I’m not sure Annabelle appreciates the final product quite yet — or maybe she does — but there’s something oddly joyful for me about finding items like the one pictured, left by Annabelle on the coffee table after what was obviously a raucous arts and crafts session involving her younger sister and some out of control markers. […]

Yesterday morning, I saw a snowman. Outside my favorite coffee shop in Tempe, just sitting there on the sidewalk. Melting. It was maybe a little taller than Sophie — nothing fancy, with twig arms, a carrot nose and coal eyes. The temperature was predicted to hit 115 yesterday, but someone woke up and got some ground […]

…what kind of luck — good or bad — well, that’s up to you. Tomorrow is Sophie’s IQ test. Her third IQ test. Many people never take one in their lives. My 6-year-old is a veteran. If her score goes down 14 points, she keeps her state services. There have been suggestions of Benadryl and […]

I’m so obsessed, I could write a book about Smeeks, the candy store that opened last week in central Phoenix. If you’re lucky enough to live here or visit here (can you believe I just wrote that? and in July!) you’ll find Smeeks on the northwest corner of Central and Camelback, in the inside-out strip […]

At our staff meeting Monday, my fellow day-jobbers at the alt weekly were horrified to hear we were writing about The Wiggles, and only slightly less so when I announced the piece was about how I refused to review their upcoming Phoenix show. “And Sophie has never liked The Wiggles,” I exclaimed, at the end of […]

Funny, just last night I was singing the the lyric from the Bloodhound Gang song, “The drummer from Def Leppard’s only got one arm!” (we were talking about our first concerts — mine was Rick Springfield) and this came along, in the form of an email this morning from Sophie’s music therapist, who wanted to […]

Sophie’s dating, and I think it’s serious. She’s had playdates before, sure. Good playdates, even — sweet little kids with well-meaning mothers. Kids who like Sophie, I know that. But true friends? Real play? I haven’t been sure. Until Sarah. Early in kindergarten — almost a year ago now — Ms. X started telling me […]

For someone with no formal belief in any sort of organized anything, without real faith in anything except the power of a Diet Coke first thing in the morning, I certainly see a lot of signs. Signs of what, I don’t know. Maybe by definition, that means they’re not signs at all. You tell me. […]

I just looked at the two dogs sleeping at my feet (both are black with a bit of white, so a photograph is impossible — you’ll just have to take my word for it) and noticed that Rosy, the Grand Dame of the house, has her front leg thrown over Jack the puppy’s muzzle, in […]

I had to stop reading the squid stories. It’s gone from bad to worse — by yesterday the New York Times was reporting that jumbo, flying, carnivorous squid are pulling masks and oxygen tanks off divers up and down the San Diego coast. We were safely back in Phoenix by then, and upon reflection, I must […]