Life has been feeling pretty overwhelming lately. If I haven’t given out that vibe, just look back at the fluffy blog posts I’ve been publishing, trying to avoid talking about it. I’m not sure why it seems so much harder right now. Really, not all that much has changed. Maybe this is what people mean…
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Making “Hats” and other photos I’m proud of
The other day, Michael and I looked through a couple of scrapbooks, and I was so impressed with some of the photos I’ve taken in the last couple of years, I just wanted show off share. First, photos of Christian and his mother making “hats.” Orecchiette, technically, but Christian and his siblings grew up calling…
Read MoreThe Minor Frustrations Involved In Raising My Chromosomally-Gifted Girl
When the phone rang during my oh-so-precious work time the other day, I almost decided to ignore it without even checking the caller ID. But there’s always the chance it’s somebody’s school. Which in this case, it was–Julianna’s. It turned out there had been a minor altercation on the bus. Julianna kept touching a boy’s backpack, even…
Read MoreGrowing Up And Aging Out
When I was ten years old, I dreamed of being an Olympic figure skater. I didn’t get to go ice skating very often because we either had to wait for the pond to freeze or we had to drive an hour and a half to the nearest rink. We went once or twice a year,…
Read MoreMr. Strong-y Smash Man and Other Adorable Michael Moments
The youngest child is always the funniest one. It’s a rule. While I was gone for Liturgical Composers Forum, the two women who had morning duty both sent me messages to tell me things about my youngest child. Exhibit A: Uh-huh. Star Wars. Avengers. Hark the Herald Angels. Oddwalk’s Gorilla song. Frosty.…
Read MoreThe Couple That Plays Together…
I’ve heard people say that wallpapering is a test of a marriage. I think they should try critiquing each other’s creative work. Christian has always been my earliest set of eyes on a piece of music, and unlike most people, he’s never felt inhibited about telling me exactly what’s wrong with it. In the early…
Read MoreOn Appropriate Superbowl-Watching Techniques
Because you know you ate way too much guacamole, plus a soda and a glass of wine, and you figure you’ve got to burn off a few of those calories, your Superbowl gathering becomes a session of: Communal Planking. It turns out those band director friends of yours make their marching bands do sprints, pushups, situps, and planks as…
Read MoreKate’s Universal Laws Of Parenting
Ear infections always and only come up after the doctor’s office has closed for the night. Or during a 20-inch snow storm. The child who gets chronic ear infections is inevitably the one who’s also allergic to penicillin. Paperwork is evil. Where children, there noise. If no noise, beware. Just because they don’t react doesn’t…
Read MoreThe Challenge of Achieving Zen When Your Kids Are Wrestling On The Floor
I spent last week hobnobbing with my fellow liturgical composers…which means I got to geek out about hanging out with people I have looked up to since I was old enough to pay attention to the names in the copyright line at the bottom of the hymnal pages. And yes, I am fully aware that…
Read MoreWhen My Life Is Good, But So Many Others’ Lives…Aren’t.
I dreamed last night that I met Pope Francis. Well, not so much met as happened to be standing right there when he blew by, laughing and carrying, of all things, a part of a broken toilet that needed to be thrown away. I was supposed to be meeting up with a friend from grad…
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Kathleen M. Basi 