A Mindful Life

Happy New Year!

Claire chose snack for Santa, and even a snack for the reindeer (particularly Rudolph). Next is a bath, and then bedtime. Tomorrow is a big day! Happy Christmas Eve to all.

I woke up with no voice today. Had a sore throat yesterday. My husband is insisting I not speak. Do you know what a challenge it is to parent a child and communicate with her and Husband without a voice? Anytime I use my voice, Husband gets very annoyed with me. He says I need [...]

The conception of two people living together for twenty-five years without having a cross word suggests a lack of spirit only to be admired in sheep. –Alan Patrick Herbert

Claire has a little bank — a squirrel — that we put coins into. Any time we find a coin on the sidewalk, or whenever a relative sends a dollar bill in a card, the money goes into the bank. The other day, I told her there are people who don’t have any food to [...]

Happiness abounds in the ordinary. Of course, it helps to have a good night’s sleep.

I NEED TO KNOW, she wrote, using capital letters for emphasis. ARE YOU SANTA? TELL ME THE TRUTH. What do you do when your kid asks for the truth? You tell it, of course, doing your best to figure out a way that keeps at least some of the magic intact. –The Truth About Santa [...]

This lap robe is about 2000 yards of wool yarn. Very cozy. I just finished it this morning.

On this gray, rainy day, I decided to play a little with the camera. The Christmas tree is an important feature in my holiday traditions. It’s the centerpiece of our celebration. I have more ornaments than I can put on our tree, so each year I get to choose which ones I’d like to enjoy. [...]

In the spirit of incorporating my Husband’s family traditions as well as mine, I tried a new recipe. He grew up making thumbprint cookies with apricot jam, orange marmalade, and mint jelly. Not having those on hand, I used grape jam. Claire didn’t actually help this year, but when she’s older I’ll have her do [...]