I have a house in suburbia, where I sing in a chorus, go dancing with friends, and shop at amazing thrift stores and then resell to the public through Facebook Marketplace. Then there’s my beach town, where life is slower, the ocean is one shade of blue, the sky another. Deer wander in front of… Continue reading Living in Two Worlds
Almost Toast
(re-run) Marlene and her friend Beth came out to California from New Hampshire after college to work for Bank of America. They each made a new friend, and each new friend brought another friend to the party (plus one more) until they were a group of seven recent college graduates, living in the city of… Continue reading Almost Toast
The Sprinkler Man and the Glass Coffee Table
When my two oldest children were 5 and 2, we moved from one house in town to another. We didn’t gain any square footage, but the new house had a huge yard, front and back, and forty trees in a better neighborhood. The house had been vacant for months. The sprinklers weren’t working in the… Continue reading The Sprinkler Man and the Glass Coffee Table
Why Seniors Shouldn’t Multi Task
(re-run) I’ve been multi-tasking my whole life. Until today. No more. This is why. I spent the last two days working with my handy woman/gardener/housecleaner at my beach house. We cleaned and organized the garage, donated furniture and stuff with her truck and moved rocks around in the front yard. She left this morning, and… Continue reading Why Seniors Shouldn’t Multi Task
Taking the Plunge
(re-run) Aileen had an antique store in downtown Hayward with her husband. The business grew from their first 450 square foot shop until they’d moved into a store that was 3800 square feet. Her husband did the refinishing business in the workshop, and she ran the shop. Life was good until Tom got lung cancer. … Continue reading Taking the Plunge
Don’t Call Me Sweetheart
(re-run) Twenty years ago, I was a dealer in an antique collective with 35 dealers. I was 45; everyone else was 65. My prices were so low that the other dealers shopped my room, bought my stuff, marked it up and put it in their rooms. One Sunday, I was working my required 12-5 shift… Continue reading Don’t Call Me Sweetheart
Daisy Gets a Rap Sheet
(re-run) Jack Russell Terriers get a bad rap for being hyper, alpha, and prey driven. Sometimes the reputation is earned. The last two weeks have been anything but easy. Two friends and a neighbor died. I hosted a party, lost a crown, had a $1300 dentist bill, took one dog to the vet for chewing… Continue reading Daisy Gets a Rap Sheet
At Face Value
(re-run) Mark was a good-looking bartender at an upscale restaurant, full of confidence. He’d say his face was his moneymaker and that you need to use what your mama gave you. Mark went onto Bumble to find a date. He waited until a woman messaged him (that’s how Bumble works). Her photo showed a good-looking… Continue reading At Face Value
Biggest Scavenger Day Ever
A friend of mine in a garden club knows that I like pots and plants. She called to say that one member was moving and offering her many potted plants to the club. Nancy drove over to the woman’s house with me on Tuesday. I filled up my car with lots of little pots and… Continue reading Biggest Scavenger Day Ever
False Alarm
(re-run) Donnie was a firefighter and had a date with Lisa from Match.com. The date was just okay, but he knew there were only two kinds of women, those he would sleep with and those he wouldn’t. Lisa was in the first category. According to Donnie, men never had a wait-and-see attitude about a woman.… Continue reading False Alarm
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 