We’re in the final stretch of the Christmas gift-buying season, which is especially scary for me since I only started shopping yesterday. Thank goodness Dennis has been keeping on top of certain shopping requirements for the family.
If you’re still searching for last-minute gifts for folks on your list, here are a few suggestions… (more…)
I’ve been especially quiet here on Not Strictly Spiritual lately, in case you haven’t noticed. The usual banter stopped Friday morning, when everything stopped for just about everyone. I don’t even think I was breathing as I watched the first news reports from Newtown, but I do know I was crying. And crying and crying and crying. I just couldn’t stop.
Since that moment I’ve been disconnected from most of my usual social media habits. Other than checking in now and then, I just didn’t want to be online. I didn’t want to read the sad posts. I certainly didn’t want to read the political posts. I didn’t want to see one more news story. I didn’t turn on the TV for the entire weekend. Couldn’t do it. Not for five minutes. (more…)
Japanese Soba and Vegetable Soup from the Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites cookbook is a favorite at our house, a hit with four out of five family members, so that’s saying something. (At least around here it is.) It’s vegetarian. No, wait, even better, it’s vegan, and it’s absolutely delicious, especially on a cold winter’s night. (more…)
Today, in the midst of my absolute craziness, I was given the gift of a little sacred moment in an unlikely place. And, as far as I’m concerned, those are the best sacred moments, and usually the ones we need most.
After my haircut this morning, I ran into the library to grab a book waiting on hold for me, the whole time thinking about how I didn’t have a spare minute for any of these errands and activities. As I headed back out, I looked down the side hallway in the library’s entry and stopped short. (more…)
Chances are that right about now the Christmas season is getting the best of you. At least that’s how it’s going at my house. Just last night I suggested to my husband and kids — amid the fighting over who opens which door on the Advent calendar and who hangs which ornament on the Christmas tree — that maybe we should just pack it in and pretend there’s no Christmas this year, which is kind of missing the whole “reason for the season” in a pretty glaring way. So we tried to regroup and declare a do-over on the lead-up to Christmas. (more…)
