Sometimes I mistake it for melancholy. And maybe now and then it is. She absorbs moods, energies, feelings instantly and spits them back out like a crazy spigot, but after the initial flood, she settles into quiet reflection. It’s almost as if she’s saturated by the sheer intensity of her emotion and can’t take more [...]

Chris gently reminded me that I haven’t updated on my chemical peel yet, and by George if she ain’t right.
 
So here’s the thing: I don’t look like this anymore.
 

 
Now, I look way more like this:
 

 
I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like I had the peel, and suddenly I emerged from my crusty shell [...]

I think this started as a meme. I’ve read several outstanding versions of it over the last year, and I thought I’d like to offer it as a PROMPTuesday, so…
 
I am.
 
This week, tell us who you are, what’s inside, where you’re from. Share your memory fragments, those visions in your head, those figments that make [...]

Words elude, weary of running.
 
But I will continue to write.
 
The luster is dim, the veneer chipped and dinged.
 
But I will continue to write.
 
I fear what’s next, barriers busted, re-erected.
 
But I will continue to write.
 
I avoid the spark, embers cool, then darken.
 
But I will continue to write.
 
I thrash, I rail, tumble, concuss.
 
Still continue to write.
 
Threaten divorce, [...]

Man! First the pre-flight anxiety and now Rebecca. The humor gods seem to be conspiring against me. So I guess I’ll give an update instead of going for the funny.
 
Rebecca is good. She’s taken off her ankle bandages (herself!) (in the middle of the night!) and defiantly pulled out her IVs. Her ankle swelling has [...]

 
Found out this morning that my teacher, muse, and mother figure, Rebecca, is in the hospital. I didn’t know for a week, and when I got there this morning, seeing her prone took my breath away. I
knew when I started seeing her 7 years ago, when she was 87, that she might get sick one [...]

 
There’s so much to say. First of all, I’m going to write about my pre-flight anxiety in a separate post, because it was big and bold and ultimately, beautiful. One thing I almost wrote here before I left, was that I’d rather die in the air, than live afraid on the ground, but the superstitious [...]

For today’s PROMPTuesday, I ask that you write about a trip or an excursion that left you changed in some way. Did you conquer a fear on your trip? Learn something about yourself? Learn something about another person? Break up? Get together? Consider hospital time for the largest walking blister this side of Manhattan?
 

I look [...]

 
(I took this picture from my plane with my eyes closed. No need to remind myself that I was 39,000 miles up in the air.)
 
Thanks so much for your prayers and good thoughts! I’m home and that means I actually got on a plane twice. TW-ICE.
 
Thanks to my guest posters, too, who I’ll index for [...]

Cheri at Blog this Mom! is the first San Diego blogger I read after starting San Diego Momma this past winter. She be-charmed me with her dry wit, quiet genius and spectacular writing. It was through Cheri that I met the Blog Bitches and I am forever haunted by thankful for that. I believe that [...]

 
(Steph’s “professional pic.”)
 

 
(The one I prefer.)
 
I love my Steph. I could leave it at that and be perfectly happy. But then, you wouldn’t know how we met, or how we fell in love, or any of the saucy details, so I’ll continue. I began San Diego Momma officially in January-ish, and Steph’s blog was one [...]

You know when you read someone and instantly you’re aware that you’re in the presence of amazing grace? That person for me is Tinsenpup. I found her through Five Star Friday, several months ago and I’ve been bugging her ever since. I can’t express how I feel about her writing — it’s just heartbreaking and [...]

Guest poster, Da Goddess, was my first blog friend WAY BACK in 2002. I was just six months into the blog that won’t be named and I reached out to her for support and advice. She adopted me right away, unselfishly sharing links, help, companionship, anything I needed to make me feel more welcome. The [...]

What can I say about Mommy Pie that you haven’t already heard me go on and on about? Let’s see. I love her? No. I’ve said that before. Hmmm…She’s my psychic twin? Also, probably heard me say that. Gosh, I’m running out of glowing new commentary. Let me leave it at this: Mommy Pie was [...]

OK, I’m leaving for New York in less than 10 hours. Would you all think happy thoughts for me and say a prayer or two?
 
I’ll tweet my safe (I hope! I hope! I hope!) arrival…
 
p.s. Some fabulous guest posters are lined up during my absence. Can’t wait for you to read them!
 

In light of my upcoming trip this Wednesday, today’s PROMPT is short and sweet (and selfish).
 
Can you tell me a story of a fear you’ve overcome? Fiction is of course, welcome. As are poems. Or one-liners. In fact, anything goes.
 
Anything.
 
Go!
 
(And thank you.)
 

 
I don’t care who you are, when you watch your kids light up at Disneyland, your black heart is sure to turn gray, and if you’re lucky, it might go completely pink on you.
 
I didn’t really feel like fighting crowds, to be honest, or waiting in lines, or missing nap times, or paying for [...]

Good. That ought to help.
 
(You’ll never guess where we’re going tomorrow.)
 

Hi. I’m drunk. Sorry, but that’s just the way it’s gotta be until next Wednesday. Which is the day I board my plane to New York.
 
I tried to hard to vlog today because I’m pretty much unable to write, think, drive, eat, sleep these days and I really wanted you to see the depths [...]

Would you guys bear with me for a few more weeks? I’m sucking, I know. It’s just that I’ve been so busy. (And you know, panicked.)
 
Annnnyyywayyy.
 
Here’s the thing. My mom used to collect wine corks from dinners or parties with friends, which she’d ask everyone at the dinner or party to sign as a memento. [...]

Well it’s 6:30AM, which these days is the best time for me to blog. Toots lays in our bed, after having a nightmare, Booger is sleeping off her temper tantrum, and The Rock is showering downstairs (and he’d better bring the razor up this time.)
 
My phone rang a few short minutes ago, and it was [...]

We talked at breakfast, arguing politics, healthcare, the economy. Dozens of people nursed coffees, poked their eggs, and gazed out the window at the water. Families waiting for a seat paced outside, while the hostess scribbled name after name. Kids ran between their parents’ legs, teen-agers smoked, uncles sighed, ailing mothers whimpered, bums curled in [...]