Tag Archives: advice

Family Matters: Cultivating Kindness

Recently, I ran across the following in two places, and it struck a chord with me about some ways our family could stand to improve: Showing kindness — Courteous words instead of sharp retorts. Smiles instead of blank looks. Enthusiasm instead of dullness. Response instead of indifference. Warmth instead of coldness. Understanding instead of the […]

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Past Blast: Channeling Olivia Walton, and Other Ways My Life Operates

We begin a new series today called Past Blast, in which I plan to share some of my writing from before In My Kitchen, In My Life existed. From 2008: It occurs to me sometimes that I have probably never had an original thought. What I think and what I do is a direct result […]

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Cerebral Homemaking Part 7 — Mundane or Maniacal?

Other Cerebral Homemaking posts: Part 1: Wrapping My Mind Around My Work  Part 2: Please Lie Down on the Couch and We’ll Begin the Analysis Part 3: Lofty Thinking — About Vision, Philosophy, and the G-Word Part 4: Blast Physics! We Have to Aim Just a  Little Higher Part 5: Time Matters Part 6: We […]

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Cerebral Homemaking Part 5 – Time Matters

All this thinking about thinking about our work as homemakers may have left you thinking: well that’s great, Lori, to decide that I need to improve my job skills and develop a vision for my home and set my aim higher than the level of my goal, but the thing is, I have a life and I just […]

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Cerebral Homemaking Part 4: Blast Physics! We Have to Aim Just a Little Higher

Previous articles in the Cerebral Homemaking series: Part 1: Wrapping My Head Around My Work Part 2: “Please Lie Down on the Couch and We’ll Begin the Analysis” Part 3: Lofty Thinking — About Vision, Philosophy, and the G Word In the last Cerebral Homemaking article, we talked about developing a vision for our homes and […]

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Cerebral Homemaking Part 3: Lofty Thinking — About Vision, Philosophy, and the G Word

This is cup-of-tea length, so grab a treat and a pen and paper while you’re at it. Let’s go. Here is the thing: before you can train your homemaking thinking in better directions so you can get better homemaking behavior, you’ve got to begin with the end in mind. I know what you’re thinking – […]

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In Praise of the Middle-Aged Marriage

Yesterday was our twenty-seventh wedding anniversary, and the ways in which The Husband and I spent the day are illustrative of what it means to be at this stage of our lives together. We are together while we are apart. The Husband was at work, doing what he does to help keep the country safe […]

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Unsolicited Advice: Five Ways to be a Particularly Good Guest

Some friends of ours vacationed for a week in Washington, DC and bookended their time there with two weekend visits with us. They are a family of seven, with children ranging in age from two to seventeen. We have been fortunate to have all kinds of terrific visitors in our home, but I guess because […]

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Unsolicited Advice: “What’s for Dinner?”

This one of those my-life-is-nearly-always-happier-and-certainly-always-more-serene-if-I-obey-this-rule things. It is very simple. It makes a big difference. Truly. Really. Want to know? It’s called The Ten O’Clock Rule. I’ll wait while you get paper and pencil to make notes. Oh, don’t worry about it — you don’t actually need any because you will never forget this life-changing […]

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Balancing Balance Part XII: You Get Just This One Life – Embrace the One You’ve Got!

“Did you hear about that woman who ran off and left her family? She had a husband and little kids and everything. Can you believe that?” Now and then you hear a story about somebody who does that – a woman abandons her family, sometimes for another man, but sometimes for reasons unclear. I had […]

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  • In My Kitchen, In My Life is a place where women (and the odd male) can be encouraged, nudged, and occasionally kicked in the pants toward living their lives on a higher plane. Oh, and readers get plenty of chances to laugh at the author's foibles, which is always worth a click.

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