No matter where you place your drop cloth, paint will fall on an area that is not covered. A painting project takes twice as much paint as you thought you would need and will be twice as challenging as you expected. Painters who plan to work in small closets or between built-in spaces should have…
Tag: About
My relationship with cake
Cake and I go way back. My mom made a cute elephant cake for my first birthday, using instructions from this 1959 edition book of Animal Cut-up Cakes. It was a nifty little book that showed what type of baking pans to use and how to cut the cakes into pieces and arrange them into…
Thoughts of Mom, from a 21-year-old daughter
I was reluctant to write this cheery blog, because I know that Mother’s Day brings pain to many. It is probably the day that is filled with the greatest emotional gut-punch. Although there are those of us whose mothers are still alive and who have secure and loving relationships with our mothers, there are also…
May baskets: the anonymous gifts
I lived most of my childhood in this home in a peaceful neighborhood in Minnesota where the mailman delivered letters to the box by the front door, the paper carrier gently placed the daily news inside the screen door, and a milkman brought glass bottles of milk to the doorstep. Maybe there was a hedgerow…
Housework is dangerous.
This morning as I wiped the dust off the top of my bedside table, I thought about how much I really don’t like dusting. Or mopping. Or scrubbing toilets. Or washing windows. Pretty much all housework. “Where does all this dust come from?” I asked myself, collecting a dust bunny from the floor with the…
Pulling pranks, but not on April 1
I had a mischievous side, but I don’t remember playing many April Fool’s tricks when I was growing up. I saved most of my better pranks for random, unexpected days… …like the time in Junior High when I organized my whole English class to slide our desks backwards a couple of inches every time the…
I don’t feel like a cancer survivor.
“Pick up a penny and look at the date on it, and then tell something you remember about that year.” The ice breaker prompt at a recent event led to stories about vacations, career changes, and other significant moments. The date on my penny was the year my oldest daughter got married, my youngest daughter…
Don’t step on the brake handle, and other car stories.
My first day behind the wheel of a car didn’t go very well. The driver’s ed. instructor told me to adjust the mirrors. Check. Buckle my seat belt. Check. Step on the emergency brake. Hmmm… I had no idea where to find the emergency brake, but I looked down and saw something at knee level…
Smack Attack: 16 observations about fantasy football
I’m hooked on fantasy football. This past season I named my team “Smack Attack” because even if I’m not the best at fantasy football, I can be great at smack talk. I play in a league with church friends, and our smack talk chat is not disparaging but generally consists of hyperbole, playful intimidation, and…
First a Nurse
Family Ministry wasn’t my first career. I earned my Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from St. Olaf College then worked as a Registered Nurse for fifteen years. My first nursing job was in my home town in Minnesota. I worked on a Labor/Delivery/Nursery unit, and it was exciting to help bring new life into…
Ms. Marcia's Mom-ologues 