When I was young, the one black boy in my elementary school was my classmate. His name was Teddy. This was white-white-white Iowa in the 60’s. My first grade teacher, Mrs. Van Cura, got angry at the class one day for misbehaving and said, “Whoever doesn’t behave will have to play with Teddy at recess.”… Continue reading The Racist and the Ficus Tree
Category: mom
Mr. No Class
They met online through a singles website (not the swiping one). Tom lived and worked in Napa. Carin lived less than an hour away in the San Francisco East Bay on a horse ranchette with her seven horses. She ran a small upscale hair salon. After much texting and talking, they got together for dinner… Continue reading Mr. No Class
Popsicles, Light Carpet, and Stitches
(re-run) It was Labor Day weekend. We needed to get a handle on the mess in the garage. I asked my oldest to watch my youngest while we parents worked outside. She was nine, in 4th grade already for a week, and the baby was almost two and a half. Then a series of unfortunate… Continue reading Popsicles, Light Carpet, and Stitches
Fighting for Blue Jeans
(re-run) When you’re in the dog house, you are in trouble. You’ve done something bad. As a child, I was never in the dog house because we didn’t have one. We didn’t even have a dog. My mother had her own strain of weird expressions that she said to us kids on a regular basis,… Continue reading Fighting for Blue Jeans
A Girl, A Creek, and an Hour to Spare
(re-run) When my worker woman showed up Monday morning after having been gone for a two-week long vacation, I had a long list of to–do’s for her. I answered the door and found her nine year old daughter standing next to her. I said hello and went over the list with Kelly. I left to… Continue reading A Girl, A Creek, and an Hour to Spare
Q is for Quirky
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
Why Not to Date your Neighbor
Julie got divorced and moved into her new townhouse with her six-year-old son. One day, when she was out walking her dog, a guy mowing his lawn turned off the mower and said hello. They chatted about her dog, and Julie mentioned that she had just moved in. Doug rode his bike a lot while… Continue reading Why Not to Date your Neighbor
Queen Victoria, The Cat
(re-run) Renee, an 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 kitten,” 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
If You Date your Neighbor
Julie got divorced and moved into her new townhouse with her six-year-old son. One day, when she was out walking her dog, a guy mowing his lawn turned off the mower and said hello. They chatted about her dog, and Julie mentioned that she had just moved in. Doug rode his bike a lot while… Continue reading If You Date your Neighbor
My Day Offline
Every morning I get up, feed the dogs, boil a pot of water, and make a blog post. Then I drink my cup of hot water, scroll through Facebook, and wait for my reflux meds to kick in. Then I eat breakfast, take a shower, and start my day. I usually return to the internet… Continue reading My Day Offline
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 