Susan

Peace Corps Fail

August 22, 2021August 21, 2021 Posted in dogs, memoir, Midwestern, Peace Corps, postal service, relationships, Spain, teaching, travel, Venezuela1 Comment

(re-run) It was in the spring of my first year of teaching when the call came. I was at Greenwood Elementary in Greenwood, Nebraska. I had applied to the Peace Corps the year before. They had just seen my application. They wanted to fly me to Chicago for an interview that weekend. They gave me… Continue reading Peace Corps Fail

He Ain’t Heavy, He’s my Match Date

August 21, 2021August 19, 2021 Posted in California, dating, firsts, gym, honesty, humor, online dating, weight loss, worstLeave a comment

(re-run) Ingrid had been on the online website for a little over a month. She had tried meeting a few guys but only if they were willing to email back and forth and actually pick up a phone and call. Fred had flirted and called, and now it was time for them to meet. He… Continue reading He Ain’t Heavy, He’s my Match Date

Betting on a Jersey Girl

August 20, 2021August 18, 2021 Posted in betting, dating, firsts, marriage, marriage proposal, relationshipsLeave a comment

(re-run) He was working in Pittsburgh, auditing Gulf Oil for Price Water House. One of his married buddies approached the crowd at the water cooler and asked a guy, John, if he wanted a blind date with his wife’s friend from dental school. “Wait!” Arthur said. “You already have a girlfriend, John. How about me?… Continue reading Betting on a Jersey Girl

Daisy’s New Perch

August 18, 2021August 17, 2021 Posted in animal rescue, animal training, barking, Christmas, dog behaviors, dogs, gardeners, memoir, park, quiltLeave a comment

(re-run) My suburban house is dumb. The small bedrooms are on the front of the house, with the family room tucked behind the garage. There are no good windows for Daisy to see out of, no couch to jump upon to watch the street. Until the day I cleaned my office. I ended up pushing… Continue reading Daisy’s New Perch

Mr. No Class

August 18, 2021August 17, 2021 Posted in barbecue, bathroom, boyfriend, California, dating, honesty, humor, mom, relationships, shampoo, sister, worstLeave a comment

(re-run) They met online through a singles website (not the swiping one). Tom lived and worked in Napa. Carin lived less than an hour away in the San Francisco East Bay on a horse ranchette with her seven horses. She ran a small upscale hair salon. After much texting and talking, they got together for… Continue reading Mr. No Class

Mountain Lion

August 17, 2021August 17, 2021 Posted in biking, California, escape, hiking, humor, memoir, Mendocino, nature, relationships, survival, Van Damme State Park, Washington, worstLeave a comment

(re-run) The latest mountain lion attack got me to thinking about how we humans hike, bike, and enter into cougar country and should know what to do in the event that we run into one. The newspaper article today tells about the two mountain bikers in Washington this past weekend that encountered a mountain lion.… Continue reading Mountain Lion

Grandma’s Basement

August 17, 2021August 16, 2021 Posted in basement, childhood, confidence, dungeon, grandma, grandpa, kindergarten, memoir, playpen, sarcasm, shame, teacher, wringer washerLeave a comment

(re-run) My grandfather and his dad built a house into the side of a hill. The main floor had three small bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room and stairs to the kitchen below. The kitchen looked out over the hill down to the creek and had windows and a back door with a screen door.… Continue reading Grandma’s Basement

The Story of my Rescue Puppy, Pepper

August 16, 2021August 16, 2021 Posted in animal adoption, animal rescue, ARF, break-ins, burglaries, California, care giver, dog training, dogs, firsts, humor, Jack Russell terrier, labrador, memoir, pit bullLeave a comment

I laughed out loud. I had joked about a getting a pit bull, and the universe had dropped two of them in my path.

Do Nerds Laugh?

August 15, 2021August 11, 2021 Posted in attitude, California, family, friends, humor, joke, last, memoir, relationships, research paper, scientist, video, worstLeave a comment

(re-run) Yesterday, at my bi-monthly massage at the chiropractor’s, Curtis the masseur asked me lots of questions to help the 55 minute session go by. I was chatting away as he rubbed the kinks out of my neck, shoulder and lower back, telling him this and that, until he came around to the big question,… Continue reading Do Nerds Laugh?

Asparagus, Anyone?

August 14, 2021August 11, 2021 Posted in farm, firsts, gardening, humor, memoir, Midwestern, Nebraska, relationships, roommateLeave a comment

(re-run) The farmhouse was next to the highway, close enough for me to hear the train come by every night, and far enough away from the tracks to get used to sleeping through it. No houses could be seen from any window — just trees, sky, and lots of cornfields. It was a peaceful place,… Continue reading Asparagus, Anyone?