Author: Susan

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

Playing Ball with Daisy, 2.0

Posted in animal training, animals, Christmas tree, dog manners, dog park, dogs, Girl Scout camp, memoir, rain, trees1 Comment

(re-run) A few months ago, my three-time rescue Jack Russell terrier got overly excited and went after a loose Pomeranian in the park next to my house. Long story short, she’s no longer allowed off-leash. “I thought you didn’t play ball with her anymore,” my handywoamn said when I explained to her that she needed… Continue reading Playing Ball with Daisy, 2.0

No Christmas Tree for Me

Posted in Bah Humbug, Christmas, dinner, divorce, family, food, gardeners, Grinch, humor, outdoors, pink, thrift storeLeave a comment

(re-run) Eight Christmases in this house and only two trees. Both were living, and both got planted in my yard. Guess what? My yard is full. That’s what happens when you get rid of your grass, fire your gardener, and watch volunteer trees grow on their own, self-planting trees with a little help from the… Continue reading No Christmas Tree for Me

Remembering my Gay Boyfriend

Posted in antique, antique store, beach, boyfriend, dating, gays, girl friends, kiss, memoir, memory, motorcycle, photo shoot, photographs, piano, summerLeave a comment

My little beach house is kind of magical, in that I can get away from the rat race and think about stuff I haven’t thought of in a very long while. It’s partly due to the fact that my beach house is my dumping house, where everything to be sorted goes to live until I… Continue reading Remembering my Gay Boyfriend

The Six Stages of Thanksgiving

Posted in California, cleaning, dancing, dusting, exercise, food, friends, holidays, humor, live music, memoir, relationships, ThanksgivingLeave a comment

(re-run) I’m having Thanksgiving at my house today for nine or ten people. I say that because my brother-in-law may or may not show up. There is lots of football to be missed if he comes ninety minutes north to my house.  It will be me, my three kids, my two sisters, my niece and… Continue reading The Six Stages of Thanksgiving

The Scars of our Lives

Posted in accident, aging, broken bones, dentist, dog bite, health, make-up, melanoma, memoir, scars, stitches, sunburn, tetanus shot, tooth, VenezuelaLeave a comment

(re-run) When you get to be my age, you’re bound to have a few scars. I haven’t had any big surgeries, but I have scars from burns, bumps, and scrapes along the way.  Right now it’s my thumb that is most noticeable. I broke it by pulling down a three-piece sectional garage door an sticking… Continue reading The Scars of our Lives

The Crappy Crap Happy Post

Posted in balance, care home, chorus, Costco, crappy, dancing, Dead to Me, flu shot, handicap parking, happy, hiking, memoir, newspaperLeave a comment

Life is a balance. Not everything can go your way all the time. Sometimes it seems as though everything is going against you.  The last seven days have been full of ups and downs. As long as there is one happy for every one or two crappies, I can muddle through. It’s nice to be… Continue reading The Crappy Crap Happy Post

His Baby, She Wrote Him a Letter

Posted in best, California, dating, firsts, getting dumped, humor, last, military, relationships, VietnamLeave a comment

(re-run) Holly moved from San Francisco to the East Bay and missed her old classmates. The smart kids and the popular kids had already established their cliques. She was an outsider. Holly had no close friends with which to share her excitement and concerns at Bishop O’Dowd High School, even though she was kind of… Continue reading His Baby, She Wrote Him a Letter

Musical Cleaning Day (waiting for plumber)

Posted in Bill Withers, CD player, children, cleaning, dogs, Isley Brothers, memoir, music, musicians, pandemic, plumber, poem, purge, reflux diseaseLeave a comment

(re-run) The plumber said he’d be here by mid-morning, but it wasn’t looking good.  I worked on a review for a new children’s book coming out next month. I watched some Dry Bar Comedy while I digested my breakfast.  That is no longer a multi-tasking feature of my aging body. Reflux. It’s best to let… Continue reading Musical Cleaning Day (waiting for plumber)

Bricks, Ricks, & Cardboard

Posted in blind date, college, dating, firsts, humor, Iowa, memoir, Midwestern, relationships, restaurant, Rocky Mountains, worstsLeave a comment

(re-run) The college mixer was hosted by the men of Lorch House in Friley Hall, in the heart of the Iowa State University campus. Tappan House, the top two floors of Barton Hall, was invited. Yes, I am old. Yes, dorm floors are co-ed now. This was in the days of the dinosaurs, girl dinosaurs… Continue reading Bricks, Ricks, & Cardboard