Today we worked on our barn here in Texas, a carriage house actually, which is behind our Queen Anne Victorian. This had been filled with building materials and extra appliances and furniture while we were renovating the house, and now has just been holding a mish-mash of junk. So, today we headed in and started…
Category: Los Angeles
Flash Essay: Sammie, Our New Foster Dog
Our daughter Sarah called us a few days ago and told us that her landlord had informed her in no uncertain terms that no dogs were allowed in her new apartment. This was right after she rescued a little Scottie, who had clearly been severely neglected. Ray got off the phone that night and said,…
Flash Essay: Trash or Treasure
I am tired tonight. For good reason. I have, as my husband just said, “Been moving junk around from a life I haven’t participated in for twenty years,” aka “Moving my husband’s stuff around, yet again.” The first time that I realized my husband had an inordinate relationship with “stuff” was several months after we…
Flash Essay: A New Eating Plan – Back to Basics
My husband Ray has started a new eating program: no eating between meals. He has been at it for two months and I can definitely see that he is thinner as a result. So, of course, I have jumped onboard to see if this will help me trim down my larger-than-I-would-like waistline. I started last…
Flash Essay: One of Those Moments
We loaded up daughter Sarah’s belongings today for her trek back to California. She is driving our long van with a U-haul trailer packed to the brim with her apartment contents. Heading back after three years in medical school in Texas to do her “audition” rotations in CA in hopes of landing a residency in…
Today One Boy’s Life Was Changed. Thank You, President Obama
I was eating lunch at a Chili’s in McKinney, Texas today when over my husband’s shoulder I saw President Obama’s face appear on the television screen mounted on the wall. The caption read: Obama moves on Dream Act. I tried to read the rest but the waitress came with our check and when I looked…
Flash Poetry: Whipped Cream
The house is quiet Night wraps itself around me A familiar quilt These days stretch out long Like a cat in cool green grass Hummingbirds flutter My eyelids grow thick Too heavy to stay open I dream of whipped cream
To Michael
Here is Michael with my daughter Rachael at their graduation from Beverly Hills High School. My beloved student Michael Bina is graduating from NYU right now and I want to just say congratulations to a boy who has made me proud as his writing teacher. Michael came to me as a 7th grader. In our…
Sarah’s Birth Story or How Not to Have a Baby at Home…
Today is my oldest girl’s 30th birthday and in the spirit of tradition, it’s time for Sarah’s birth story. I was 29 when Sarah was born, which means that I was in the height of our antique dealing life, jumping on and off the back of our pickup as we loaded for Canton Trades Days,…
Mother’s Day and Where I Want My Ashes to End Up
My daughter Rachael took me out to dinner late this afternoon to a restaurant in Malibu, right on the Pacific Ocean. She and I were alone since one sister is off in Mexico to see her best friend who has just moved to Mexico City, and the other is in Texas finishing her final rotation…
20 Minutes a Day 