Susan

Self-fulfilling Prophecy

March 15, 2025March 14, 2025 Posted in dating, English, high school, Home Ec, humor, Iowa, memoir, middle school, Nebraska, problem, self-fulfilling prophecy, small town, Spanish, student, teacher, teaching, typewriters2 Comments

(re-run) It was a few days before the kids would come – 7th and 8th graders. I left my job as a high school Spanish teacher and would now be teaching English to middle schoolers. It was a way to get out of a podunk town in Nebraska and into a big city in Iowa… Continue reading Self-fulfilling Prophecy

How to Make Sure Your Puppy Has a Soft Mouth

March 14, 2025March 12, 2025 Posted in animal training, babies, biting, dog manners, dog training, memoir, puppies, puppy class, sharks, treatsLeave a comment

(re-run) This means that your puppy will take treats from you without biting you. As you probably know, puppies have shark teeth until their adult teeth come in. Baby puppy sharks running down the hall with those shark teeth makes a person want to avoid their puppy’s mouth. That is the worst thing a person… Continue reading How to Make Sure Your Puppy Has a Soft Mouth

My Fake-Coffee Half Hour

March 13, 2025March 12, 2025 Posted in blog, blog posts, coffee, Diet Coke, Facebook, GERD, humor, memoir, names, relationships, Spanish, Spanish class, stomach, stomach issues, wineLeave a comment

(re-run) It’s funny how a person’s perception of what is good changes with the circumstances. I used to look forward to my can of Diet Coke every day until I reached my mid-forties. Then the stuff became too hard on my stomach, and I gave it up. I used to look forward to my cup… Continue reading My Fake-Coffee Half Hour

Taking Stock of the Garden

March 12, 2025March 11, 2025 Posted in drought, drought-tolerant plants, Facebook, flowers, garden, Girl Scout camp, humor, memoir, native plants, porch, rats, rose, trees, wisteria, yardLeave a comment

(re-run) Four years ago today, my garden was in full bloom. I know this because Facebook showed me my garden photos from 2019. The plants are way behind this year from all the rain and wind storms. The roses aren’t blooming yet. The wisteria has just started to bloom. The potted plants either drowned in… Continue reading Taking Stock of the Garden

Get Some Facetime

March 10, 2025March 9, 2025 Posted in California, cell phones, high school, humor, memoir, Millennials, relationships, school, school shooting, student march, vote, waiting roomLeave a comment

(re-run) As I stepped into the waiting room of my chiropractor’s office, three women and one guy were looking down at their cell phones, sitting in a symmetrical pattern amongst the u-shaped chairs. Feeling giddy from my fifty-five minute massage I said,” Well, this looks like a blog post to me! You’re all on your… Continue reading Get Some Facetime

The Sunday After

March 9, 2025March 8, 2025 Posted in #MeToo, aging, best, California, Christine Blasey Ford, daughter, girlfriends, mass shootings, memoir, neighbors, parents, party, rape, relationships, sexual assault, sleepover, worstLeave a comment

(re=run) No dogs were walked, no outside balls were thrown, and no outdoor chores got done, including painting my new white locking mailbox gray to blend in the neighbors’ 45 year old boxes, and cleaning up the hedge and pine needles strewn across the greenbelt next to my property. Yes, it seems silly to have… Continue reading The Sunday After

Spitting Mad Saturday

March 8, 2025March 7, 2025 Posted in adverbs, care home, caregiver, ER, fingers, fire department, memoirLeave a comment

(re-run) Before I vent here about how caregivers are underpaid and underappreciated, let me say that I’ve changed all the names to protect the people in this story. My sis lives in a care home, which is like a mini nursing home in a house. Right now, there are only two residents with a 24-hour-a-day,… Continue reading Spitting Mad Saturday

The Road Not Taken

March 6, 2025March 5, 2025 Posted in memoir, neighbors, Prius, choices, GPS, neighborhood, traffic, house, stop signs, stop lightsLeave a comment

(re-run) GPS is a wonderful thing. I didn’t choose it; it chose me, being included with the 2014 Prius close-out car that I bought in November of that year. It was time to make way for the 2015 models. It was marked down. I bought it. If I’m coming back from a new place with… Continue reading The Road Not Taken

We Need a Lemon Law, Mr. Trump

March 5, 2025March 4, 2025 Posted in cars, congress, firsts, house of representatives, lemon law, memoir, politics, president, women's march, worstLeave a comment

(re-run from 2018) When a person buys a new or used car, and it gives the new owner nothing but problems in its first year, in many states, after three attempts to repair it, the owner can return the vehicle. Consumers everywhere are protected by the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, the Federal Lemon Law which applies… Continue reading We Need a Lemon Law, Mr. Trump

Where’s the Beef?

March 4, 2025March 3, 2025 Posted in bacon, beef, Beyond Burger, California, climate change, Costco, cows, energy, food, Iowa, memoir, Millennials, nursing home, pescatarian, plants, sister, Thanksgiving, vegetarianLeave a comment

(re-run) My sister fell out of her recliner at her nursing home (board and care home, actually) and landed on her face and glasses. The glasses were badly bent, so I needed to go to Costco on the DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING to see if they would bend them back into shape with their magical optical… Continue reading Where’s the Beef?