family | just ponderin'

… on nicknames lived up to

May 11, 2017 by Lisa Dingle

The Disposable Shack. Disposed. Well, not quite. But now I am thinking it was so unfair to refer to this wonderful home as the Disposable Shack for so long. It all began… well, actually I don’t remember how it all began. I think it was as we were making the decision that The Inn – our Maine house that was once (in the early 1900s – really an inn, but is not really an inn anymore… anyway, I think it […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: empty nest, everyday life, family, home, joy, just ponderin', musings, secrets to happiness, selling the family home

… on every man for himself

April 28, 2017 by Lisa Dingle

That is not a rat. It’s Tony Soprano, a made man on Southport Island. Tony is, in fact, a mink. An American one. I know, I know, based on his name and inferred occupation you thought he was Italian. Common mistake. And also racist. But this is not about Tony Soprano not being a rat. This is about an actual rat. One I never got a photo of for reasons that will become clear to you as I tell you a […]

Categories: family, just ponderin', musings, my perfect cherubs, zombies • Tags: comedic writing, comedy, everyday life, family, humor, just ponderin', musings, New Orleans, NoLA, rats, zombies

… on knowing, and knowing

April 8, 2017 by Lisa Dingle

Until about twenty minutes ago, I couldn’t look. Totally true. It’s been nearly a week since Sam’s accident down in New Orleans, and all of the images I had of the whole thing were concocted by neurons and transmitters and projected on the backs of my eyeballs via big time brain voodoo, using JoHn’s and Sam’s word as their catalysts. Words like totaled. All the airbags went off. It was like he was cocooned. Can’t believe he walked away. When I first wrote […]

Categories: child rearing, family, just ponderin', musings, my perfect cherubs, Uncategorized, unique observation • Tags: family, just ponderin', musings, secrets to happiness

… on the scamp and birthdays

March 13, 2017 by Lisa Dingle

I looked it up. Scamping is being mischievous in an endearing, a playful, or naughty way. Actually, I don’t think ‘scamping’ is a word. Scamp is though. And Marshal Dillon Dingle is one. Hence, when Marshal is being Marshal, he is – indeed – scamping. That just makes sense. You know that term in the rescue world, ‘failed foster’? The one that is used to describe a dog (or cat, bird, alligator…) that is placed in a foster home and then never leaves? Well, Marshal […]

Categories: dogs, Feel good stuff, joy, just ponderin', marshal dillon dingle, memories, musings, omd! (oh my dog(s)!), secrets to happiness, unique observation • Tags: family, german shepherd, german shepherd dog, humor, joy, just ponderin', musings, photography, secrets to happiness

… on a trophy (a JPNN Special Monday Edition)

February 6, 2017 by Lisa Dingle

The dark descends, the lights come on. The seats fill. The engine noise – the crowd – starts… swelling, retreating… ebbing, flowing. One song is sung… and then The song is sung… and beautifully. Tchotchkis – bobble heads and nesting team dolls – along with banners and caps are placed. The blanket put there… but wait, not there, it wasn’t there when we won the last game! Seats are chosen, spots claimed, based on where each of us sat the last time… […]

Categories: family, Feel good stuff, joy, just ponderin', Maine, musings, secrets to happiness • Tags: family, G.O.A.T., joy, just ponderin', maine, musings, New England Patriots, photography, secrets to happiness, Super Bowl, Super Bowl LI, Tom Brady, Tom Brady's Mom

… on five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred… legos

January 26, 2017 by Lisa Dingle

Yesterday, the Nearly Perfect Husband (also known in these parts as ‘Daddy’ (Marshal), ‘Fah-sah’ (Gabe), ‘But Daaaaad’ (Mac), and – depending on what he is doing (or not doing) – several other monikers that shall remain under literary lock and key. Oh. I also call him JoHn. Anyway, JoHn and I were in the midst of cleaning out our closet yesterday. The one… in the bedroom. The one that we filled up – in 2004 when we moved here – […]

Categories: child rearing, Dunstable, family, Feel good stuff, home, joy, just ponderin', Love, memories, musings, my perfect cherubs, unique observation • Tags: 525, 600 minutes, empty nest, family, joy, just ponderin', kids, legos, moving, musings, Rent, Seasons of Love

… on dreams of a garden (wedding)

January 4, 2017 by Lisa Dingle

Yesterday, I was googling away, in total wedding planning mode. The Nearly Perfect Husband walked by as I was looking up “skinny evergreens”. Then he walked by again when I was researching “Cornus Alternifolia”. Then he walked by again (lots of walking, this guy) when I was looking at the results of “Favorite flowery tree that looks good in winter for cardinals; titmouse”. Why? What do you do when you google when you are planning a wedding? JoHn finally stopped. Him: […]

Categories: Barn restoration, Feel good stuff, gardens, Granny, joy, just ponderin', Maine, musings, my perfect cherubs, Nearly Perfect Husband, old house restoration, the maine thing • Tags: family, gardens, humor, joy, just ponderin', landscape architecture, landscaping, landscaping in maine, maine, maine garden wedding, Maine gardens, maine wedding, musings, old house restoration, photography, wedding

… on not an elf on the shelf

December 25, 2016 by Lisa Dingle

Ya. So I’m sitting there the other night, all cozy in my big comfy chair and looking at my warm and cozy twinkle lights and kind of overlooking one. A blue one. I am not an LED light fan. Not at all. I don’t want flamingo pinks and caribbean blues and lime green lights in my twinkling displays. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not judging anyone – not at all. To each his own, her own – but gimme the […]

Categories: Christmas, family, freakin' things, holidays, joy, just ponderin', musings, my perfect cherubs, Nearly Perfect Husband • Tags: #dingle, Christmas, comedic writing, comedy, family, humor, just ponderin', photography

… on the mess

December 24, 2016 by Lisa Dingle

Last weekend we had Dingle Family Christmas. Sure, it’s a little misleading in that not everyone who comes to Dingle Family Christmas is toting around the last name ‘Dingle’, but the event title works. I like to think this is because we have so much official Christmas magic in our family tree, being able to trace our family all the way back to Dingle Kringle and all (Elves’ first names are the ones that carry down through their family trees. […]

Categories: Christmas, family, Feel good stuff, holidays, joy, just ponderin', musings, secrets to happiness, unique observation • Tags: Christmas, Christmas joy, christmas magic, family, joy, just ponderin', musings, photography, poem, poetry, secrets to happiness

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