“Dear Karen, I’m so happy spring is in the air—I’m even looking forward to spring cleaning! At Home Made Simple this month, we’re enjoying the burst of energy and inspiration—and we hope you are, too. Best Wishes, Julie B.” And so begins another highly personal, newsy email from my overflowing inbox. It was in good […]
That Tsunami The wall of seas came rolling in Deliberate, unstoppable A massive wave of gray This is how the dead come forth From all their graves On Judgment Day The weight of them, the mass of them Rolling on and on And who can hide The vanity of living things Illusion and the pettiness […]
My mother says she’s color blind from a lifetime of matching socks. As I celebrate my 24th year of doing Scott Rinehart’s laundry, I now know why. According to my husband’s sock drawer, there are 17 shades of navy blue. Four of those shades belong on over the calf socks while the other thirteen are […]
“When are you going to write about us?” asked the gentleman. I looked up from signing the visa receipt, smiled and said, “Oh I’m mulling it over; believe me.” That was 4 months ago. Now every time I walk in the liquor store and see the friendly men sitting behind the counter I feel guilty […]
Dear editor, I’m so sorry, but I didn’t write a column today. This must come as a shock to you as you are, on a weekly basis without fail, so accustomed to my promptness and professionalism—always amazing you with yet another award-winning piece delivered days before deadline. And believe me, I woke up today with […]
(With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy) • You might be in a cult if — you have a horror of having the number 144,001 stamped on your forehead. • You might be in a cult if — “there is more than one way to skin a cat” is a line from your liturgy. • You might […]
I miss her so much. My youngest child. My only girl. My ally in the house of hormones. Oh, of course I raised her to leave— prepared her for college so she could fly away and pursue her own education, see the world, meet new friends, develop her own life. And I love her school. […]
I hope you’ve read Part I…if not please do before reading Part II. I mean, lest you think I start off all conversations telling you about my toned calves…. 😉 I don’t tire of hearing compliments on my toned legs. Maybe it’s karma or payback but without any deliberate effort on my behalf, I’ve got […]
I remember clearly the day I discovered I had the horrendous, incurable, life scarring disfigurement known as “being short”. The first day of first grade started smoothly—there I stood on the sidewalk outside my classroom for the requisite “First Day of School Photo Shoot”. I wore a smashing long, kelly green dress emblazoned with neon […]
