Today my beloved Rachael and our dear friend, Jared, arrived safely from Texas. Hurray. There is nothing like knowing that people you care about are safe. There is also nothing like seeing people you love after a period of absence. Of course, one of the benefits of Rachael picking Texas for her post-college experience is…
Author: lenleatherwood
I am a native Texan who has lived for the past 30 years in Southern California. I am a published author of both short memoir and fiction, a two-time Pushcart nominee, a nationally award-winning writing coach, an editor, as well as a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Texas. In addition, I am the mother of three grown daughters of whom I am extremely proud, a grandmother of four darling children and the wife of a man I still love after 44 years.
Final Press Before Celebrations
This will be a short post. I am dragging my rear-end this evening for good reason: the homeless breakfast this morning and then a day filled with students. I am finishing up with all of my students by Monday at noon, so I have more coming tomorrow morning and early afternoon and one at 9…
The Tension of Awaiting the CA Bar Exam Results
Tonight at 6 pm the California bar exam results were posted. The exam was administered back in late July/early August so it’s been quite a wait to see if daughter Liz and her boyfriend, Ron, were going to be among the recent law graduates who could officially call themselves California attorneys. Ron and Liz went…
My Cup Runneth Over
I am happy. Liz and Ron have returned from their 60-day trek around the country. They have seen all sorts of relatives and friends along the way and visited 25 states, the District of Columbia and a small portion of Canada. They made it safe and sound after logging over 10, 000 miles on Liz’s…
A Mantra Worth Repeating
My last student just left: it’s 10:11 pm. My first student arrived at 1:30. Enough said? Ah…nothing like the throes of college essay time. I will say that the essays are turning out really well – actually stunning in a few cases – so I can go to bed feeling satisfied and proud. Before 1:30,…
Thanksgiving and A Wedding: Coming Together
I have been on an organizational binge today in reference to Thanksgiving and wedding planning. I sat down this morning and devoted quite a lot of time to thinking of every detail related to these two events. I put my lists in different documents with notes to myself about questions that needed to be answered,…
The Film “Nebraska” – Go See It
Tonight we went to see the film Nebraska with Bruce Dern. This is a very straight-forward movie with a simple premise: an old man wants to go claim his winnings after receiving a letter that says: “Congratulations, you’ve won a million dollars.” The story revolves around the reactions of Dern’s family: his wife and two…
No Bah! Humbug! When It Comes to Our Youth
Kids these days…this is a favorite starting point for so many people I know to go off on a rant about how today’s youth is self-absorbed, computer-obsessed, short-attention spanned, and entitled. Working with today’s youth five days a week, I am here to say one word in response: “Poppycock.” Today alone I had four students…
An Autumn Wedding
We are preparing for a wedding over in these parts. Sarah and Gregorio, who had a civil ceremony in the summer, are having their official church wedding on November 30th at St. Thomas the Apostle, Hollywood. This is a blessed event, of course, which is punctuated by a private Baptism for Luna an hour before…
Baby in the House
Look who is visiting Grandma and Grandpa today. Sarah has her second interview for a residency in Family Medicine early tomorrow morning so we get an overnight with Sarah, Gregorio and Luna. Mom and Dad will head out early tomorrow and Grandma and Grandpa get to babysit until Mom gets home around 1 or 2….
