Last week I walked through my front door and realized there was poop on my pumpkin. I hesitate to write about this because I hate to leave my readers with the impression that my home is full of vermin, but apparently, my home IS full of vermin.   I made my usual trek to the hardware store and purchased rat traps, spread them around my doorstep, ...

In 2001, my oldest daughter entered kindergarten, and that fall, I signed her up for a soccer team through our local parks and recreation office. My husband was a huge soccer fan; he hadn’t played on a team since he was a kid, but he still wore Adidas sweatshirts and bought a world-cup ball every four years. He was the one to suggest we sign her...