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On embracing my home-design limitations

April 24, 2012

Over at Babble today I’m talking about our decision to buy an over-the-range microwave/vent combination, rather than a separate (read: stylish) range hood, and how insecure I felt about that choice until I realized: This is my house. It’s not a designer’s house. It’s not a studio. It’s not a magazine layout. So really, who [...]

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perfection vs. priorities: why parenting values matter

April 4, 2012

Since I’m on vacation with my family this week, I’ve pulled up an old post out of my archives. I hope you enjoy! A while back I made a list of the values I hold for my children, myself, my family. It’s a nice, short list, but it sums up the things that are most [...]

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1 perfectionist + 1 impatient spouse = DIY drama

April 3, 2012

You may wonder why I haven’t posted any home renovation updates lately. Well, it’s mostly because we’ve made precious little progress over the past few months. Over at my Babble blog, I mused about why this might be: Jon’s slow, methodical way of approaching things can drive me nuts, because I don’t see the thought [...]

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Why do I hire help? Because I want to, that’s why.

March 23, 2012

My every-other-week house cleaner, Lynda, came today. After she left I walked through my clean house, looking slowly around, inhaling the scent and savoring the shine…with the knowledge that, with five kids, it won’t last long. Then I went into the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea, and found myself staring at a [...]

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3 steps to deciding what’s important: Priorities, Perspective, and Probabilities

March 22, 2012

“Do less!” is a popular chorus these days – but it’s easier said than done. Perhaps the hardest part is choosing what to do…and what to let go of.  And then not feeling guilty or less-than when the stuff that doesn’t make our “most important” list seems so important to everyone around us. With the [...]

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Sunday Reads: how to make butter, choosing kindness over snark, clay Angry Birds, talking about race, love notes

March 11, 2012

We slept in this morning! Only we didn’t really sleep in, the clock just said we did. Yup, it’s Spring Forward Sunday, which means we are that much closer to actual spring. Woohoo! While we’re still in PJs here (as evidenced from the picture of Clara above) the sun is shining and I’m planning a [...]

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Mindful Monday: start bringing the spring inside

March 5, 2012

Okay, so there are still 16 days until spring is officially here (but who’s counting, right?) And it so happens that I woke up to a wintry wonderland this morning, with a blanket of fresh, fluffy snow on the ground. But we’re looking at an average of 50 degrees and sunny for the rest of [...]

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