Today is going to be a tough one for me. My 86-year old Mom is having surgery.  I know she’s a tough cookie and all, but I’m her daughter, her only daughter, and my mind is racing, racing, racing. But something happened late yesterday afternoon that brought me great peace. I’d like to share this story with you… no matter [...]

There was a time in my life when I didn’t particularly like Autumn. Maybe it was because I loved Summer so much, with her glorious blues and greens and pinks and white-whites. My Mom always reminded me that I was born in Autumn… and that I would some day love the deep, rich, cool of Autumn’s miracles. Never, I thought. [...]

When I woke up 33 years ago today, I knew that I was going to have a baby that day. I had gone into early labor the morning before… 6 weeks before my due date.  Fortunately, my husband Barry and I taught at the same school where the early labor began (while teaching a class, no less!), so off we [...]

My Mom is not a tea-totaler.  But she doesn’t actually drink, either.  She’ll have a glass of wine maybe once or twice a year, or so… but that’s about it.  So the fact that she got smashed (for lack of a better word) on the day Audrey was born is legendary family stuff. This past Sunday, on Audrey’s 32nd birthday, [...]

Because she’s a running the bases kind of mom (and grandma)… BlissTV – Thanks Mom from Blissful Media Group on Vimeo. I was a competitive swimmer for 14 years of my life. My dream was to always be an Olympian… I used to hang photos of Jenny Thompson and Summer Sanders on my wall and just dare to dream. As [...]

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 [...]

Whenever I go to Audrey’s home, whether for a quick drop-off of something-or-other or for an afternoon, 2-year old Benjamin comes running from wherever he is, gives me a great big hug and says in the most welcoming of ways, “Take your coat off.” This means I’m staying. As I unzip my coat or vest or sweatshirt, I can see [...]

It is a bit after 7:00 pm on a Sunday night.  It is raining.  It is dark.  It is cold. My day began 12 hours ago when Barry texted me that there was a great probability that he would be discharged from the hospital today.  I got to the hospital at 8:00 am… thinking that he’d be sitting on the [...]

I borrow and slightly paraphrase (I changed man to woman) the title of this post from the words of 18th century French naturalist and author Georges-Louis de Buffon. Although Buffon’s theories were scientific and evolutionist, I think Buffon’s words can be threaded right to fashion.  Yes, I do. This brings me to my Mom, Rita.  As many of you know, [...]

After the holidays, this little ditty rang loudly and clearly across the web… Back to life, Back to reality. Except for me, I think. For me, it’s Back to life, back to fantasy.  Yep.  I’m enrolling in 6 more weeks of pole dancing classes! And this brings me back to Christmas Eve, when I unwrapped a rather heavy, long, rectangular [...]