Category: high school

The Moon Landing and a Funeral

Posted in death, fishing, grandma, grandpa, high school, Home Ec, junior high school, memoir, moon landing, OCD, relationshipsLeave a comment

The day we landed on the moon, my parents took the family to a picnic/fishing spot at the Des Moines reservoir. I was going into high school in the fall, so it was a dorky thing to do on a Sunday, but hey? I couldn’t drive yet, and the food was always good on a… Continue reading The Moon Landing and a Funeral

Chinese Fire Drills and Other Politically Incorrect Things from my Past

Posted in best, ethnicity, family, friends, gender roles, girlfriends, high school, hitch hiking, humor, husband, Iowa, joke, memoir, Midwestern, political correctness, relationships, summer, trouble1 Comment

Back in high school in a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa, we did whatever we could to stir up some fun and sometimes some trouble. It was a simple existence: go to school, do homework, think about and look for boys. With no cell phones or social media to organize anything, kids spent a lot… Continue reading Chinese Fire Drills and Other Politically Incorrect Things from my Past

Four Bands and Birthdays in Four Nights

Posted in Beatles, birthday, California, dancing, Eagles, friends, girlfriends, high school, humor, live music, milkshakes, relationships, summer, two-dollar bill1 Comment

I know summer is here when I’ve seen four live bands in four nights. The first band played in Moraga on Thursday, a bit of a drive with traffic at 5:00 p.m. Three Day Weekend had good harmony, interesting song choices and some mean guitar, even horns. The crowd was mellow, lots of families with… Continue reading Four Bands and Birthdays in Four Nights

Pennies from Heaven

Posted in college, drugs, Eric Clapton, firsts, head shop, high school, humor, Iowa, J.J. Cale, memoir, music, relationships, smokingLeave a comment

(re-run) When I was sixteen, I saved up my babysitting money and went downtown to Cottage Grove Avenue in Des Moines, where there was a head shop filled with incense, hanging beads, roach clips, black light posters and tie dye. Although I wasn’t a pothead (I didn’t smoke cigarettes either), I enjoyed the ambience of… Continue reading Pennies from Heaven

The First Day of Summer

Posted in dogs, high school, kitchen remodel, lawn chair, live music, middle school, Millennials, neighbors, police officer, relationships, shorts, swimming pool, ticket, traffic school2 Comments

Okay, it’s not really the first day of summer, but school got out yesterday, and the kids in my neighborhood are running around in their new-found freedom. I walked the big dog and saw the parking lot to the pool, at the top of the green belt, filled with cars. It was only 1:00 p.m.… Continue reading The First Day of Summer

Q is for Quirky

Posted in California, Carmel, college, dancing, fashion, fraternity, high school, mom, Nebraska, quirky, sorority, stay-at-home mom, thrift store, wingtip shoes2 Comments

When I was in high school and bought some of my clothes at the DAV thrift store, they called me quirky. When I made a cool pair of bell bottom jeans out of my dad’s old work pants, they called me quirky, but they also asked me where I got them. When I broke tradition… Continue reading Q is for Quirky

C is for Choices

Posted in attitude, babies, best, bucket list, California, cats, childhood, choices, chorus, climate change, dating, dogs, ex-boyfriend, expectations, friends, gender, high school, humor, memoir, relationships1 Comment

Life is a series of choices: what to eat for breakfast, what college to go to, which person to marry, whether to see the cup half full or half empty. It’s much easier to look back at life and say what choices were good or bad. Whatever they were, they got you to where you… Continue reading C is for Choices