For those of us who celebrate Christmas, we’re into the final mad rush of preparations. Most of my shopping and wrapping is done. Teenage boys mostly want new clothing and sports gear. Easy. And not that I’m complaining, but what was with all the free shipping this year? Did LL Bean and Amazon just tack $10 [...]
Close family friends, the Fryers, were with us on Christmas Day. Although the addition of Jim and Sam meant another two guys in the house, with Laura and daughter Jane and Sam’s girlfriend Becca here, we females were actually a force to be reckoned with. And I could wrap up girly things like lip gloss and cute books in angel [...]
At this time of year, we all make choices. Which will it be? Paperwhites, or poinsettias? I’m a paperwhite person, myself. I buy the bulbs around Thanksgiving and pot them in random pieces of crockery that have accumulated from yard sales and such. But I know not to give one to my friend Carol, because she [...]
Imagine the entire world has come to a standstill. The streets are deserted; the stores are closed; it is eerily quiet in the middle of the day. Nobody is around – except for your family, who wanders the earth aimlessly, looking for signs of life. Yes, we are talking about the latest M. Night Shyamalan [...]
On Christmas Eve, my sons made cookies, my brother Jim made apple pie, and my dad made two pumpkin pies. They even make the crust from scratch. Chris and Ian, who are also frequently found in the kitchen, were off doing something else. For a week, I am truly outnumbered in this house by a [...]
My father receives a Christmas letter every December from an elderly English couple he and my mom met back in the 1960s. Written entirely without irony, every missive mentions not only the exciting events, but also the major maladies and trivial calamities of the previous year. The tone reminds me of the doleful Eeyore, who was also English, before [...]
My Grandpa John was born in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin in 1898. This was his baby shoe. Pretty fancy and impractical, huh? When my Grandpa was an adolescent, his older brother George, a very promising and brilliant young man, fell from a racing ice boat, hit his head on the frozen lake, and died. It was [...]
There comes a time in every Jewish parent’s life when your children ask you if they can become Christian. Just this once? Pleeeeeeeeeease? I had this conversation with Noah over the weekend. Noah: Mom, do you think one year we could do the whole Christmas thing? Me: Do you mean like doing the Jesus thing? [...]
‘Tis the season to wrack my brains for holiday gifts ideas. When it comes to giving that perfect something to that perfect someone, I am neither creative nor crafty which makes me feel rather inferior to the bakers, scrapbookers, knitters, basket weavers and photogs. A fair warning to my future friends and loved ones: You [...]
