Not everything I write arrives in a pretty literary bow, and I love to challenge words into playful puns, my talking things (cheeky little buggers), strange, new, somehow sensible Easter-Words (hello Oxford), tender whispers from my heart and one-liners that hit.

And Then She Smiles is the place for the pieces that arrive with life in them: stories, misfit poems, noticing in many forms, memories or almost-memories, domestic absurdities, small tendernesses, sharp little observations, playful word-thingies, and the ordinary, ridiculous moments that ask me rather persistently, to be written.

This is for all the things that cause me to pause and smile, or wonder again, quite honestly, “where on earth all of this comes from?”

Because all of that… just makes me smile.

And Then She Smiles

~ writing what won’t behave quietly until it is expressed

Three-DegreesSideways

~ Looking through a different lens can be most interesting

three degrees Sideways

And Then I Smile

– stories, parables & fables that make me smile ❤︎

And then I Smile



My Things Talk

~ objects with attitude
often baditude

My things talk

When the Smile is Quiet

~ sometimes there are moments
where smiles are put on pause

When the Smile is Quiet

The Jingles Saga

~ the dog who lamented 90210

The Jingles Saga



Riffs, Rhymes & Limericks

~ language play, punniness, and ways
words did not know they could twist

Riffin’ & Rhymin’

Read more from And Then She Smiles

  • The First Step Out the Door

    The First Step Out the Door It was autumn. I had been trying to lose weight for a couple of months. From my original 350 pounds, I had already dropped a bit, simply by cutting sugar and flour, eating normal portions, and not snacking (unless absolutely needed, and even then, it had to be something…

  • A Year of Stars

    A tired woman begins a simple practice: mapping every interaction as a tiny star. What she discovers over the next year changes her understanding of meaning, connection, and the quiet power of a single life.

  • The Family Beach Day

    The perfect solution to a hot blistering day with 4 kids – a trip to the beach. A lovely idea that turned to utter family chaos, generational absurdity and a crowd looking on as my two young sons were rescued from being swallowed by Georgian Bay.

  • Bless My Body then Began

    Just how did Easter go from hating diets and not moving at all to loving her weight-loss journey and realizing that she enjoyed the process of blessing her body so much? Dive in to find out.

  • The Stupid Stupid Game

    On a busy Thanksgiving family gathering, when one cousin causes hilarious mischief against his little cousin, all I can do is laugh!

  • Chee-ken A-Nee-Mal

    A loving story about Nonno moments of just not quite understanding his strong accent. Capeeesh????