I admit it, I used to be a regular Murphy’s Oil Soap user.
Those commercials with the older ladies polishing the wooden pews and floors of that big ol’ church packed a powerful, underlying one-two message. Your mothers and grandmothers use Murphy’s Oil Soap religiously, and so should you! Or, how about this one: If it’s good enough for God’s house, it’s good enough for yours!
So I smiled when I came across a blog post written by a young … Read More
…Make sure, with all future book contracts, to specify that if I write a book about my dogs, and the publisher is going to put a picture of a dog on the cover, then it’s my dog’s picture that will be used. Not a generic stock photo of a dog that not only is not one of the breeds I’m writing about, but has absolutely no connection to the story.
Dogs of Dreamtime is coming out in paperback in April. … Read More
Cait catches me off-guard.
“Mom, when you’re having a conversation, are you listening or waiting to talk?” she asks.
“Huh,” I say.
“When you’re talking with someone, are you listening or waiting to talk?” she repeats.
I stop what I’m doing, look at her and clarify, “Do you mean, when I’m in a conversation and the other person is talking, am I listening and really paying attention to what they’re saying, or am I just wanting them to hush up … Read More
For those who’ve read Dogs of Dreamtime, you remember Molly, my deaf Aussie and Kiera’s sister. You probably also remember that I had to rehome Molly because of a deadly sibling rivalry. It was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make for one of my dogs.
I hope you also remember that, with diligence, I was able to find the perfect home for her. Her new owner (of several years now) is legally deaf, and has … Read More
Okay, I’m gonna date myself again, but I wonder how many of you remember the “Duck and Cover” drills we had back in elementary school during the Cuban Missile Crisis?
The drill went thusly: The alarm would go off throughout the whole school, and the teachers would instruct us to get under our desks, tuck ourselves into as small a ball as possible, and cover our heads with our arms.
Why were we doing this? In case of a nuclear … Read More
I’m typically not a very sentimental person. I can do without all the Hallmark Holidays. The only feelings I care about are the ones that are unsolicited and genuinely offered, the ones that don’t have to be coaxed or coached, or require an appointed day.
I’m also not a saver of any kind of stuff, really. Except for a few pieces of Cait’s baby clothes I think she’d like to have, anything not in use gets given to friends or … Read More
From the mail bag: Allie asks: Just wondering. What do you think of Jon Katz? As a person, a writer, and now a trainer?
Dear Allie, I can’t comment on Katz as a person; I’ve never met the man. And I know all too well how it can be hazardous to draw conclusions about someone who writes about pieces of his or her life. As a reader, it’s easy to think you know the whole person, when you really … Read More
I just had to ask where Winter was. Seems Mother Nature heard me.
“Here’s Winter for ya,” She said. “How ’bout a nice ice storm to start things off with a bang?”
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