From the inception of the idea that I could possibly try to train for a Half Marathon… until the moment I finished… was a journey I will always remember. It began on November 28, 2009, after I completed a 5-mile race that Janie had encouraged me to run. OK. 5 miles. I did it. But how about 13.1? I thought [...]

Mardi Gras. Carnevale. Festivals, parades and processions. Music and dancing. Costumes. And masks. I’ve never been to a Mardi Gras celebration before, but Saturday night Barry and I headed to The 18th Annual Cajun & Zydeco Mardi Gras Ball at Rhodes-on-the-Pawtuxet with our wonderful cousin/closest friends. Oh, we had our beads and masks… but the party revelers were, for the [...]

Some twelve or thirteen years ago, my girls bought me a pair of Ugg boots for my birthday. In velvety sumptuous black. Soft fur. Thick fleecy lining that, yes, keeps me warm even without socks in the middle of a New England winter. Audrey and Jane were both in college at the time and they thought these Uggs were so [...]

Of all things children, there’s nothing quite like SNOW… those dancing white crystals that change everything. Sidewalks and roads and open fields and hills become shadows of what they were and suddenly are the images of adventure. White blankets transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. Snow brings laughter. Snow brings creativity. If you listen carefully, snow brings the most delightful [...]

You’re part of the Sandwich Generation if you are actively involved in the lives/interests/activities/care of your children and elderly parents. Like… sandwiched in the middle. In a good way. You’re part of the Club Sandwich Generation if you’re involved in the lives/interests/activities/care of aging parents, adult children and grandchildren. Kind of like adding delectable bacon to the luncheon meat. Well, [...]

My Mom is home from her extended health vacation. She is happy to be home, but with being home comes all the things about being home. You know… cooking, laundry, housekeeping, organizing. I am happily helping with the first three. I cook up lots of things, like American Chop Suey (with ground turkey) or baked chicken or fish with rice [...]

While Audrey (aka Mommy) is attending the BlissDom ’10 Conference, I’ve been helping out with the kids. And you know what happens while the cat’s away and the kiddies come to Grandma’s to play… Let’s just say the kittens and I have been having a little bliss of our own. We’ll call it WhipDom ’10 and leave it at that!

Yesterday morning, I stopped in at Audrey’s house before heading to visit my Mom at her rehab center.  (She is supposed to come home today… fingers crossed!) What I didn’t expect, though, was… if all bets are on grandparents, the Comment Trifecta of Grandmotherhood. First, while I helped 2-year old Benjamin spread cream cheese on his bagel, he poked his [...]

My mother-in-law loved necklaces.  Long, short, bold, elegant, colorful, interesting, subdued.  Flo loved them all and could wear them with wonderful confidence.  When Flo died, Barry and I carefully removed her necklace holder from behind her bedroom door and we took it to our home… necklaces and all.  Barry carefully attached it with its two little brass screws to the [...]

January came and went.  It came and went so fast that I haven’t had a moment to breathe.  My Mom was either in a hospital or rehab since January 4th.  Then Barry had a little run-in with a colonoscopy scope and January was further reduced in terms of TIME. I blinked and January was gone. And this is why tomorrow, [...]