Today has been a day of sleeping.  This is after several long days of work, one of which was 11 1/2 hours long with students.  I found this piece that I posted several years ago and decided it reflected accurately my need today for the refuge of a quiet room and several naps.  Refuges are…

I am delighted to report that I  have been chosen to offer two workshops in the upcoming “Stories From the Heart IX” Memoir Conference in Austin, Texas on July 20 – 22, 2018.  I will be presenting one of the two Friday pre-conference workshops entitled, “How to Improve Your Writing and Get Published: Flash Fiction…

I wrote this several years back, but I love this story of my brother George’s last day. My brother approached death with such grace, it is awe-inspiring.   *** Fourteen years ago today, my brother George passed away. He was 54 years old. George called on the evening of May 2nd, 2004 and told me that…

I live across from a fourteen-story condo building here in Los Angeles, and sometimes I feel as if I’m the Jimmy Stewart character in Alfred Hitchcock’s movie Rear Window.  No, I haven’t seen a Raymond Burr equivalent dragging out a dismembered wife, but I did see a man walking around naked in his condo one evening and…

Ray and I drove up to Ojai this evening. We have business to attend to up here tomorrow and will also get to see Liz and Ron. It is 51 degrees right now so I am sitting in my coat in the Airstream though we have had the heater on. Ray and the dogs are…

Yesterday, my friend Sarah Hensley at church gave me a recipe for a honey-sweetened chocolate cake that uses avocados rather than butter or oil for the fat. Today, Rachael and I made it and the photos below show the result.  The cake is dense, like a brownie, and really chocolatey.  There is not a hint of…

This week we have learned that our little granddaughter Luna has been accepted into kindergarten at the Jackson STEM Dual Immersion Academy in Alta Dena, CA.  This will allow Luna to be in a Spanish/English immersion program from K – 5th grade, where 90% of the classes are taught in Spanish/10% in English in kindergarten…

I made this recipe today and it was delicious.  I love quinoa because it is so light and takes on the flavor of the spices. I would highly recommend this recipe. I’ve eaten three bowls of chili today and am looking forward to leftovers tomorrow.  Let me know if you try it! Instant Pot Turkey…

Today is my mother’s 100th birthday and I decided to resurrect this piece I wrote a couple of years ago.  It makes me happy to revisit these favorite memories of Mom and they are as true today as they were then. I hold Mom close every day and cherish the love we shared.    I…

Heading back to LA. Trusting Southwest will get us there safely. We had a very productive trip and plan to return in a little less than a month. We are on the plane about to learn how to fasten our seat belts. Happy trails, my friends. I will check back with you tomorrow. By the…