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Live on Purpose
I was in a truck with a pathetic excuse for a heater. It was one of the coldest nights of the year so far. My husband was driving…with the window down! We were traveling back in the mountains on snowy roads. He had an old sleeping bag in the back seat that he gave me for extra warmth. It smelled…
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A Message to the Momhood
Once upon a time, my house was organized and free of pet hair. The kids were lined up around the kitchen table, working with enthusiasm and joy on a science experiment. The house smelled like fresh linens and lilacs. The sound of birds at the backyard bird feeder could be heard through the slightly opened windows, and a welcome spring…
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5 Great Places to Hide a Litter Box
I know the kitten was cute…have you ever seen a kitten that wasn’t? Or maybe you’re the saint that adopted the longest resident at your shelter. Or maybe, like me, a skinny, skittish stray darted around your yard for days and you fed her, won her trust, and she decided she’d just move in and take over. Whatever the case,…
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Homeschooling: How to Get Started
I have found that people are often curious about homeschooling – how to get started, what it costs, what it looks like, where you get the books – but they don’t know who to ask, and sometimes they’re afraid their questions will seem silly. I love being able to help people and answer their questions, and I sincerely don’t think…
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Along Came a Cat
Is there such a thing as inhaling too much cat hair? I may be asking for a friend… Or I may be asking because I’m currently covered in it. As I type on my iPad, I am typing through a thin layer of, you guessed it, cat hair. And the cat was just between my face and my iPad –…
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Making a List: Garden Preparations
Beware the Seed catalogs. My goodness, after perusing these glossy pages and delicious descriptions, I’m all set to plant FIELDS of vegetables that I’ve never even heard of. Because they’re heirloom and non-GMO and all the other key words that draw me in and keep me scribbling their names in an ever-growing list. Why, at this rate, Del Monte won’t…
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Tips for Drinking More Water
One of the simplest but most profound things you can do for your health, your complexion, your energy level, and to lose or maintain your weight, is drink water. We hear it over and over, so why, oh why, does it seem so hard to choose water?! There are too many other, sugary, caffeine-infused quick fixes that are so easily…
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Algebra & Pancakes & Important Things
Your child doesn’t think you’re brilliant because you can spit out answers to Algebra problems; your child thinks you’re brilliant because you know how to make pancakes. OK, so maybe if your child is an astrophysicist, he will be impressed by your Algebra prowess…but if he’s an Astrophysicist, he can do his own Algebra problems! Stop stressing. Stop believing you’re…
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Snow Day & Bullied Chicks
And so it begins. Several inches of snow fell today, and we brought 2 little chicks home from the store. We went for some groceries and rabbit food…and added 2 chicks, chick feed, and medicine for their little butts to an already-stretched-too-thin weekly budget. We didn’t plan for chicks yet. They were on the spring list, and they are in…
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Get in the Dirt
I come from a long line of gardeners. Successful farmers, even. So, obviously, there should be some gene floating around in my DNA that intuitively knows how much water a plant needs…right? My houseplants are laughing out loud right now. At my house… I might as well admit that my husband is the better gardener. Master gardeners have called him…
