(These are excerpts--click on the title to view the whole piece!)

Best Ever Yet Christmas
 
A drinking companion of mine named Uncle Willie came out to my cabin site and reckoned as how he could put that roof on for me. I told him I had no money to pay him, but he said he would do it for free, for old time's sake, and because he couldn't stand to think of me and my daughter trying to live in that little shack.  
 
Kat McElroy

 

DNA, RNA, and Alphabet Soup
 
The organs in your body are all made of tissues. These tissues are in turn made up of cells. You can think of cells as little towns.  
 
Anju Kanumalla

 

The Mathematics Of Motherhood
 
During childbirth I adjusted my plan. After 20 hours of labor and a forceps delivery, I thought one child might just do it. I have not yet changed my tune about this. And while childbirth was hard--childcare is harder. A lot harder.  
 
Jessy Randall

 

Two Women and a Boat (to Say Nothing of the Dog)
 
Bill Thomas, the instructor, explained his policy of "no boat left behind" and assured us that we would all be working together to make sure that everyone progressed at the same pace and that we all would go home with something closer to a boat than to a lumber pile. Why were all the guys looking at us?  
 
Jane Cates

 

Why I Love Gay Men
 
Thud, thud, he hits. "That's how you drive a nail," he tells me. "What are you, some kind of sissy boy? Hit the shit out of that nail. Be a man."  
 
Timothy David Orme

 

Framing Padilla
 
The only reasonable, the only sane answer is for the Supreme Court to finally rule that no one, neither Congress nor the Senate nor the President, can rationally--or legally--declare war on a collection of international criminals.  
 
Robert Link