Quite a few years ago, I spotted some chestnuts for sale in the produce section of the grocery store and thought, “That’s my hair color.” My stylist at the time agreed, and told me that he had clients who paid good money to get it. Despite that, I decided to experiment with highlights shortly after I turned 40. I’d recently lost a significant amount of weight, I’d never played with my hair color before, and […]
Tag: mostly true stories
Tuesday Tangents – and it really IS Tuesday!
I really like movies, but as you may recall if you’ve been reading here for a while, I’ve grown to really HATE Oscar Week, which has come to signify my Annual Traffic Nightmare. My office is one street north and about four blocks west of the Kodak Theater. As it gets closer to the Academy Awards, more and more streets in the area will be closed off in preparation for the ceremonies, and the street […]
There goes my girl: Gypsy, 1997(?) – 2010
It’s still sinking in that after more than eleven years, two states, three cities, and four homes, I don’t have a dog any more. I never knew how Gypsy’s story began. I was never even sure of her exact age. All I ever knew was that by the time I met her, in September of 1998, she had been pregnant at least once, so I assumed she was at least 18 months old. She was […]
Adventures in Car-shopping
I married a self-proclaimed “car nerd,” a product of Southern California’s legendary car culture, and I’ve learned quite a bit from him in the nearly five years we’ve been together. But I think he’s learned that when it comes to a car that I’m going to drive myself, I’m not necessarily looking for car-nerdy things. It doesn’t matter to me how fast the car goes from zero to 60. I’m not all that interested in […]
See you, hear you – Weekend Assignment meets DELURKER DAY! (Updated)
It seems somehow appropriate to be posting my response to Karen‘s latest Weekend Assignment on Delurker Day. Her question concerns seeing and hearing, and since I especially want to see and hear from y’all today, it’s perfect timing! ****UPDATE: There’s a new widget in my sidebar for donations to the Red Cross Haitian-earthquake relief effort. Inspired by some other bloggers, notably Nenette at Life Candy, I will donate $1 per comment on this post to […]
Tuesday Tangents: New Car edition!
You may have seen me mention this briefly in my weekend posts, but that was just to pique your curiosity. For those of you who are interested in the details, I got a new car on Saturday! It’s a 2010 Honda Fit Sport, and it looks exactly like this: (Yes, I can make a Honda look like a big car!) This little car has an astonishing amount of interior room, and various ways to configure […]
Get lost! (Weekend/Wednesday Assignment #298)
This past week, Karen had one of those unexpected adventures that can happen along the way, and that prompted a question: Weekend Assignment #298: Do you often get lost, trying to get someplace new? Do you print out a map, or just wing it? And when you do have trouble finding your way, is it an annoyance or an adventure? Extra Credit: Is your town or city easy to get lost in? View Larger Map […]
Season’s Greetings: The Santa secret
This was originally posted on the Los Angeles Moms Blog last year, but I’ve updated it a little… “Look, there goes Santa Claus,” I said to Spencer (my 9 10-year-old stepson) one recent Saturday afternoon. We were at the front of a store, waiting for my husband to finish a purchase, when we saw the Man in Red walking down the mall with a few of his assistants. “Yeah,” Spencer said. “He’s not the real […]
Here’s to your – I mean MY – health!
I probably should be more scared of cancer than I am. My father-in-law died of cancer four years ago (and, in an odd coincidence, so did my ex-father-in-law, eleven years earlier). My mother-in-law made a full recovery from breast cancer, but both she and my husband have had cancerous and pre-cancerous skin moles removed before they spread. Given that, when it comes to that side of the family, cancer is certainly one of the things […]
Picture this: a modern family portrait
Not long ago, my stepson brought a flyer home from school. It informed parents that on the evening of Picture Day, the photographers would be back at the school to take family portraits for those who were interested. Of course, the flyer came home the night before this was supposed to happen, so there wasn’t much time to plan. Besides, he and his sister would be at their mom’s house the night of the photo […]
Just Sick About It! (Weekend Assignment #290)
Because real life tends to get in the way sometimes, Karen‘s bad head cold has inspired this Weekend Assignment: Weekend Assignment #290: Are you one of those lucky people who hardly ever get sick, or do you tend to catch every cold or flu or virus that comes along? And when you do get some infectious disease, do you stay home, or try to keep going? Extra Credit: Are you getting a flu shot this […]
Encore: The Anniversary Waltz
Today is the third anniversary of my second marriage! I celebrated the first one here with two posts of wedding randomata, but that was a couple of years ago. Readership was in the lower double digits back then, so I thought I’d revisit the event today with a (somewhat) condensed version of the original posts – after all, if you didn’t read it the first time around, it’s new to you :-). I hope you’ll […]
