Work-life balance. Possible or not?
Slicing the Onion
You know the recipe by heart and you move through the preparations as usual. You grab the red onion and slice through its textured flesh with a practiced hand. You begin the quick business of cutting rings or dicing squares, and your eyes begin to burn, to tear uncontrollably, and you’re caught off guard. So […]
Baby Bump? Try Budget Bummer!
I know several women who have recently given birth, and others who are expecting babies. I couldn’t be more delighted for them. In each case, they are mothers (already), and devoted ones at that. Babies are always happy news. Giving life is an incredible experience, and parenting – filled with wonder. But the realities of […]
Connection, Communal Living, and the Future
It may have been the second or third time I saw the show that I realized: communal living – family, friends, once-upon-a-time strangers – maybe this is the answer. The answer to keeping excitement in a household. The answer to empty nest. The infusion of energy and array of attitudes to fight the urge to […]
Never on Sunday
Is Sunday your quiet day? Your catch-up day? Your day for domestic duties or family gatherings? Is it a day for rest? Not around here. Sunday comes and I step over teenage bodies – boy bodies – and the count seems to be the same as it was last evening. An excellent sign. All those […]
Standing O
What was the event? I have no idea. But whatever it was that inspired it, the celebration was breathtaking – a program that plucked the most talented musicians and ensembles from across the world. The proportions of the performance were monumental; the music spun classical and rock and jazz and folk and opera and rhythms […]
Silence is Golden, Sort Of
No need to dress. No need to drive. No need to cook – heating a frozen dinner in the microwave was just fine. And not one word. No need to speak at all, for 36 hours. Bliss. Yesterday was my first day off in two months. No parenting, no worrying, no checking a clock or […]
Put Your Kids to Work!
Kids? Organizing? Can the two ever mix?
The Kids Are Alright (Mine, That Is)
He’s taken the car. Already. He’s been traveling in France, Belgium and Holland for two months, home for eight hours, and he’s leaving already. Yup. That’s about right. But he asked politely, as usual. And first he hauled out bags of trash, asked what else he could do to help, and gave me a hug. […]
Father’s Day Gifts (Good, Better, Best)
Good gifts Digital SLRs. Flat panel TVs. Exotic watches. Cordless drills, wrench sets, any kind of tools. Grills, golf clubs, silk ties. These are good gifts, aren’t they? Maybe even fabulous gifts? This used to be the lexicon of my month of June – whatever the latest and greatest gifts might be – for the […]