When I was a kid I asked my mom to let me rent Gone with the Wind.  For reasons I still do not understand, she insisted that we rent West Side Story first.  Perhaps it was a test to see if I could tolerate the hokey conversation of days gone by or maybe she wanted me to watch…

There is so much that I want to write, and I have been writing, mostly in my head, mostly in the shower. It’s just that this time of year is so… and there’s a lot of… and this never goes away… So as my home transitions from one season to another and Black Friday roles…

My husband has a couple of kooky talents that are part of what I adore about him, and that he probably doesn’t consider talents (nor will he understand why they’re likable, which also makes them more likable…). Thing 1: Despite the fact that this man somehow conned his way out of taking P.E. in high…

Shortly before my 30th birthday, I received an email from someone I grew up with. We weren’t close, but  I knew him my entire childhood. That’s how things work in a small town. Everyone knows everyone, and Ben was one of those kids who was in the “blue” reading group with me through elementary school…

My husband is something that is becoming increasingly rare in this world – happily employed. Not only does he have a career that has offered him professional growth and job security for the last twelve years, but he enjoys his job. He even puts up with two and a half hours of daily commuting to be…

A couple Christmases ago I found a stack of old college notebooks, somehow unearthed by my had-enough-of-the-clutter mother and placed in my brother’s room. I am a save everything kind of girl, but it was still jarring to find the notebook from my senior year literature seminar. Nearing the end of the road to completing…

I have shared this story so many times with friends in person, in emails, on Facebook, that when I sat down to write this post, I honestly couldn’t remember if I had already shared the story with you, the readers of Resourceful Mommy. We were nearing the end of our time in Tanzania with Compassion…

A friend of mine has what she used to call a 90% husband. He would work tirelessly on a project, and then just before completion, stop. I will never forget beautifully redone floors with perfectly measured, cut, and painted baseboards…that weren’t attached to the wall. Easier to pick up and dust then put back, I…

When you grow up in rural Pennsylvania, there are certain things that you simply take for granted. No matter which direction you look, you can see a mountain. Even the hottest summer days will usually give up to a cool evening. Driving on a Sunday always involves patience and horses with buggies. Football season begins…

Yesterday my husband and I returned home from London having spent two whirlwind days visiting my favorite city and attending three Olympic events.  In the last twenty-four hours I’ve been asked dozens of times what I thought of the trip.  Was it fun?  Was it crazy?  Was it exciting?  Was it exhausting?  The answer to…

Have you ever wondered what you would have written about if blogs existed when you were younger? Well I don’t have to wonder anymore. During a recent trip to my parents’ house, I discovered a journal that I kept when I was seventeen and on my first trip to Europe with a large group of high…

Saturday night I found myself in the hotel bar at the BlogHer Conference in New York City.  In past years you’d find me dancing on the stage, screaming loudly when a Rob Bass song started, hugging the people around me and “squeeing” loudly.  This year I hung up my dancing shoes and instead found a…

Hi, my name is Amy, and I have gained seven pounds in the last eight months. Last summer everyone followed along as I joined the Mamavation community and finally worked on changing my sedentary, unhealthy lifestyle.  My kids were both headed to elementary school, my work schedule was becoming a bit more focused, and I…

Four years ago today I began blogging.  Four years may not seem like that long, but the online world is a bit like dog years so it puts me somewhere between an old crone and a young yet experienced hussy.  I’ll take it. In the past I’ve celebrated my bloggiversary with twitter parties, giveaways, blog…

When you are a little girl, you really know very little about the adults in your life.  Sure, you’ve got the basic information, the fun stories, the logistics of where and how they grew up.  But there is so much that we keep from our children.  Add to that veil of secrecy one more generation…

I have to admit that I brought it on myself. Last week was the one week of the summer when I had no childcare arrangements so was attempting to find that elusive work/life balance in the most insane way of all – by doing everything at once (and doing nothing well).  By Wednesday I began…

After I wrote The Thing About Dreams last week, I went through every Sweet Pickles book on the shelf looking for that slip of paper I remembered from that day in our old living room.  I am very visual. I could see it in my mind.  I could see the paper hitting the dark wood floors…

This is the inside cover of one of my Sweet Pickles books.  Remember them?  Handyman camel, that messy goose, the kangaroo who was always up to no good… A few years ago I was reading one of my old books to my young daughter and a square of paper fluttered onto the floor.  It said,…

I grew up with a girl named Ulie* who very regularly said, “No offense…” just moments before saying the most offensive things imaginable ranging from “Your mini-bangs really aren’t holding their curl today, Amy” to “No one shops at County Seat anymore.” *names have been changed slightly to only very nominally protect the innocent By…

This is hard for me to admit, but we’ve been together long enough that I think I owe you the truth. I’ve been giving my best stories to someone else. It doesn’t always happen in the same place, and it’s not even always with the same people.  Sometimes I do it in Skype.  Often it’s…

Two years ago I wrote about a moment of parenting bliss when my daughter and I bonded over the musical Cats and I consequently took her to see her first live musical at a local theater.  So much has changed since then.  Now my daughter is reading my favorite books at a breakneck pace, her brother…