memoir – Page 49 – FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER!

Highway Dog

October 2, 2023October 1, 2023 Posted in back ache, Carmel, dogs, highway, memoir, Min Pin, neighbors, Orange County, sale, shopping, thrift storeLeave a comment

I’m in my little beach town, up the road a bit from Carmel. At the end of each month, the block of thrift stores in the Barnyard Shopping Center near Carmel Valley put their merchandise at 50% off for a day or two. Yellow Brick Road was on its second day of sale yesterday, so… Continue reading Highway Dog

The Crack in my Face

October 1, 2023September 30, 2023 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

September 30, 2023September 29, 2023 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

September 29, 2023September 28, 2023 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

The Saga of the Spider

September 27, 2023September 26, 2023 Posted in board and care, climate change, Facebook, iphone, memoir, relationships, spidersLeave a comment

(re-run) Today, at my sister’s board and care home, as I was reading her the newspaper, I glanced out the large sliding glass door and noticed a huge spider web with a spider in the center. It was one and a half inches across and yellow with red stripes on the legs. I took several… Continue reading The Saga of the Spider

Dieting, Body Image, and Stay Out of my Business

September 26, 2023September 25, 2023 Posted in anorexia, body image, bulimia, college, diet, Karen Carpenter, memoir, mental health, mental illness, pregnancy, restricting, teacher, teaching, weight lossLeave a comment

(re-run) “Are you going to eat all of that?” I was sitting at a table in the teachers’ lounge, my lunch spread out before me. There was a sandwich, a red apple, carrot sticks and a glass of juice, maybe a chocolate or two. Why was the teacher I barely knew commenting on my lunch?… Continue reading Dieting, Body Image, and Stay Out of my Business

Fix Your Past Mistakes, or Get a Million Dollars?

September 24, 2023September 23, 2023 Posted in a million dollars, California, chorus, Facebook, family, friends, memoir, relatives, retirement, The MartianLeave a comment

(re-run) A Facebook post asks if you’d rather go back in time and fix all of your mistakes or don’t do that and get $1,000,000 instead. That’s easy. People will take the money. What if the choice were, go back in time and fix all your mistakes or don’t (no money)? I’d say no to… Continue reading Fix Your Past Mistakes, or Get a Million Dollars?

Lock It Down

September 21, 2023September 20, 2023 Posted in biological clock, dating pool, divorce, empty nester, love, lovers, memoir, men, politics, relationships, ring, womenLeave a comment

When we were in our twenties and thirties, we were looking for a husband and father of our future children. Our biological clocks ticked louder the closer we got to 35, the cut-off point for a low-risk pregnancy. Yes, older women give birth after that, but fertility drops off in the thirties, and it is… Continue reading Lock It Down

Porn for Women

September 20, 2023September 19, 2023 Posted in clean-up, cleaning, commercials, cooking, dancing, dinner, memoir, men, perfume, porn, pornography, Victoria's Secret, washing dishes, washing the car, womenLeave a comment

There is a little book series out there called Porn for Women. It has shirtless men doing exciting things that turn on a typical woman, like vacuuming, doing dishes, and changing diapers. Why? Because a woman’s mind works differently than a man’s.A man sees a woman on the Victoria’s Secret commercial and is ready to go.… Continue reading Porn for Women

Don’t Blame the Bees

September 19, 2023September 18, 2023 Posted in bumblebees, honey bees, memoir, music, music in the park, yellow jackets, yellow jackets, pollinators,Leave a comment

I went to music in the park Saturday evening. The place was packed for one of the best local bands, East Bay Mudd. Every spot was taken by 5:30. The band played from six to 8:30. At about 7:00, my friend came over to me on the dance floor and said a bee had stung… Continue reading Don’t Blame the Bees