Well, well, well.
Fancy this. It’s been well over five years since I’ve written in this space. From then to now, I’ve put my words elsewhere – in ads, in marketing copy, in corporate blogs. That’s because sometime around 2014 I decided it was in my best financial interest to get a full-time job with benefits. That realization came sometime after I almost hocked my mom’s wedding ring to buy groceries. Sitting in the parking lot of the pawn shop, crying in the car, I resolved to extend myself beyond the unpredictability of freelance work. I looked for a “real” job for months after. Age seemed to factor into hiring decisions, and as much as human resources “thought leaders” tell you age isn’t a thing, it’s a thing. Especially if you’ve been freelancing for seven years and are in your 40s. Still. Thanks to my blogging relationships, a friend I’d met in this…
On The Edge
Confronting fear and overcoming it…
It’s November 10 Again
{My mom died 18 years ago today. Forgive the maudlin?} I enter the muted waiting room as I’ve done year after year: nervous, winded after trying to find parking, praying. I take a seat at the desk as an empathetic female volunteer takes my ID and health history. Any breast cancer in the family? Yes. Who? My mom. How old was she when diagnosed? 48. After, everything remains still and quiet and I take my purse to the other waiting room, the one where women are called one by one into the dressing area to prepare for their mammograms. I open a magazine and block out the voices: you have it, you have it, you have it. The nagging thought raises to a roar as my own name is announced and I’m led to change into a threadbare cheery gown and brought to a third and final waiting room,…
New York: A Rambling Recap
About 47 months ago in blog years (last June), the kids and I and The Rock took a trip to New York to visit with my siblings. My brother, Marky, and other brother, Dane, recently bought and remodeled a house on Long Island and they, my sister, and I, along with our respective families, convened on the home in typical fashion – loudly and with much exuberance. But first things first. We’re scattered all over the world. Marky lives in Brooklyn, Dane’s in Singapore, and my sister parks it in North Dakota. No we don’t know why. Yes we tried to talked her out of it. Because we live far from each other, we don’t visit as often as we’d like. There’s a Christmas here, a dad’s open heart surgery there, and random trips everywhere. To have us all in one place is a special treat, until we revert…
My Netflixes of the Month
I’ve been all over the Netflix this past month. I mean, ALL OVER. No genre has been safe. Documentary? I’m coming for you. Lifetime movie from 2011? Lock your doors. Teeny-bopper spookfest? Ding dong! I don’t know what July was all about for me. Schizophrenia, maybe. Or inability to make decisions. Or super-ability to make many decisions. Whatever the reason, much Netflixes (Netflixi?) were had by my eyeballs. Here’s what I watched: 1) An Honest Liar Does anyone remember James Randi? A former magician, he used to debunk paranormal phenomena, so-called miracle workers, and psychics profiting off others’ naiveté. I used to watch him on “Johnny Carson”, and “That’s Incredible.” (Why don’t I just call myself San Diego Grandma?). At any rate, I loved to hear how Randi exposed those guys who claimed to heal the sick, or read people’s minds, or bend spoons. Full of…
PROMPTuesday #238: I Survived…
Upon looking back on one’s life, one might marvel at how he (or she) survived certain events. For instance, one’s 46-year-old self may wonder why his (or her) 18-year-old version got into a Tijuana stranger’s car at 2AM in a drunken bid to get back to the U.S. before curfew. Or a person may rethink walking down a dead-end alley near Chicago’s Cabrini Green in 1996’s pitch black, heading straight toward the voices of ne’er-do-well youth wielding baseball bats. That same person could possibly NOW be baffled at his (or her) extreme willingness to stay platonically in a Baja California hotel room with a shifty someone he (or she) just met because his (or her) best friend asked him (or her) to occupy him (or her) self for a few hours while his (or her) best friend entertained a certain young man (non-platonically). Could be one, now a capable…
I’m a mom to two sassafras teenage daughters, Toots and Booger. I’m married to The Rock, my stabilizing, calming counterpart (most of the time) …read more
