Since we had to go to the grocery store today, I got Ben a balloon. Birthday dinner at Halfway Cafe. Eating popcorn. Presents in charming brown paper, reclaimed packaging from an Amazon box. Decorating with markers made it personalized wrapping...
Once, many years ago, I was this close to hopping on a plane to Japan. My ex-boyfriend had moved there to teach English and I really wanted to go visit him. It was only the news that his Japanese girlfriend was jealous and didn’t want me there...
A big news day in Rome. Today Pope Benedict XVI joined Pope Francis in consecrating the Vatican to St Michael: To the joy of Vatican City State workers, Friday morning Pope Francis was joined by Pope emeritus Benedict XVI in the gardens for a...
Anthony, who didn’t get to make a shield, was very pleased to be the first one to get a sword. The day after our field trip to the Higgins Armory Museum I made a few makeshift swords and daggers out of cardboard. They didn’t last long...
1. Lovable Lions? Funny how sometimes things all come together with almost impeccable timing. On Monday we read the dragon scene in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. And for the first time I was struck by a detail I don’t think I’d noticed...
1. Saturday we were listening to The Beatles’ Blackbird in the car while waiting for Dom to get coffee. It was the first time Bella had ever heard it. She was very excited and she said it reminded her of a book… then clarified. It...
1. Middlemarch and What We Mean When We Say Shame Works Having read Middlemarch last year, I was rather pleased to see this interesting take on the novel. And an interesting take on shame too. Two things separate these experiences of shame:...
