I'm just trying to walk myself home.
The last two days finally slowed down enough for me to recover a little from spring break. I’ve been catching up on my reading. In between laundry loads. I picked this book up at the library when I went in search of the documentary by the same name. Anna told me I needed to watch …
Here’s the book discussion guide I used for our boxed lunch book club back in February The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima. 1. Love at first sight. Here’s a quote from Chapter 2 (p.13) right after Shinji has seen Hatsue for the first time. Shinji always went to …
Book Discussion Guide For Wisdom In The Waiting by Phyllis Tickle Tomorrow is our Boxed Lunch Book Club at church, and I have been working on quotes and questions for our time together. I am looking forward to chatting over lunch about the spring stories in Phyllis Tickle’s Wisdom in the Waiting. Here’s the discussion guide. …
Last summer I wrote about reading this lovely book that is the introduction to a new series of books on ancient faith practices. Then I read the first book of the series, In Constant Prayer by Robert Benson. That was when I ordered The Divine Hours. Then I sort of forgot about the series. But …
I’m home from church with a sick little girl, so I’m rereading Mary Karr’s collection of poems, Sinners Welcome, in lieu of corporate worship this morning. Not the same, I know, but there is no avoiding sickness in this town right now. Class attendance is down everywhere due to multiple strains of the flu and other …
We are about 10 pages from finishing our current read-aloud at the Chino House. Here’s what I love about being at this point in a book with my kids. When they get home from school tomorrow I could ask them if they would rather finish Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry or watch TV and …
Eleanor Roosevelt wrote the introduction to Daisy Bates’ memoir, The Long Shadow of Little Rock, about the Little Rock Nine, which was first published in 1962. In it, she boldly states, Every American should read this book. I could not agree more. In fact, I think it is …
We have a class at our church called Talk It Out that attempts to provide a place for education and discussion of racial issues over the span of four weekly sessions. For me, the class has really served as a jumping off place for other learning. I believe all good classes do this actually, and …
I have been trying to practice the daily offices with more regularity since last summer. I was shooting for three or four, but I usually only hit one or two. I’m looking at Lent as a new beginning with the hopes that more frequent repetition will help me to assimilate some of these prayers into …
I love the fresh ginger dressing that comes on top of some lettuce and shredded carrots at the beginning of your meal at sushi bars and Japanese steakhouses. I don’t get to get out and eat sushi as often as I would like, but I can now at least have the salad because I have …
Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup I saw Slumdog Millionaire this weekend. Everyone should see this movie. I would love to see it sweep the academy awards. However, two days after seeing it, my thoughts are a little too raw to be coherent so instead of talking about this film, I am giving you a recipe …
This week I’ve been getting ready for our boxed lunch book club that we do once a month at church. This month’s book is I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. For several days I’ve been rereading my favorite parts of this book and am amazed anew at the way Maya Angelou …
I finished this book by Nancy Ortberg yesterday. Another Christmas gift from another sweet friend. I was trying to savor it, because each vignette was worthy of contemplation, but I ended up gulping down the remaining chapters yesterday morning. I have said before that I love to read stories of people finding faith, and this …
Cast Iron Skillet Cornbread Here’s some skillet cornbread to go with the soup your serving tonight! This hearty, made from stone ground cornmeal, not jiffy cornbread, is browned to the perfect state of crispy-edge-ness in a cast iron skillet. There is a secret to making this cornbread even tastier than it usually is. It’s not the …
I am rereading Lying Awake by Mark Salzman for our Boxed Lunch Book Club* at church this week, and I forgot how wonderful it is. I am equally baffled this time as in my last reading at the intimacy with which this author portrays a cloistered group of nuns. First of all he is a …
So, when I got home from Canada this summer, I had all these little scraps of paper in my backpack on which I had written the names of books I had seen in various bookstores and wanted to one day read. This is something I do often, write down a book on a ridiculously small …
Three Cake Recipes for Three Birthday Cakes My husband is feeling mighty loved right about now. Mighty loved and maybe a weensy bit sick. As he eats his sixteenth piece of birthday cake. That’s because I made him not just one but THREE BIRTHDAY CAKES this year. The spread for Taido’s birthday, greatly enhanced by …
Asian Salad Trio + Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches I feel like I am finally back in my cooking groove and I have sooo been wanting to share with you the delicioso bites coming from the Chino House kitchen. I have special people at my house every night, but on Wednesdays, we have extra special people …
At church this fall, Whitney and I are hosting what we are calling a Boxed Lunch Book Club. I am super excited about it, but I am a little nervous. Because lots of other people are super excited about it too, so I have sold like 20 books. …
The Bare Necessities For Traveling All Summer In A Pop Up Camper This morning I started going through some of the writing I did this summer that I never got around to finishing or posting. Because that is WAY more fun than laundry and unpacking. (I shoved all the piles into Simon’s old room and …