Lettuce, tomatoes, basil, radishes, carrots, pineapple sage, anaheim peppers and arugula are all in their containers.  We have peas sprouting in the ground, and planted pole beans, corn and sunflowers today.  The blueberries are growing nicely, too.  They… Read full post »

For the first time in my life, I took a pregnancy test this week.  After 9 days of being late, and some morning ickiness, it seemed like a good idea. I was pretty nervous about telling Mr. L this was a necessity, since we haven't been trying to join the parental… Read full post »

1. Your main trait: Agreeable to a fault

2. The quality you like best in a man: That he thinks I'm awesome  

3. The quality you like best in a woman: Ditto

4. Your main flaw: I am an overeager people pleaser, but not always to the right people. 

5. Last time you… Read full post »

I admit it.  I am a sap.  I love Valentine's Day.  I mean, what isn't to like?  It's a day devoted to sex and candy, and grand declarations of love.  Upstairs just a few minutes ago, someone proposed to his girlfriend as she was getting off the elevator from work, complete… Read full post »

Death scares me.  I know, it scares everyone, if we really stop to consider it, which we don't much in our youth, unless we have been surrounded by quite a lot of it.  I have certainly lost my fair share of people, but up until the last year or so, that… Read full post »

Following is the obituary I wrote this week for my mother-in-law, who died last Monday.  It's been a long week, but we've been feeling lucky and loved.    

Obituary for Mrs. Pat Lovvorn

Patricia Ann Lovvorn died unexpectedly at home on April 25, 2011. Pat was bor… Read full post »

After a long day slinging information and subverting corporate bureaucracy, I'm beat and hungry.  Mr. L has a rehearsal tonight, and as much as I might wish the dinner fairy was going to visit my house, I know the cooking is all on me.  Good and simple, here I come!

I… Read full post »

Azaleas!

We have a seedling tray in our back yard, and despite killer hail this weekend, we have the start of three different varieties of tomatoes (canning, slicing and grape-sized), two varieties of carrots (purple and orange), cucumber, zucchini, and one lone little Anaheim chile, whose se… Read full post »

We have a blooming crocus! 

And I can see the leaves of the tulip and jonquil bulbs we planted last fall along the driveway edge pushing through the grass.  I think we'll have blooms in a week or so, if the weather stays warm. 

Mr. L's been busy taking… Read full post »

I have been in a funk, so haven't written much, because I hate to reread my own whininess later once it has passed.  I think I am somewhere between the winter blues, and a little mid-life crisis.  However, the sun is back out of hiding, and it was warm enough to be… Read full post »

The news today showed a story about the vandalizing of a bunch of graves at a local cemetary (http://www.heraldonline.com/2010/11/09/2598524/veterans-grave-sites-vandalized.html).  When I saw the headline, I was mildly interested, because that's a shame.  When I realized it was Bass-Cauthen… Read full post »

Mr. L and I were out around 8:00 this morning to go to our little Town Hall and vote.  We are taking up the issue of Mark Sanford's gubenatorial successor here in SC today, as well as the much-publicized run of surprise Democratic senate candidate Alvin Greene.  Personally, I'm a believer… Read full post »

I was 13 years old when my mother first cooked me fettuccini Alfredo.  I had been introduced to it the previous year in, of all places, EPCOT.  The combination of salty parmesan, earthy garlic, and pasta in cream was manna to my beginner foodie soul.   Believe me, this was exotic/… Read full post »

12. I was once smacked in the head by Al Gore.  Really.  He was shaking hands at a campaign stop at my college, and he was on crutches.  As he reached to shake the hand of the guy behind me, his crutch slipped in the melted snow on the gym floor,… Read full post »

I'm considering taking the LSAT.  Strictly for fun, of course.  I wouldn't want to place too much importance on a silly number like the score on a law school admissions test.  If you put too much importance on it, and it's disasterously low, then that would be disappointing.  I'm… Read full post »

"What is a wife?" Oryoki asks.  "What should a wife be?"  These are questions that I find myself asking internally quite often, as I navigate the role, which 3 years into my marriage I still feel fairly new at. 

There are many hats I wear in my marriage.  I am the… Read full post »

I got into librarianship because I wanted to help connect people with the information they needed.  As a student assistant at my undergrad university library (back in the old days of SilverPlatter CDs and the initial migration from paper card catalogs), I learned a powerful addiction to that mom… Read full post »

I admit it.  I am a 36-year-old fan of Twilight.  I don't even have a teenage daughter that I want to bond with to use as an excuse.  I have a coworker who wonders aloud when they see me reading in the staff lounge why I waste my time on such… Read full post »

I spend most weekends working, which makes the summer fly by in something of a blur.  However, this coming weekend I have off, as does my husband, and so we are debating how to make the most of our free time.  He's thrown out the idea of a trip to Charleston. … Read full post »

My mother, bless her heart, raised me with a well-developed sense of fear regarding parenthood.  I think she meant her stories of how children stunted your dreams mostly as an antidote to teen pregnancy, which is indeed something that in our small town could chain you to a life of diff… Read full post »

I interviewed a few weeks ago at the local community college.  As academic interviews tend to be, it was an all day affair, including lunch with the search committee and a staff drop-in where everyone who worked in the library came by and had snacks and chatted.  In between being fed,… Read full post »

We put our sweet dog Harley down this week.  It's been an adjustment to not have her sleeping on my feet every night, like she has for 11 years.  She was ill, suffering from incurable cancer and debilitating arthritis; it was the right choice.  But it's still hard.

 &n… Read full post »

My childhood friend killed herself in March.  Jodi, the girl with the happy smile, and the beautiful children, was so sunk into the depths of despair that she walked into a lake with a weight from her family gym tied around her leg, and drowned herself.  I'm still aghast.

Today would… Read full post »

Cheerwine and Krispy Kreme, together in one box.

Though most of the country is by now familiar with Krispy Kreme, not everyone knows of Cheerwine, a very sweet cherry soda that is a North Carolina specialty.  It reminds me a lot of the Faygo Redpop I used to drink… Read full post »

OE Sheepdog wrote about his longing for a real summer vacation, and it got me thinking about great summers I have had.  What makes for a perfect summer day?

When I was 12, a perfect summer day meant getting up to find no chore list from my mother on the kitchen… Read full post »