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Moon Over Lafayette

Posted in California, dating, firsts, flirting, humor, Lafayette, relationships, restaurant, worstLeave a comment

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

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The Blond-tourage

Posted in aging, blondes, California, cocktail waitress, girlfriends, hairdresser, humor, memoir, relationships, waitressing7 Comments

(re-run) Every woman over fifty gets the same advice from her hairdresser — to lighten up her 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… Continue reading The Blond-tourage

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Virtual Tip Jar Fail

Posted in Beatles, Facebook, live music, livestream, memoir, pandemic, Paypal, technology, tip jar, Zoom, ZumbaLeave a comment

I love live music, and the pandemic has made it harder to find. Some of the local bands have gone online, putting out their virtual tip jar while they play for an hour or two. Sometimes they are sponsored by a business, sometimes they do it from their apartments. I love the Beatles, so when… Continue reading Virtual Tip Jar Fail

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The Uses for a Nine Year Old

Posted in California, children, dogs, humor, Lafayette, math, memoir, relationshipsLeave a comment

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

FOMO, YOLO, and YOYO

Posted in relationships, humor, memoir, California, hiking, music, girlfriends, caregiver, best, aging, summer, blondes, attitude, birthdayLeave a comment

(re-run) You know summer has begun when you are constantly checking your email and calendar to make sure you’re not missing out on some live music that evening. Every town has its own series of music in the park. If you are willing to drive, you can hear it six evenings a week for free,… Continue reading FOMO, YOLO, and YOYO

Love in the Time of COVID – 19

Posted in Coronavirus, Covid 19, hair dye, hair salon, hairdresser, lockdown, love, memoir, romance, shelter in place, widowersLeave a comment

(re-run) The gray stripe on my scalp was getting wider. It had been 14 weeks since I’d seen Janice at my last hair appointment. I took a photo of my hair and texted it to her. “I miss you!” I said. Janice texted back and said that she’d been sneaking people in the back door… Continue reading Love in the Time of COVID – 19

Water-ski Fail

Posted in boat, Camp Dodge, humor, inseam, Iowa, Iowa State University, Karma, lake, Lake Okoboji, legs, memoir, OCD, Omaha, sorority, sunburn, swimming pool, water skiLeave a comment

(re-run) It’s funny how writing a daily blog can jog memories of long ago. Today, while taking a hot bath, I remembered this one. It was1984.  My Omaha girlfriends were four younger women, one of them a sorority sister from Iowa State. Joan’s parents had a place at Lake Okoboji, and she invited us to… Continue reading Water-ski Fail

My Perfect High School OCD Job

Posted in babysitting, bag boy, bar codes, Costco, grocery store, high school, McDonald's, memoir, OCD, scanners, teacher, uniforms, Wonder BreadLeave a comment

(re-run( After babysitting for every rug rat in my neighborhood and getting short-changed by a few of their parents (the going rate was 50 cents an hour), I moved into real jobs with time cards and pay stubs. The first one was as a window clerk at Mc Donald’s. I was fast. I could take… Continue reading My Perfect High School OCD Job

The Red-tailed Hawk and the Toddler Fence

Posted in birds, California, children, humor, hunting, Lindsay Wildlife Museum, memoir, Mount Diablo State Park, nature, outdoors, relationships, toddler, worstLeave a comment

(re-run) I’m a bird lover. I feed the song birds and the finches. I have an ongoing water supply in the form of a fountain in my back yard. I’ve planted native plants for the hummingbirds. When I hike, I am thrilled to find a hawk feather to add to my hat. Twenty-odd years ago,… Continue reading The Red-tailed Hawk and the Toddler Fence

The Good Karma Post

Posted in beach, Chronicle, department store, energy, fabric, Karma, memoir, San Francisco, shoppingLeave a comment

Sunday morning, I was in my beach town, so I ran down to the post office to buy a Sunday Chronicle out of the newspaper dispenser machine thingie.  Another guy was parking at the same time, and we walked up together. “I’ll bet we want the same paper,” I said. “The Chronicle,” the guy said.… Continue reading The Good Karma Post

Worst Weekend Getaway Ever

Posted in college, firsts, humor, memoir, relationships, roommate, VenezuelaLeave a comment

(re-run) While student teaching in Venezuela, I learned how to have fun with not much money. One of the American teachers had stolen a couple of striped beach towels from an upscale hotel, and she had been sneaking into the hotel pool for years. “Just carry the towel and act like you belong,” Linda said.… Continue reading Worst Weekend Getaway Ever