As our new president begins to fill his cabinet and gather his czars, I’ve been thinking more and more about the weight this places on the Catholic bishops of the United States. I know that some of them, like Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, feel they’re called Read more
In military terms, AWOL stands for “Absent WithOut Leave” and refers to a soldier’s unexcused failure to report for duty. I think the term applies here, too. I’ve been absent without leave for the past couple of weeks, ignoring this blog in lieu of preparations for our son’s deployment. Unless Read more
Not a new horror flick. Not a premiere Pixar animation tale. No, it’s the return of THE pens, as in the pens that have been gradually disappearing from my desk for the past several weeks and irritating the daylights out of me. The mass exodus has left me – grudgingly Read more
I was beaten at my own game today. I have a penchant for making people smile. There’s nothing I hate worse than looking around me and seeing frowning faces. I can never figure out why folks are always frowning. There’s so much in life to be joyful about! Even under Read more
We had a beautiful, unusually warm and sunny February day in Wisconsin yesterday. The perfect day for a long walk along Lake Michigan. Sort of. Yesterday was my first walk without my walking buddy. All day I’d been trying to talk myself into going, but I kept putting it off. Read more
Yesterday, Mark brought home a bundle of groceries. I was delighted to see that he’d gotten some awesome deals at some of the cheapest prices I’ve seen in a long time. That’s good for us, but signals the dire state of our economy. I read in the news today that Read more
Yesterday I was driving home from Mass and started thinking about the sudden passing of Catholic author, husband, and father, Michael Dubriel. He’d been the editor who’d championed my book at a major Catholic publishing company. It was the first time one of the “big” publishers had taken a serious Read more