Category: 50-Something
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One of the Best Christmas Gifts I Ever Received
I’ve never been great at answering the question, “what was the best gift you’ve ever received?” Salvation? My children? Health? …. the list is long. But when pressed this year to come up with something tangible that was actually wrapped in paper, I had to say it was a Hallmark…
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Baking Brings Calm. Order. Completion.
I made cookies over the weekend. Although there were plenty of tasks I “should have” done instead, I needed to do something that made me feel normal, creative… and – in the end – something was accomplished that was visible and complete. I went so far as to arrange the…
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The Power of God’s Country
God’s Country: “A place conceived of as especially favored by God; a place away from a city.” Merriam-Webster Last weekend, my husband and I flew to Virginia to see our youngest at school. She was thrilled to have us there and kept us really busy with her friends and touring…
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Becoming Mrs. Lewis
One of the statements I kept on my Mama Duck About Me page for a long time was that I’m a non-fiction reader. Every now and then, I pick up a fiction novel but in the past, it was usually to preview a story before my kids read it. After…
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If Sitting is the New Smoking…
Then I must be up to three packs a day. Since beginning my new job this past Spring, I have felt terribly restricted. The amount of time I spend sitting is outrageous. Driving to work. Sitting in my office. Meetings. Driving home from work…in traffic – delaying me in my…
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A Wedding. In a Castle. In Scotland🏴.
Well, it was everything you could imagine a fairy tale wedding would include: stunning countryside, a Scottish castle that exceeded our already-high expectations, very moving vows and a bride that her Mama would have been proud of. If you didn’t read the introduction to this destination wedding/vacation with an important…
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Joining the Rat-Race Mid-Life
Over 20 years ago, I sat on the tarmac in Iowa waiting to take off and return home from a business trip. I was in my first big-girl job post-college, and after receiving a promotion, was promptly sent to various cities to work with administrators in the Midwest and Northeast.…
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D-Day Celebrations Have Me Thinking About Patriotism
I don’t come from a military family, nor was I raised with any real political discussion or thoughts about country. Yet, in my twenties I started paying attention to history and even more so in the last decade, I’ve grown to be highly patriotic. There was no significant reason why…
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Why Isn’t Parenting Considered a Profession and Why Are We So Embarrassed by It?
If you’ve read this blog lately, you know I’ve been traveling a bit. Conversations among a wide array of human beings, each simultaneously living strikingly similar yet vastly dissimilar family lives fascinated me. A perpetual student at heart, I enjoyed every small talk chat and lengthier conversation surrounding the literal…
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Remembering to Play When the Kids Are Away
“It is a happy talent to know how to play.” Ralph Waldo Emerson I read this quote recently and thought of my kids who are all really good at “play”, even though they are now in their early 20’s. They are all playing college sports. The girls still play Just…
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Save the Journals or Burn Them…?
Although New Year’s Day is often a day to toss out the “old”, the January 1st purging of my home office was not planned. I just happened to smell a fire brewing outside and discovered my husband burning some Christmas wrap and nonsense snail mail. I was sitting in…
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Determined to Enjoy the Breathtaking Beauty of Nature, Despite the Profound Pain of Life
I had an early morning errand to run. The dawn hours were filled with thick fog. As I drove back down the street toward my house, the sun began to rise, peeking through the few remaining leaves on the trees lining the country road. I slowed down to fully embrace…
Tales from a Mid-Lifer 