Bored with the monotony of November, the Pickwicks decided to take the week off and have a vacation. Nothing but lazing about, drinking tea, and losing the thermometer and every bottle of cold medicine in the house every four to six hours, round the clock. The problem with the entire family being simultaneously struck down… Continue reading One Crazy Turkey
It was a perfectly normal Tuesday morning in October. Mrs Pickwick packed five perfectly normal blessings onto the perfectly normal bus and sat down to her perfectly normal coffee, with a sigh of relief that it was such a quiet day with nothing at all she had to remember. Suspicion slowly edged its way in,… Continue reading Too Many Tuesdays
Last week, Mrs Pickwick happened to be on the phone with the receptionist for the family doctor. If you don’t have a family doctor with a receptionist who periodically calls you to ask if the children would like to be registered to win free bicycles, how Sweet’s latest malady is coming along, and just generally… Continue reading Another Kind of Checking
Mrs. Pickwick slipped into the mall, feeling a bit like a bandit, but also delightfully incognito, and strangely fearless behind her mask. She was just another anonymous customer in a blue gingham dress and Edwardian hairstyle popping into the local beauty supply store. No one ever need know who exactly Took Up Space and Asked… Continue reading Mrs Pickwick Prepares for a New Kind of Battle
Grocery shopping at the local “scratch ‘n dent” deli is always an adventure. One never knows what treasures one will find. This week, Mrs P was met by an unprecedented sight: giant half-gallon glass jars of pickles were only $2.25!! Mrs P could hardly contain her excitement as she gazed at the beautiful shelf of… Continue reading In a bit of a Pickwickle
A rare opportunity for an evening out presented itself to Fr Pickwick when he heard that the Tallis Scholars would be nearby, a mere two-and-a-half hour jaunt away in Princeton. The Pickwicks excitedly began planning for a date. Mrs Pickwick inveigled an innocent teenager into babysitting, picked out her outfit (after choosing nine others the… Continue reading The Pickwicks in Princeton
The Pickwickian vehicle has been making strange noises of late. Let us qualify that statement: stranger than usual, and not meant in a figurative sense as an attempt to convey the sound of at least four different songs in six keys. It is indeed the actual car making the noises, not the children. Mrs Pickwick… Continue reading A Little Cartastrophe
Once, Mrs. Pickwick spent a blissful evening at choir rehearsal, completely uninterrupted by any little Pickwickian emergencies. Even Baby P’s bedtime came and went, and with no panic-stricken texts, or Baby himself delivered mid-rehearsal. How can this be? Mrs. Pickwick marveled at this delightful freedom, truly incredulous that her phone had remained silent from 7–9… Continue reading Mrs Pickwick Checks Her Phone
Last weekend the Pickwicks had the grand excitement to attend a wedding. Fr Pickwick went early to organize the music, and Mrs Pickwick followed with the children. Keeping them clean and pressed and driving them through torrential rains to arrive on time to an unfamiliar church in an unfamiliar state was no problem at all.… Continue reading Mrs Pickwick and the Unexpected Wedding Guest
Out and about on an errand one afternoon, the little Pickwicks were very excited as we pulled into the bank parking lot. They had already each scored a tiny porcelain ballerina from the thrift store, but there was still something missing to really be the cherry on top of this cupcake of Pickwickian happiness. Usually… Continue reading Little Pickwicks Make a Plan
