Thirty-one years ago today, I gave birth to my beloved second child, Elizabeth, in the master bedroom of our home in Denison, Texas.  I had the help of two midwives; Ray; my best friend, Patricia Butler; and my 3 1/2 year-old daughter, Sarah, over that long night. Sarah had the calmest demeanor in the…

My first cousin Lee Leatherwood has his birthday today. He is five days older than I am and we lived no further than five blocks apart from the day we were born until we graduated from high school and then only a quarter of mile away from each other during our freshman year at UT….

Tomorrow we will be celebrating Liz’s 31st birthday, which is officially Monday, before Ray and I head back to LA late tomorrow afternoon.  (Liz and Ron will stay through Monday when our Utah family will all go skiing and snowboarding with them.)  I will be making Liz’s favorite dessert for the festivities.  This is a…

Here’s to a happy 1st birthday for my little grandson, Nico. He went on a hike with his mom, dad and sister and spent most of it snuggled up on daddy’s shoulder, sleeping. This little guy is so full of sweetness and love, it’s hard to even describe the joy he brings to the lives…

January 13, 2016 Ray and I had a good cry after they wheeled Sarah into the operating room for an emergency c-section after 12 hours of labor. Her blood pressure had sunk to 30/60 and baby Nico’s heart rate had dropped to 80 from 155. Suddenly, the medical team went from one nurse to a…

Eating, chatting, walking, driving, watching television. Mexican food for lunch. Indian food for dinner. More chatting. Relaxing and having fun. I’ll check back in tomorrow. Definitely a good idea to unplug for a few days.  

I am on the plane to Salt Lake City, which was delayed two hours. We have been in the air for about an hour and we are experiencing a bit of turbulence. Nothing terrible but enough for the flight attendant to say that we all need to be in our seats with our seat belts…

Here I sit in the den with Cordie nearby and Frankie already upstairs with Ray.  The house is quiet at 9:32 on a Monday evening.  I have had five hours of students today plus a run to the airport and back to pick up old friends from Wales who will be visiting LA and their…

I have just begun reading John Steinbeck’s Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters, a compilation of Steinbeck’s letters to his editor and friend, to whom he addressed a journal entry every day before writing his manuscript pages for his novel. East of Eden is one of the first books I read years ago…

A January 7th can not go by without me recognizing that this is my big brother George’s birthday.  George was born January 7, 1950 and died of cancer on May 4, 2004 at only 54. George was my first best friend, being only 3 years older than me, and he remained one of my closest…