Margaret Dilloway, American Housewife

Once you sell a book and it looks like it will actually be on the shelves one day, you begin to meet people who want to meet you, the author.  Yes, Virginia, they DO exist.  A debut author, shaken out from the steaming masses of slush piles.  These people have one question on their minds.  [...]

I stumbled upon this list of 13 words or phrases not found in the English language.  Give it a read. esprit de l’escalier  I know I am guilty of esprit de l’escalier more often than I’d like. Filed under: Uncategorized

The Bishop Museum, a Hawaiian historical museum/planetarium/natural history museum rolled into one, is a main attraction in Honolulu. It’s also haunted. One ghost is a woman in white who hangs out on the steps.  A little boy saw her and his mom wrote a letter of complaint, saying that the museum needed to do something about [...]

My kids like naming things. Ethan has come up “Butterscotch” for a small stuffed Golden Retriever toy and “Hiro Fishcakes” for our real Siamese cat. Adorable, right? The names Kaiya comes up with are positively– well, sometimes you just wonder where she got it from, and hope it wasn’t from you. This is [...]

What will be the next milestone, I wonder? My girl's growing up. I expected to feel sad, but I'm not. I'm proud and pleased. After all, the role of a parent is to shepherd a kid into adulthood, not keep him or her a child. There's a new stage to enjoy each time.

Last night, we got to go out due to the free babysitting provided by our friend Jill. A night to remember. A date night. A night which would exceed every expectation I have ever had of every date night previous. Yes. My needs are minimal. Anyway, it seems like every time [...]

So for Lent, I was taught in my adult CCD class at St. Therese that you are not actually supposed to give up something, like chocolate or coffee.  What you are supposed to do is do something positive, like pray, go to church every evening, or somesuch. We decided we would go to Mass every Sunday [...]

Rachael Ray and I have had our ups and down.  I still can’t quite forgive her for Christmas 2008 and her Jacques Pepin Smashed Potatoes, which were supposed to cook in just 30 minutes but took more like 50.  Yes, you’re supposed to try recipes first, but I watched her cook it start to finish [...]

No, not THAT kind of change. A different kind of change.  Today I exited the house as a trade wind blew its chill fingers over me and I shivered, reaching for my sweater.  I got in the car and looked at the thermometer. 78 degrees. Really? I am COLD when it’s 78 degrees?  How cold is the wind, [...]

Dear Parents of Ethan’s Classmates: I hereby apologize in advance for this Friday’s field trip to the nature center.  On the way there and during the nature walk, your children were no doubt terrified with facts on with how mosquitoes are one of the 100 Most Dangerous Creatures on the planet, due to their malaria and [...]