(Alternate title: missing Michele while sipping chai latte at the Forks)With the temperatures hovering around -40 Celsius (with the windchild factor) at least the ice castle won't melt.(I took the day off to go with Maddie on her field trip to the Children's Museum...

I want:- Sand between my toes- A hot bath- A break from being a leader- A good hair day- A little less self-doubt- A respite from the cold- A new pair of shoes- An empty in-box- A resolution for a tough problem- An hour in a bookstore- Hands that don’t feel like...

We've had quite a bit of snow around here and WAY too much cold. The snow is pretty, but the cold? GRRRRrrrr!!! Life goes on, though - we still have to go to work, school, soccer practices, etc. We're hardy folks and we've got a snow-clearing system that's built up so...

It's been an oddly quiet holiday season this year. Though we had larger family celebrations before and after, the three normally bustling days (Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Eve) were spent quietly at home with just our little nuclear family. It's been...

I like going to a church where the youth can do a series of silly Christmas pageants where Mary gets to speak in hip-hop and sing opera, all while holding a black baby Jesus. After all those years of lily-white Caucasian babies in the manger, we could stand a few more...

When I read this piece about the abduction of Zimbabwean human rights defender Jestina Mukoko, my eyes filled with tears. I don't know her, but I wish I did. I want to know bold people who are willing to risk their lives for the sake of peace. I want to be inspired by...

Christmas concert last night. (Well, "winter concert", actually.) A normal mom would have figured out a week ahead of time what each child was wearing, whether those clothes were clean, whether there were tights to match the dress, and whether the right shoe could be...

Happy Holidays. Merry Christmas. The pressure is on to be happy, merry, and bright. Shiny happy people all lined up in front of a sparkling Christmas tree.One of my sisters-in-law is coping with the reality of a mother suddenly hospitalized with lots of pain and talk...