For thirty minutes yesterday I was possessed by a power greater than myself. A whopper of a sneezing fit. Let me preface this little tale by pointing out that I am not prone to fits of any sort, except for the occasional outbreak of exuberant rhyming, and speaking in accents – both generally the result […]
End of the Year Clearance on Complaint Monday!
You’re sitting in your office trying to make peace with your inner pout. You’re trying to remember where you put the last of the Christmas cards. You’ve got to jam just one or two more holiday errands into the lunch hour. OHMYGOD will you remember to tip the mail carrier and the mechanic and the […]
The Zone
Your kid’s eyes are glazed over because it’s after three a.m. and he’s still working, and your eyes are glazed over because it’s after three a.m. and you’re still working, and while you’re the mother you remember being the kid – hanging on with everything you’ve got to pull it out at the end of […]
Deep Freeze
“I know, I know. I look like a bag lady,” I said. He laughed. “More like an older student.” I pursed my lips and furrowed my brow in exaggerated irritation. “That was both kindly and mean,” I retorted, happy enough to run into an old friend, and not so much, looking haggard, ragged and a […]
Bah Humbug. NOT.
At last. I’m beginning to feel a bit of seasonal cheer. It might have something to do with frigid temperatures the past few days. Single digits with the wind chill and oh, but I could go for a walk on a Mediterranean beach about now! Still, when it’s December, flurries and the bluster of wintry […]
Cynical, skeptical, or cautious?
We had both been waiting at the hospital for three hours. She’s a registered nurse, and was even more annoyed than I was. “I don’t know what could be taking so long for a few simple tests,” she says. “A little blood work and the basics. This is a woman’s clinic now.” I am sitting […]
Monday Morning Moments
After a really lousy few days, there’s nothing like a different sort of reality check. For example, everything that could have gone wrong that didn’t. On a Monday! For example: My computer didn’t crash. My car started despite the cold. I got the kid to school on time. His painting project is going well. I […]
When’s the last time you had fun?
“What do you do for fun?” he asked. I was taken aback. Really taken aback. I don’t remember the last time anyone posed that question. And it’s not unreasonable, when you’re just getting to know someone. The context? A phone call – a friend of a friend sort of thing – and all very pleasant. […]
All-Nighter
You know when you look at a document and you see what you want to see? You know when you pull someone else into the process, and that person looks, and verifies what you (think you) saw? You know when you check one last time out of some deeply rooted obsessive quality, or perhaps a […]
Did you fall to Black Friday? Did you succumb to Cyber Monday?
I’m all for stimulating growth. Boosting GNP. Or GDP. Or the S&P! Spending, by any other name… especially at holiday time. But not when you don’t have the bucks! Hey – I’m just like everyone else. The credit cards get plenty of action when I can’t cover expenses any other way. Sadly (or thankfully), that […]