Today is Devon’s fifth birthday. We held his party on Saturday because today is his first day back to preschool and I thought a party and school might be enough to make his head explode. And maybe mine, too. I can’t quite believe my baby has hit five. The last five years have been a [...]

And by that I mean sometimes an offer comes along just too good to not accept. A few weeks ago I was asked to participate in a BlogHer review program for the AT&T FamilyMap plan. Now before I proceed I should mention that I don’t get many invitations to join in reindeer games, I tend [...]

I once had a boyfriend who one day gently placed his palm on the side of my head and said, “Damn, it must be tiring from all the noise in there.” Yes, actually, it’s fucking exhausting if you really must know. For the most part he was a blundering fool, but on the point of [...]

Today Loren and Cassidy started back to school and I began my new job at a new school. We aren’t a household to boast about our coolness with transitions. Although the three of us reported back with good days, the upheaval of ending the easy glide of summer break and jumping back into the order [...]

In the last week or so the light has changed ever so slightly from the glaring heat of summer to the tilting promise of fall. I say promise because autumn is my most favorite time of the year. For one thing for those of us who are not sun worshipers the days are less intense [...]

Hi! This isn’t Heather. Heather is with the family, parked in Mia’s camper in an empty parking lot between a Lowes and a Target somewhere drinking white wine and eating Wendy’s.  Camping Craven style.
I am sitting here with my toddler son watching The Jazz Singer (starring Neil Diamond) for about the fiftieth time in [...]

This summer has been one of new efforts here at The Manor. One of our newer endeavors has been the family camping outings made to various spots fairly close to our home base. Some of these trips have been more successful than others. Some of them have had many great moments. I have returned from [...]

Sometimes the planets line up just so and everything falls into place. Sometimes the air feels to be the exact right temperature so that my skin can breathe without falter and my lungs can exhale without restriction; this last weekend was a series of such events. Such a  series was it that I couldn’t be [...]

Heather is in New York up to all sorts of nonsense I am sure.  So I am subbing in tonight.  I will try not to make this too long. And don’t flame me at the end. I am sooo paying for my crimes against the motherhood sisterhood. Today was a day that further emphasized why [...]

…went to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat. That has always been one of my most favorite of nursery rhymes. The imagery of the feline and fowl overcoming their differences and tying the knot despite the fact they were simply not meant to be has long been a staple in my reading cache. It is [...]