One of the first things I did when we moved into our home was to install spotlights. I love the vibrancy of the art hanging on my walls. It reminds me of friends, of places I’ve lived, of people I know and care about. It inspires me to continue writing and working and setting goals, […]
Sixth Sense
I thought it was over. In fact, I was certain of it. I have two meticulously penned grids that resemble handwritten spreadsheets. They’re taped to the fridge. There are labeled folders, one for each school, filled with notes and documented conversations, all neatly date and time stamped. I had polished off the highest priority item […]
The Straw that Broke the You-Know-What
Last evening I lost my cool. I mean – I really lost my cool. My already bad week has been getting progressively worse, more out of control, more complex, and if not for reminding myself to take deep breaths and forge ahead, I would be accomplishing nothing. At a time when getting things done is […]
Magnani, Manolo, and Where’s My Life of French Chic?
Anna Magnani was peeling herself out of a black satin slip, splashing in a small fountain, and sputtering in Italian while the women on the street around her were trying on clothing. Furiously. It was all very Filene’s Basement. The original – in the 1960s. But what was an Italian film icon doing in the […]
Small is Beautiful
The past days and nights have been long – finishing paperwork that’s essential for my son, and continuing to deal with a data snafu from a service provider that has rippled through more areas of life than I could have imagined. In trying to untangle that issue – a mistake made by the institution I’m […]
Unknown
You tell yourself you are adventurous and spontaneous and then you realize: you are not the same as you once were and it isn’t only the reflection in the mirror that confirms it or the gradually slowing speed with which you move through the day’s tasks. You find a quiet moment and in a heart-to-heart […]
Comfort Food
It’s mid-winter. It’s Friday. It’s a migraine morning, already. And my week has sucked. That positive attitude? It hasn’t gone underground entirely, but let’s just say I won’t pretend this hasn’t been a nasty few days – with more to come. In fact, I’ll say it again. With feeling. THIS WEEK HAS SUCKED. Ah… better. […]
How to Survive a Really Bad Day
The key to getting through a bad day? A superb glass of wine at the end of the day may enable you to unwind – just a little. But to make it through? While the-day-from-hell is in process? You need great people. Or as Blanche DuBois might say, the kindness of strangers. Yesterday was a […]
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 […]
My Mother’s Dress
I know this to be my truth: there are moments that take place between a man and a woman that you should never speak of, and they could fill a book, and my mother spoke of them, and I wish she had not. Yet I believed her. Or rather, I believed the depth of her […]