An Annual Lifelong Commitment

We’d been married about two months when I looked in the newspaper for Free-to-Good-Home cats and found Butler, a grey and white tuxedo boy about nine months old, and the best friend a young, often-to-be-alone, far-from-home gal could have hoped for. I needed a pet. I’d always had one. The year we lived in Australia, […]

The Usual Suspects

I’ve reached a complicated age regarding my ability to see. I started wearing glasses in my sophomore year of high school and eventually moved primarily to contact lenses in my mid-20s. As I entered my 40s, I realized that I was having a harder time with reading up close. As a teenager, I remember being […]

I Love a Parade

My alma mater, Moore High School, organized a homecoming parade every fall. Much like any other high school parade you might encounter it included: the homecoming court in convertibles, the band, school clubs, athletic teams, and livestock. Yes, livestock. I was in the parade as part of the gymnastics team. We wore our leotards, oh […]

Of Magnets and Memories

I’ve never been much of a collector; it’s hard when you move a lot. As a kid, I didn’t have any obsessive interest or a particular preoccupation that might have been the impetus for a collection.I didn’t encourage my kids to be collectors either. As an adult, I do have enough notebooks and coffee mugs, […]

There’s No I In Team

I’ve always been more of an individual sports gal. I started gymnastics when I was 6, maybe 7. As a middle schooler, I ran track. Does cheerleading count as a team sport? Or bowling? I bowled in a league as a 6th grader. 100 Things To Do Before You Grow Up encourages kids to think […]

To the Moon and Back

It’s really hard to write about space and not rely on cliches. Whether it’s Space, the final frontier, or In space, no one can hear you scream, or To infinity and beyond!, I’m having a hard time being original, even my title has been used time and again. Go ahead, I bet you can think […]

Two Scoops, Please

I’ve been trying to figure out how to write about ice cream. No doubt, it’s popular. I’m sure ice cream dislikers exist but they probably keep it on the down-low, tired of listening to people’s shocked exclamations. I happen to be related to someone who doesn’t like chocolate and people are shocked, shocked I tell […]

Oh How the Mighty Have Fallen

This week we are EXPERIENCING PUBLIC HUMILIATION. That’s not actually in the book and I’m not about to relive any public humiliation I experienced as a kid, but I do want to write about the crushing humiliation I experienced last week when I published a blog post with a glaring grammatical error in the title! […]

Remember to Breathe

Some of the suggestions in 100 Things to Do Before You Grow Up are puzzling. They are either too difficult for a kid to access without help, i.e. climb a mountain, or too extra, like this week: BECOME A MASTER PUBLIC SPEAKER. Let’s break this down, not only is the idea to take on a […]

Bloom Where You Are Planted

I’ve never had a garden. I try to avoid using always and never but I think it’s true. Blaming our itinerant life is tempting, and that is a factor, but many military families have gardens: on base, in rental homes, yard or no yard. We’ve moved 17 times in 35 years. I won’t bore you […]