The title of this site came from an old joke between my Charming and Patient Husband and a friend of his, back when we were still dating. He told his friend that I was a Secular Carmelite, and the friend henceforth referred to me as Joel’s “Hot Carmel Sundae.” Never one to let a good joke slip by, I adopted it. Now definitively professed since December 20, 2008, I finally feel entitled to the name, and to have a site using the name.

I am a wife of a good number of good years, a mother of 8, a “cradle Catholic,” and a hapless practical joker. More recently, I am an art-crazed madwoman who spends her days inflicting her scratchings on a helpless family. Pity them; they need you to share the burden of my ramblings. I am also just egotistical enough to love comments, so I needed a blog to get them. Comment away!