Category: summer

Plain Jane

Posted in California, dancing, dating, flirting, friends, humor, innuendo, make-up, memoir, music, park, relationships, summer, vintage, worstLeave a comment

My middle name is Jane. I don’t love it. There was a commercial in the 70’s for hair dye, I think. I remember the line,” Don’t be a plain Jane.” After that I disliked both my middle name and my hair color. There was another commercial in that decade that said, “Boys don’t make passes… Continue reading Plain Jane

Popsicles, Light Carpet, and Stitches

Posted in babies, best, California, childhood, children, daughter, emergency room, feet, firsts, holidays, hospital, humor, memoir, mom, nine year old, pain, parents, relationships, summer, worstLeave a comment

(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

Street Dance

Posted in best, California, dancing, dogs, friends, hiking, humor, memoir, Midwestern, mom, music, outdoors, relationships, singing, summerLeave a comment

(re-run) After hiking six miles with the senior group called DASH, which does not dash at all, but rather hikes slowly through the woods with plenty of stops for bathroom breaks, snack breaks, or count-up-and-regroup breaks, I was too pooped to go out dancing. But my friends were going, it was close (just one town… Continue reading Street Dance

Shop Till You Drop

Posted in best, California, Carmel, girl friends, girlfriends, helpful strangers, humor, memoir, music, relationships, retail, summer, thrift store, travel, underwear1 Comment

(re-run) We had already hit two thrift stores and were heading for a third. Then I remembered that Vicky wanted to go to the ones in Carmel. I turned onto Forest Avenue and took the winding highway 68 through the Monterey pines. It would lead to the new roundabout that would send the traffic north… Continue reading Shop Till You Drop

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

D is for Dancing

Posted in aerobics, aging, Beatles, best, birthday, Bruno Mars, California, Costco, dancing, high five, humor, live music, macarena, music, summerLeave a comment

Spring is here; summer is on its way. That means outdoor dancing venues with earlier performances, perfect for seniors looking to be home by ten. Gotta catch the news, you know. But there’s one more late show this weekend, an all-time favorite R & B band that plays Black soul, Black blues, Black disco, and… Continue reading D is for Dancing