Photo: Mona Shand I've always been a morning person, but never quite like this. That's why it's 5:30 am on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, and I'm wide awake. My first bit of time off since starting a new job, and I'm wide awake. One husband and three children snoring ...
Photo by Mona ShandI am not crafty — let's just be honest about that. I think after 37 years on this planet, it's the least I can do in the name of self-awareness. Pots of glue, boxes of crayons, new sets of markers... I buy them, and then have no ...
No I don't live in a pyramid, and no I don't have a pet camel. These were the answers I sometimes wished I could tatoo on my forehead as a child, given the inevitable barrage of silly questions that came every time I told someone my parents were from Egypt. ...
AnnArbor.com parenting contributor Mona Shand, who is also a news reporter for WHMI radio in Livingston County, has many friends and family members experiencing the unrest in Cairo this week. Shand was featured this morning on Public Radio International's "The Takeaway" to share her impressions of the dramatic events in ...
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic For the past two years, my husband and I have given each other (and our kids) a very special early Christmas present: a few weeks before Christmas, we get the heck out of town. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas almost as much as our ...
My dad always used to say that he knew he was on vacation when he could finally take off his watch and leave it off. A busy doctor accustomed to working long shifts and being paged back to the hospital at all hours of the day and night, it usually ...
Thanksgiving is upon us and the nation is preparing to loosen its collective belt. Yes, it's the holiday where friends and family gather to feast on heaping helpings of turkey with all the trimmings. They will stuff themselves with stuffing, mash as many mashed potatoes as possible into each mouthful ...
It's funny how you can't wait for your kids to say "Mama." You coax them constantly to produce those two syllables, and then when they finally do, you eventually get to the point where you wish that every once in a while they'd say something else. I have two little ...
It's just a cup. Now breathe. That's what I tell myself four times a day, as I scrub out a certain little red sippy cup with flowers on the side. It's just a cup. Keep breathing. It's not a symbol of what my life has become, it's not a force ...
Noah and Cecilia in non-grumpy timesIt was just one of those days. One of those days when the occupants of the house included a grumpy preschooler, a grumpier baby and the grumpiest mom. It seemed we had all woken up on the wrong side of the bed (or crib). At ...
There's no use beating around the bush, so I'll just come right out and say it: I spend a lot of time on Facebook. This will not be shocking to most of you, who are my Facebook friends (Hi, by the way) and are reading this via an update on my ...
Mark & Mona Shand, 7-19-2003When I first met my husband, he had three vehicles: one zippy little car he drove on a regular basis, a truck for when conditions called for a bit more zap and a classic car (aka The Green Beast) that was in need of zip, zap, ...
Noah Shand, age 3Once upon a time there was a sweet, towheaded little 3-year-old boy. By all accounts he was an exceptionally happy little boy, precocious and bright as they come. The little boy was adored by his family and spent many blissful hours at home with his trains and ...
If you live in the metro Detroit area, you've probably seen some form of the ad campaign launched by the Detroit Zoo regarding its "Giraffe Encounter." The photos depict happy, smiley children standing face to face with nature's tallest creatures in the rare opportunity to feed a giraffe--who wouldn't want ...
There's a place we often go on Sundays. A place so big it seems to hold the entire world between its walls. A place that's so vast, you can't help be awed in its presence. A place so overwhelming that some believe miracles can be found. A place I'm simultaneously ...
Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com AnnArbor.com's partner news site MLive.com is on a quest to find the best barbecue in ......
Get the Ann Arbor RSS Feed
AnnArbor.com