Author: Susan

I do this blog for PG audiences and another one for R audiences with Bae Bliss.

Lime Vodka, Raisinets, and Cheesecake

Posted in 4th of July, alcohol, babysitting, cheesecake, Des Moines, drinking, driver's license, February, house party, Iowa, memoir, raisins, teens, vodka, winter2 Comments

(re-run) It’s an American teenager’s rite of passage to get sick the first time they drink.  I was no exception. Aside from tasting different liqueurs on babysitting jobs after the kids went to bed, I had only tasted my dad’s beer, Schlitz. No thank you. I was not a fan of fizzy bitter fermentation. So… Continue reading Lime Vodka, Raisinets, and Cheesecake

Nature’s Prayer Moment

Posted in birds, California, church, friends, gardening, humor, memoir, nature, relationships, religion, writersLeave a comment

(re-run) Yesterday morning I stepped up to the kitchen sink to fill the tea pot and looked out my window at the flowers exploding in my yard. I glanced over to the fountain where I saw dozens of identical birds taking drinks in a clumped up circle around the top of my round fountain. Their… Continue reading Nature’s Prayer Moment

Fluorescent Man at the Wine Festival

Posted in BART, comfort zone, dancing, festival, friends, humor, Lafayette, live music, lunch, memoir, parking lot, relationships, wineLeave a comment

(re-run) Today the town up one freeway (and over another freeway) had a wine festival.  My art friend was showing her work, so we agreed to meet for lunch when she was done.  A guy friend wanted to dance at 5:00 to the Spazmatics. I got the dogs done early, visited my sis, and then… Continue reading Fluorescent Man at the Wine Festival

Reflections on a Retired Thursday

Posted in childhood, chorus, Costco, COVID, dogs, errands, horse, horseback riding, memoir, memory, OCD, retirement, traffic, Zoom, ZumbaLeave a comment

You’d think retired people have seven days a week to reflect on their past lives. Not so, Smokey Joe.  There was chorus, plus a COVID booster shot on Tuesday which produced a huge headache. “Take Tylenol,” my adult child who lives down the hall said. “No, you’re supposed to let the vaccine do its thing,”… Continue reading Reflections on a Retired Thursday

Three Strikes, You’re Out

Posted in California, dating, firsts, humor, military, online dating, relationships, Tahoe, VietnamLeave a comment

(re-run) He didn’t seem her usual type. He was a few pounds overweight, but not bad looking, and he wore a nice suit in his online photo. He was an architect. He pursued her with photo-likes over a few weeks and text messages, too. Kate agreed to a phone chat. At least he seems intelligent.… Continue reading Three Strikes, You’re Out

The Fingernails Post

Posted in alcohol, boyfriend, college, discoteca, fingernails, memoir, sexual assault, Spain, student, Study abroadLeave a comment

When I was a senior in college, I went to Venezuela to student teach, then taught six weeks of high school Spanish, then studied abroad for two months in the summer. I needed fifteen credits to graduate with a double major in Elementary Education and Spanish with a minor in secondary education. I was thrilled… Continue reading The Fingernails Post

The Crack in my Face

Posted in bathroom, California, Central America, children, citizenship, clenching, DACA, doctor, Dreamers, drugs, ENT, forehead, furrowed brow, gangs, Guatemala, Honduras, immigrants, jaw therapist, memoir, mothers, mouthguard, welfareLeave a comment

(re-run) Because my adult child moved in, I changed bathrooms. They get the new one at the other end of the house, and I get the hallway one with the skylight and window (the master bathroom is a cave). I was putting on my make-up the other day with daylight coming in. There it was,… Continue reading The Crack in my Face

Bomb Shelter Blues

Posted in bomb shelter, Camp Fire Girl, Cold War, fall-out shelter, family, grandpa, memoir, OCD, radiationLeave a comment

(re-run) My childhood house on 69th Street in a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa, had a big bump in the backyard. It’s where my grandfather built a fall-out shelter that connected to our basement. It was during the Cold War, and thoughts of atomic bombs being dropped on us was enough to motivate him to… Continue reading Bomb Shelter Blues

The Blond-tourage

Posted in aging, blondes, California, cocktail waitress, girlfriends, hairdresser, humor, memoir, relationships, waitressingLeave a comment

(re-run) 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.… Continue reading The Blond-tourage