Me and My Colon

This is what I’m looking at right now. It’s a hard core, prescription laxative that’s getting my intestines sparkling clean for my colonoscopy tomorrow. Don’t let the name of the stuff fool you; it is not prepping you to watch a movie. I wish. There are movements involved; I’ll leave… Read More

Mouse in the Trash Can

Finding this in our driveway last week jogged my memory of having a smidge of a mouse problem when we lived in Utah many years ago.   Our house was down the block from a huge vacant lot meadow. As you can imagine the critters living in nature sometimes got… Read More

Weevils, Weevils Everywhere

I remember my grandmother in North Carolina complaining about weevils all the time. Despite her lamenting that there were weevils everywhere I never saw one. Not, of course, until I moved to Texas.* I don’t know if they love warmth or humidity or what but this past year we have… Read More

Finn and the Urine of Mystery

Today my son Finn is thirteen. That puts the number of teenagers at my house to three.  This is what I didn’t know about kids growing up: the older they get, the more fun they are.  Teenagers are really cool. Much cooler than toodlers and about a jillion times cooler… Read More

Would intestines be pink or red?

I was an avid colorer growing up. I wasn’t a good enough artist to make up my own artwork, I much preferred coloring someone else’s drawings. But not all coloring books are created equal. Even as a 9 year-old I understood that. On the bottom rung were the cheap coloring… Read More

Living in Austin–The Critters

So, Austin is hot. And hot places have one thing in common: there are lots of critters. It only makes sense since it rarely gets cold enough to kill all the bugs and snakes. Yes, there are scorpions here. If you live in a house less than a year or… Read More

Let’s pause for a parenting tip

This is a parenting tip that I just barely learned with baby #5. it’s so advanced and so counterintuitive that only the most advanced parents may employ it*: If your child starts to throw up, DO NOT pick the child up and dash madly for the closest bathroom. You will… Read More