The night our new cousin and nephew was born we went out to dinner to celebrate—and also, maybe more accurately, because I didn’t want to make dinner. We went to Pappas, where I had the absolutely delicious crab cake.

I make messes by accident and on purpose over and over and over, and God continuously offers forgiveness and strength and peace.

Backpacks were packed, shoes were on, and we were gathering things to head out the door when the phone rang.

Our sons went on a joint field trip this week, and I got to tag along as a chaperone.

I’m never sure why we have Jell-O on hand.

Spring has sprung! Or maybe we’re headed straight into summer! But I am so happy to see sunshine and hear birds singing. It’s also been an incredibly moist spring. As I was walking to a meeting at work the other day, I noticed we were growing a beautiful crop of mushrooms on campus.

The morning of St. Rita’s feast day I said a prayer to my patron saint, who also happens to be the patron saint of hopeless cases. It’s not the first time she’s heard from me, and it won’t be the last.

It wasn’t a royal wedding. We didn’t have a horse and carriage and the queen didn’t have to approve my gown. But I can still remember many details of the day.

When I first met him, he was wearing overalls and a tattered white shirt and a smile that lit up his whole face.

The other night we thought our little league game might be rained out, but we managed to get a few innings in before the coaches called it a night. The sky was getting really dark when our 8-year-old stepped onto the mound to start pitching.