Continuing with the Academy Awards theme this week, I decided Wednesday morning was the perfect day to catch one of the several Oscar-nominated movies I failed to see before the awards, Silver Linings Playbook.
One of the perks of being a stay-at-home mom to school-aged kids is a flexible schedule during the school day. I’ve [...]
After more than six months in Australia, we’re growing accustomed to the time difference between here and the U.S. Specifically, we are getting used to Sunday Night Football on Monday morning, watching Saturday Night Live on Sunday and setting our DVR to record college basketball games at 4 a.m.
When I realized the 85th annual [...]
Today is my son’s last day of school before winter summer break. Tomorrow, my daughter is celebrating her last day of school with a holiday concert. She is to dress in Christmas clothes. For Australia, I figure that’s a swimsuit, right?
While we’re heading for the pool, locals are putting up their Christmas decorations. My neighbor [...]
I am sitting in the upper floor office of our Australian home and, even though I survived years of humid Chicago summers and a decade in perpetually hot Houston, I have to honestly admit it is beginning to feel a lot like summer in Brisbane. But then a breeze flows through the house or I [...]
Today is my husband’s birthday and, for my U.S. family and friends, it is also the start of Thanksgiving week. Here in Australia, I’m feeling a bit far away from family and friends. Well, let’s face it, I am very far away! But I am also feeling really thankful for my husband, who is my [...]
I love hats. Hats don’t love my big head (tried on no fewer than 15 fedoras on Australia’s Sunshine Coast before giving up on finding one that would fit), but I love hats nonetheless. Whether I’m wearing them for warmth, to shield my head and face from the sun or for fashion, there is one [...]
Hanging out our laundry today, I looked up at the sky wondering if it’s going to rain. It’s cloudy, but breezy, and the sun keeps peeking through. I decided to chance it and added a load of sheets to the washer.
I never had to worry about whether it was going to rain on laundry [...]
Two weeks ago today, I was getting off the airplane in Australia. Some people, but never locals as far as I can tell, call it Oz. Landing here was so new and exciting and — at the same time — so foreign and frightening, I wouldn’t have been surprised if a talking scarecrow greeted me [...]
It has been a while since I posted here. I won’t go through my list of excuses except to say life has been busy. For one, we’re on the move again. This time to Australia! So, we’re planning, trying to pack a bit and, mostly, I’m purging.
I hate clutter, so the purging part of [...]
This weekend near Chicago, at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, families will be able to view a demonstration in dog sledding. It’s just the kind of thing I would bring the kids to see if I was living in Chicago. Go check it out, Chicago readers!
Since we are lucky [...]
