Segullah

Mormon women blogging about the peculiar and the treasured

Too Big to Hold

Today I conquered the deli counter.

I believe in Romance

“Oh boy–they sure picked the wrong guy to lynch that time! And that thought had a brother: ‘There are right people to lynch.’ Who? People not well connected. So it goes.” –Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five I survived and even enjoyed my time in Public Humiliation, I mean Public Education. Somehow, I figured out how to successfully [...]

Hungry?

I stretched back, luxuriating in the warm water, watching the stars through rising steam, and reflecting on the wonderfully nourishing evening I had just spent with a group of friends. After sharing a potluck dinner (tabouli, garlic bread, hummus, fresh fruits and vegetables) outside on a beautiful late summer evening, we took turns sharing books, [...]

Eating Empathy or Expanding my Current Level of Mental Illness (Thanks Anne Lamott)

A few weeks ago, I realized that if I didn’t amend my current intake of multiple spoonfuls of Nutella for breakfast, Banana mit nutella for lunch, and bread mit Nutella for dinner, I might just explode. Or, at least not fit into my formal gown for the Marine Ball. Either way, it would be a [...]

Everything I Need to Know I Learned from Food

My husband visited his grandmother this week at her home in the Alzheimer’s unit of the local long-term nursing facility. It was lunchtime so he brought a sandwich, sat down beside her and began eating. And instead of dismissing him with the claim that she’ll call him later (which happened during his last visit) or [...]

What We Might Be Missing

Something has been on my mind lately. After a long hiatus our relief society is starting a book club. Last time they launched a book club in this ward one of my visiting teachers volunteered to head it up. We had more than one conversation about her difficulty in choosing books for the group.

My Book Report

My 15 hour book challenge turned into more like 25 hours of reading — or, rather devouring — books and articles and websites. Let’s just be honest and divulge right up front: my husband was out of town, and I wanted to have my fair share of therapeutic aloneness. Add to that my pre-schooler’s fantastical [...]

Sometimes

I forget you don’t know me. You see, if you knew me you might know that I love loud clothes and found art and street food. You might know that I’m the pessimist of the family, that no matter how old I get my mom still calls me “baby,” and that rearranging furniture is not [...]

Scattered

“Because whatever else anything is, it ought to begin by being personal. ” –Kathleen Kelly (played by Meg Ryan) in Nora Ephron’s “You’ve Got Mail.” For some reason, “You’ve Got Mail” has followed us from house to house, from state to state, and now from country to country. It’s always one of the shows that [...]

If At First You Don’t Succeed

So I have a pile of books by my bed, on my shelf, on the computer desk; okay, that’s three piles of books.  These are books I’ve started reading or am planning to read. Raise your hand if you have a pile or two of your own?  I know I’m not alone. So when Mara [...]

Storytelling: Making something from nothing

Now for something completely different…. This week’s Book Challenge.  By me.  Wow am I tired.  But here goes. When I was young, engaged, and still trying to prove to myself and my intended that I am a deep and profound person, I picked up a copy of “The Year’s Best Short Stories” (or something like that) [...]

Book Challenge: Polygamy, Healing from Abuse, Sister Missionaries

Book Challenge:* Letters of Catharine Cottam Romney, Plural Wife; The Glass Castle;** and 18 Months. Letters of Catharine Cottam Romney let me peek into the life of the second wife of Miles Park Romney, an ancestor of Mitt Romney. Mitt is descended from Hannah, the first wife (you can read more about Mitt’s genealogy here). [...]

Fifteen Hours of “Traveling” with Wendy

Wendy is our first outside Book Challenge taker! She grew up in Northern California and currently lives in Utah with her husband, where she enjoys hiking, rock hounding, playing the piano, and being a surrogate aunt to her friend’s children. She served a mission in Arizona and New Mexico, and earned a Masters Degree in [...]

Life: “There’s wonderful for you.”

I’m bleary-eyed and sleepy. But I did it. Fifteen hours, less than one week, three books. Well, almost three books. Les Miserables will probably never be finished. But Water for Elephants and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn were. (Late night note to self: why have I never read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn? I love [...]

Book Challenge? Come on.

Magic. It happened in the early mornings and after my children went to bed. I awoke not to bony elbows climbing my still body for a morning love or to the loud screams of my toddler. Instead, I awoke to the dead quiet of pre-dawn. And you know what I did?

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