Queen Victoria, the Cat

(re-run) Renee, the artist, already had three cats. She wasn’t looking for another. So when her daughter-in-law called and said, “Mom, you need to adopt this cat,” Renee was thinking, No way, Renee. But then she heard the kitty’s story, and she had to reconsider. Renee’s son Brian and his wife were moving to Tennessee… Continue reading Queen Victoria, the Cat

No New Year’s Resolutions for Me

(re-run) Today’s the day I am supposed to resolve to do better, work harder, exercise more, and eat clean.  Guess what? I learned long ago to do things in baby steps. It takes twenty-one days to form a new habit. Sometimes I can do it if I don’t think too hard about it. Like yogurt.… Continue reading No New Year’s Resolutions for Me

The Pandemic Purge Continues

They say you’re not an empty nester until the kids come claim their stuff. Therefore, these past years of living alone (one year with my sis) mean that even though my kids are grown and gone, I’m still Mom, holding onto their stuff. Some of that changed last weekend when two of my offspring came… Continue reading The Pandemic Purge Continues

Nature’s Prayer Moment

(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

A Date with Jesus

(re-run) Gina was from a big Italian family, So was Vito, her same age. The families were good friends, and when they were both fifteen, Gina was in love with Vito. But they never dated, and once Gina left for Berkeley to go to school at Cal, she didn’t see Vito for several years. When… Continue reading A Date with Jesus

More Crazy Real Estate Stuff

My little beach house sits on what was once a run-down looking street with oversized lots (for the town).  I bought it with my ex when we were married. He didn’t love it, but I did. It was one level, no steps from the driveway to the back door, a big fenced front yard and… Continue reading More Crazy Real Estate Stuff

My Two Gophers

(re-run) Now before you tell me that gophers are solitary creatures and that I only have one gopher, let me explain that I have a little beach house with a gopher and my regular house with a gopher. I am an Iowa girl, living in California. So both houses were bought because of the property… Continue reading My Two Gophers

How to Relax for Bed

(re-run) I decided to close my online costume shop this past summer. I donated 500 dresses to a charity for 3rd world girls and sorted through my aprons, pulling out all the hostess ones, the sheer ones not for cooking. I had 150 of them. I gave them to my local thrift store, the one… Continue reading How to Relax for Bed