There it was on my Facebook feed. A writer friend I barely knew saying the best day of her life was the day she met her husband. And a chorus friend telling her spouse “Love you, Babe” on their 30+ anniversary. It stings a little. It used to sting a lot. While going through an… Continue reading Happily Never After
The Uses for a Nine Year Old
My Girl Friday (who works for me on Mondays) has a daughter, who sometimes comes along with her to work. Now that her daughter is nine, she is useful in many ways. 1. She entertains my dogs. 2. She entertains my sister, giving her someone to watch. 3. She brings music into the house, since… Continue reading The Uses for a Nine Year Old
The Blond-tourage
Every woman over fifty gets the same advice from her hairdresser — lighten up your hair. As our skin fades and our looks do, too, we need brighter lipstick, sparkly-er clothing and blonder locks to stay looking as young as we can. My apologies to women of color; this may not apply to you. So… Continue reading The Blond-tourage
Moon Over Lafayette
Trudy worked at an engineering firm. Joe was the visiting copy machine repair man, or as her office mates called him, the Xerox guy. One day Trudy had to make copies. Joe was at the machine, repairing away. “Oh,” she said. “No copies for me!” “Hey there,” Joe said. “We should catch dinner sometime.” “Okay.”… Continue reading Moon Over Lafayette
Creative People Make Messes
If you are an orderly person like Monk on the TV show of the same name, this column is not for you. You crave things in place, all the time. Otherwise, you are agitated. The other side of the coin is the person who is so busy creating that he/she doesn’t notice the mess. When… Continue reading Creative People Make Messes
I Need More Friends
“Fireflies are the confetti of angels.” That is some great writing. If you haven’t seen the new show, Bless This Mess, it is hilarious. There is no laugh track, Barbara. No live audience, either, Old Dave. Maybe it’s because the show is set in Nebraska, where I used to teach. I lived in a farmhouse… Continue reading I Need More Friends
The Who Needs It Club
On the drive back from Monterey, I left drizzling rain for half the drive and headed north into puffy white clouds and blue sky. Cumulus clouds, Iowa clouds. I got home at 1:30 and knew it would be a Bridges kind of evening. Bridges is the local watering hole with outdoor seating, cheap eats, happy… Continue reading The Who Needs It Club
Fighting my Way to Monterey
The forecast was for rain. But Monterey was calling. It had been more than two weeks. The chorus concerts were done, and there were too many events for Memorial Day weekend up in the Bay Area. If I wanted to sneak in two nights at my beach house, I needed to go. Rain or no… Continue reading Fighting my Way to Monterey
The Four-Frosty Month of May
Wendy’s has 50 cent small Frosties for the month of May. Normally that wouldn’t be blog-worthy, but my sis has been out of her board and care home for four outings this month. That’s the most she’s ever broken out of there. We went to the podiatrist. Afterward, we celebrated with a chocolate Frosty. She… Continue reading The Four-Frosty Month of May
A Doggy Afternoon
Little Darling, Beethoven, Squirrel, Teddy Bear, Mop Top, Tootsie, Churro, and Super Trooper. These were my playmates on Sunday afternoon at the Pet Food Express in my town. A chorus friend had asked on Facebook for helpers. It sounded fun, and I thought, why not? When it came time to go do it, I’d had… Continue reading A Doggy Afternoon
How to Relax for Bed
I closed my online costume shop last summer. I donated 500 dresses to a charity for third world girls and sorted through my aprons, pulling out all the hostess ones, the sheer ones not for cooking. I had 150 of them. I gave them to my local thrift store, the one that knows vintage stuff.… Continue reading How to Relax for Bed
