Category: Blog

  • Turning Outlaws into In-Laws

    Turning Outlaws into In-Laws

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    Saying “I do” doesn’t immediately make you family.   Turning outlaws into in-laws isn’t easy, because marrying into a family and joining a family are two different things. Marriage is a moment, but joining is a journey. I’ve witnessed this phenomenon in our own family as the nieces and nephews begin to tie the knot.…

  • Learning to Paint in the Blank Spots

    Learning to Paint in the Blank Spots

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    Lessons gleaned from preschoolers learning to paint “This is Ben,” said the teacher. “He is learning to paint in the blank spots on the page.”   I looked at the paint-smocked preschooler, who stood in front of the easel holding a color-laden brush. In the center of his paper was a cloud of at least…

  • Failure to Negotiate

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    Too Chicken to Haggle Over Chickens The root of most marital arguments is failure to communicate. In my marriage, it’s failure to negotiate. That’s because I married a man with the soul of a horse trader, while I possess the heart of a chicken. He relishes negotiating the numbers, but I abhor haggling. Our most…

  • Sweating the Small Stuff

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    Sometimes it’s the little things that get you I’ve always thought of myself as a flexible person, one who goes with the flow, and doesn’t sweat the small stuff. Apparently, I am delusional. Because some small stuff really does make me sweat.   Here’s the list of my top five: #1 – Unmade beds With…

  • Playing Possum and Other Myths of the Animal Kingdom

    Playing Possum and Other Myths of the Animal Kingdom

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    Playing possum isn’t playing at all I saw an opossum in the road the other day, but didn’t know if it was dead or just “playing possum.” When I drove by the following day and saw it holding the same pose, I knew it wasn’t practicing its thespian skills. Playing possum does not work if…

  • Like the Back of My Hand

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    How well do you really know the back of your hand? I know a lot of things about my husband after 31 years of marriage. You might say I know him like the back of my hand. But apparently, one thing I don’t know about him is actually… the back of his hand.   We…