a virus wants to mess around with a moody teenager. Like most viral illnesses, this one came on suddenly and began with what felt like a mild burn in the back of my throat – [...]

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When we went to bed last night, we didn’t think it would happen. We prepared the kids for the cold Monday morning school day that likely awaited them. But then shortly after 5 a.m., phones across our great land pinged with the most glorious of text messages: SNOW DAY! Our oldest son was the first to see the text and promptly made the rounds to the rest of our bedrooms to share the joyous news, which was met with a groggy grunt and then an “Awesome” followed by a roll-over to resume sleep. Clearly, the Lord had heard the urgent prayers of kids across the tri-county area and granted what may be our only snow day of the year. With [...]

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