The Sweet Spot

(re-run from 2018) It’s that time of year.   The nights are cooling down, the sun is setting earlier, everything is either starting back up or ending.  The outside music venues are closing up, and the Halloween costumes are showing up in the thrift stores. The kids have been back at school for almost a month. … Continue reading The Sweet Spot

Big Jack, Little Jack

Teaching high school didn’t open up many dating possibilities at work, unless you count the weird science teacher with the orange stick-up hair and the pocket protector, or the short English teacher who did impersonations as well as anyone on Saturday Night Live. One night, as I was complaining that I couldn’t find any good… Continue reading Big Jack, Little Jack

Mountain Lion

(re-run) It has happened again, this time in El Dorado County in the Sierra Foothills.  Two brothers went hunting for antler shed, and instead they tussled with a mountain lion (mama?). The younger brother (18) has traumatic facial cuts and the older brother died (21). It’s so sad for that family. Didn’t they know it’s… Continue reading Mountain Lion

Second Time Around

(re-run) Suzanne needed a date for her Alpha Delta Phi sorority party that was being held off campus at one of the sisters’ parents’ house. She invited a guy from her old high school, Mark. When they got there, Mark knew the physician dad, because they’d been on ski patrol together one winter in Tahoe.… Continue reading Second Time Around

Get Some Facetime

(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 Flying Hammer and the Cleaning Lady

(re-run) Many moons ago, when I was the mother of three young children, my husband (now ex) said, “Let’s remodel the kitchen.” I stupidly agreed, not realizing that I would be the one to suffer through six weeks of no kitchen sink and six weeks of feeding my family with no way to cook anything… Continue reading The Flying Hammer and the Cleaning Lady

Waitresses Make the Best Tippers

(re-run) After moving to Omaha and teaching for a couple of years across the Missouri River in Council Bluffs, Iowa, I grew tired of driving a car that smelled like a mildewed basement. My Chevy Monza (first car ever) had suffered through a Nebraska flood back at the farmhouse, and the car stank. I couldn’t… Continue reading Waitresses Make the Best Tippers

Scariest Student Ever

(re-run) During my ten years of teaching public school, I had many a student that caused me grief.  The 8th grader transfer student who called me a bitch in front of the whole class on his first day.  The brilliant 7th grade boy who lit matches in the hallway and dropped them on… Continue reading Scariest Student Ever