I teach second grade, but when I’m on vacation, I bring out the sewing machine. I’m a huge Jane Austen fan, and I’m currently trying to adjust to gardening in the Texas heat and drought.

Unfortunately, every time I go to the nursery, I find myself buying the rain- and shade-loving plants that I grew up with in the Pacific Northwest. The results are always disastrous!

This intro appeared earlier this week on Mary's church's web site along with a devotional she wrote. Mary is a super close friend, perhaps because we have so much in common--went to the same schools, spent weekends together growing up, toured all the same museums when we lived near D. C. We also have the same parents. Mary's the baby of the family and the chief comedienne. She used to throw shoes at me when she got angry, but I had an advantage--I could grow fingernails. (She still has tiny scars on her arms to prove it.)

All these years later, we've buried the hatchet and enjoy hanging out. If you read what she wrote, you'll see that my dad and I aren't the only writers in the fam.