WHAT IS THAT?! The bumps on the backs on my arms.

For much of my life I had a weird and unsightly rash on the backs of both my arms.  It wasn’t itchy and it never hurt, but it looked awful.  This strange rash ran from roughly my elbow to my armpits and had the appearance of small raised bumps.  Running your hand along the underside of my arms you could feel them and you definitely could see them.  People would often ask what it was and whether it was catchy.

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Home Ec Goes High Tech

A week ago my younger daughter brought home a permission slip from school.  Her Family and Consumer Science class (FACS), the modern-day equivalent of Home Ec, was offering a take-home activity for interested students.  The chance to have a baby!  Not a real one, of course, this would be pretend.  But unlike the flour sacks or eggs of yore, these kids would be getting something better.  A 21st century SIM BABY!

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Three Things I Love About My House.

You know how it feels when you’re falling in love?  At first, it’s all hot and heavy and you can hardly think of anything but being with the other person.  You live them, breathe them, you almost want to EAT them!  But things eventually steady.  The boil, though still burning, simmers down and you start to see stuff you hadn’t seen before.  And often it’s these subtleties that’ll either END IT or enchant you all the more.

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When Life Hands You Parakeets…

A month ago, a dear friend asked whether I’d be interested in helping her out.  Her sister, working at a summer camp in Massachusetts, had found a lost parakeet down by the pool.  She’d tried locating its owner for weeks, to no avail, and was trying to re-home it.  My friend was visiting her at the camp for a few days and had immediately thought of me.  She sent a picture of the parakeet and – NO PRESSURE!!! – but I’d get first dibs if I *was* interested.

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