The Chicken Family: Sort of like The Partridge Family, but with less talent and more husbands

  I’ve told you stories about my family but I’ve never explained my family. This is because that’s complicated. But I’m feeling expansive tonight so what the heck, here goes. In short, it’s a big, messy, beautiful love story. Let’s ease into it with this also familiar story line… Here’s the story of a lovely…

He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother, Who Doesn’t Want You to Take Away His Guns

My brother is not a fan of gun control. File that under things I did not know about my brother. I now know because while visiting my family in Maine last weekend my brother and I got into a little disagreement. We got through it because we love each other and we’re normal, if opinionated,…

Predatory Queso Consumption

Chipotle just started making queso. I love queso so I bought some yesterday, along with some tacos. I was disappointed at the size of the container. It was so small. When I got home, my family, not very saavy from a culinary perspective, eyed it suspiciously. I played it cool-no sudden moves. I busied myself…

Eggs and Issues

I’m chief cook and bottle washer here. This means I do all of the planning, shopping and preparation of meals as well as the cleaning up. This means that should another individual in the household clean out the dishwasher or carry a dish to the sink, they are not contributing to the household, they are…

Birthday Bash

littleb has wanted to visit New York City for a long time and so we went over Thanksgiving weekend to celebrate his December birthday. Bill sang New York, New York way too many times on the drive down. He has a nice voice but he’s no Frank Sinatra. Then again, I ate way too many…

Vi Chronicles: Grateful

It’s all women in the house until the sun goes down. That’s because the men (and Peggy Lou) are hunting. At least one of the hunters has already been successful. You can tell by the gutted carcass hanging from the rafters in the garage. My aunt’s kitchen is huge. There’s a wood stove in one…

Some are Starters and Some are Finishers

Our back yard is a mess. There were high winds last night that blew branches off trees all over town. It appears that most of them landed in our backyard. I feel badly for BigB who spent a lot of time this summer getting the backyard in order. He had the fence repaired, cleaned and…

This Disappearing Act is Getting So Old!

Hi World, I haven’t disappeared. You know how you experience things and you can’t wait to share them-whether on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or in person, even (now there’s a novel idea), but then it doesn’t happen?  That happens to me. I don’t know why. Sometimes I can’t wait to tell you about something but I…

Wanted. One Skinner Box. Two Lever Model.

I took a required psychology class in college and remember a lecture on B.F. Skinner, who introduced the theory of operant conditioning, proving his theory with a contraption now known as the Skinner Box. You put a hungry mouse in a Skinner box, which comes equipped with a lever, and in short order the mouse…

Bucket List

On  his last day as a first grader, littleb wrote a bucket list of things he wanted to do over the summer.  This is his list: 1.  Go into a pool2.  Go to Block Island3.  A Celebration4.  Have a vacation5   Buy flowers6.  Go out with my family7.  Go to Mystic  Aquarium8.  Go Fishing9.  Go…