My son Chris was very young when his father and I divorced – just a season past his fourth birthday. Jeff was good about staying in touch with Chris and paying child support, but as it happens, we never lived near each other again. For a while we were as close as Cleveland and Pittsburgh, but for a number of years we were more like … Continue reading Sentimental journey

I wrote this essay nearly a year ago and never heard a word until last night. It has just been published online on “This I Believe,” I am surprised and pleased to report! http://thisibelieve.org/essay/103195/ Today, Chris is working on his PhD in Marketing at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. I still think it’s terrible when companies are so callous to the eager people … Continue reading My essay finally showed up on “This I Believe”

Laundry day is Mick Jagger’s favorite day of the week. Why is that? Because like all dogs, his sense of smell is his keenest sense and there’s nothing he likes better than SMELLY smells. As I pull sheets, towels and various articles of clothing from the laundry chute, I toss them in piles of lights and darks. Mick will happily snuffle around in the stack … Continue reading What smells good is subjective, says Mick

I’m considering changing Mick’s name to Joe. Joe Camel. No, my dog hasn’t taken up smoking, but apparently he has a bladder like a camel’s. Having returned from vacation (totally awesome; or how about rad or bitchin’ while I’m sounding like a teenager?) to find that Mick had made great strides toward housebreaking with our trainer while I was gone. The trick, they said, was … Continue reading The proof is in the piddling

I’ve been experimenting with my camera and Windows Live Movie Maker. I really want to film places and people on my upcoming trip, but decided to practice with Mick, the rock star dachshund, first. The video is really lame. But – the great news is I learned how incredibly easy it is  to edit (in a very basic fashion, of course) whatever I film in … Continue reading Almost more about Mick, but then not so much

Well, not THE Mick Jagger, but I have decided to name my new dog Mick Jagger. Mick is coming home with me tomorrow afternoon and I am so excited! Spent a fortune at PetSmart yesterday. Favorite purchase:  leash with skull and cross bone motif. I thought that was appropriate for a dog named Mick Jagger, although it would have been more so had I named … Continue reading Mick Jagger coming to stay

Okay. I had the most amazing time at the Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop in Dayton last weekend. A. Maz. Ing. I am so inspired and excited I’m about a step away from peeing on the carpet like an overstimulated pup. Here are some of the awesome people I met:  Charlene Bell, Judith Podell, Kari Collins, Jay Kulpa, Janet Jensen, Crystal Edwards, Lisa Tognola, Darlene Sneden, … Continue reading Back from Dayton

Winter is so messy. The other day Chris and I stopped for gas at Sheetz and I asked him to clean the windows of my SUV. He was glad to comply, but I noticed that he didn’t actually know how to clean car windows. Not that it’s a big deal, but is this yet another “guy thing” I neglected to teach my son during my … Continue reading How to wash a car window

I just finished reading Elizabeth Kostova’s The Swan Thieves. Excellent read! LOVED it! As a former art student (and briefly, art teacher – early career misstep), I was particularly enthralled by the parallel story lines: a contemporary artist in the U.S., and a woman Impressionist painter in 19th century France. In a chapter late in the book, one of the characters travels to Paris to … Continue reading Color and Sexy Cities