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Looking for a New Read for Summer?

Let me introduce you to my dear friend, Donna Lynne Vaux. She has recently published her memoir, and I am so proud of her and love the story. Because I know her, and we have partnered in several creative projects together, I am happy to introduce her to you. I always love it when I can bring my friends together, because my friends are scattered around the country, maybe even farther. So, while I…

Looking for a New Read for Summer?

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Getting back on the Blog!

It has been so long that I have written anything that wasn’t a sermon, or social media post, or email that I am not sure if I even remember how to write. But recently, when I was talking with someone about my struggles with Mother’s Day, they suggested that I plan something for myself to make the day special. I have no doubt that my family loves me, but most of them do not do traditional things,…

Getting back on the Blog!

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Separate the Egg

You have probably heard the expression, ‘”If you want to make an omelet you’ve got to break some eggs.” But a souffle is a whole other matter. If you want to make a souffle or a meringue, you have to break those eggs very carefully, so that you can separate the egg yolk from the egg white. If you break the yolk in the process of separating the egg, the yolk will contaminate the egg white and…

Separate the Egg

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Confession: I Fell... into a Mountain of Cookies

Some of my readers may remember a long string of posts I had written a few years back when my blog was relatively new, under the theme “Stronger Than the Cookie.” It was something my daughter had said to encourage me and the series chronicled my 55-pound weight loss journey. I maintained that loss for at least three years and felt really good. I had a good plan that I followed and still will not…

Confession: I Fell... into a Mountain of Cookies

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Dear Mom,

It really has not occurred to me to write to you, because you are already such a presence in my life. But sometimes a girl needs her mom, even when that girl is a woman, even when her mom is nowhere in sight. I have not wanted to give up on my blog, but looking back over previous posts, I see that I have only written and published two since Christmas and have two drafts started but have not found…

Dear Mom,

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If you have moved away from your home of origin, do you go back, wish you could go back or never want to return? Can you ever really go home again?

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A Cup of Tea

When I found out that I was pregnant with my third child, it was a very bad time in my life, in my marriage. We were both so immature, I did not know how to stand up for myself. We were overseas, and my husband was due for sea duty. I would have been alone in a foreign country when he was at sea, when the baby was born, leaving me alone with two children under two and a half, and a newborn. I had…

A Cup of Tea

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A Community of Cooks and Bakers~ Part I

My mother was my first cooking teacher. Although I was a student in the time when public schools still had “home economics” classes, I was in Catholic School, and we did not have that benefit. Now, until we moved to the Union Villa, (the hotel, bar and restaurant my parents bought) I was never invited, or required to help with anything in the kitchen. Mom did at all, and I don’t remember even…

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Marking (the passage) of Time ~ A Monday morning re-set story

I often note special anniversaries and important personal and family dates on my calendar. I don’t know how many others do this, but besides family birthdays and anniversaries, I remember my parents’ birthdays and wedding anniversary, even though they are no longer with us. I also mark and remember the dates they died. In my father’s case I also remember the date of his funeral, simply because it…

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Pastor Without a Pulpit ~Taking the Fine Print Seriously, Part 2 You Can Make a Difference

I had my first hip surgery when I was ten years old. I don’t remember having any pain, or complaining to my parents that my hip hurt. But one, day as I was walking up the driveway to get my newspapers for my paper route, my father saw my strange gait and said to my mother, “She is walking like a drunken sailor, and one of those in the family is enough.” It turned out that my hip bone was slipping…

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A Pastor Without a Pulpit ~ Taking the "Fine Print" Seriously

(OR, my Monday morning re-set on Wednesday) Since I have not been writing regularly and some of you may be new to me, let me restate some information from my about page. Although my blog is primarily memoir and not religious, I am a retired Ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church. Sometimes the Pastor likes to share the spotlight with the Beach Girl:). Whenever I am working with couples…

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My New Favorite Prayer ~ A Pastor Without a Pulpit (more or less)

(Or, my Monday Morning Re-set, delivered on Thursday) Well, first I should explain why I am only ‘more or less” without a pulpit. After a year of retirement in which I did pulpit supply, filling the pulpits of other pastors once a month, I did come out of retirement to take a very part time, two Sundays a month, assignment, that includes everything, preaching, leading worship, sacraments,…

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A Monday Morning Re-set

To be honest, I am starting to write this post on Friday evening, to give myself a head start. I have heard it said that if you are starting a new practice, discipline or tradition, like a diet, or quitting smoking, that you should not tell people that you are doing it, at least not for several weeks. The reason behind that is if you fail you are less likely to be embarrassed. At least I think…

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A Short True Story from My Recent Trip Home (you can't make this stuff up!)

It was a simple thing really, but when I shared this story with a 96 year old former parishioner, who could not stop laughing she said, “Pastor Michele, you should write this down. ” Now, in quoting her, I am not telling you that this is funny, or that you will laugh, I am just following instructions. If you have read any of my posts about making bread in the last year, you know that I have…

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Home Again and Grateful

I just returned home from my sixth trip to my hometown, six years in a row, after an almost fifty-year absence. Every year since 2018, I have had the opportunity to travel to there once a year. In many ways each trip has proven to be an unexpected blessing, and every time it seems there are tears that show up unbidden. I have written about those other trips in several posts, and I have listed…

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I Can Can, Can You?

Just to be clear, I am not talking about the famous French dance of time gone by. If I tried to do that, I would fall on my, well, you know. No, what I am referring to is the art and science of food preservation. A year a half ago I was going to write a similar post, but that title would have been, “I Can Can, but I choose not to (can)” But procrastination, coupled with writer’s block held sway…

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Most of the Time, but not Always #strongerthanthecookie

I have rooted my Stronger Than the Cookie posts in absolute honesty so, I have to admit in the last year, I have gained some weight. My goal weight was 145 pounds. From May 2021 through October 2022 I did pretty well. There was always some variety on vacations and Christmas time, but right now my weight is fluctuating between 150-152. I had knee replacement surgery in early March and was 149 on…

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