You know what’s weird? Of course you do. You know about a lot of weird things. Like platypuses. Black licorice. The success of Air Supply and The Big Bang Theory. But today I’m asking you to suspend your familiarity with weirdness and play along. So. You know what’s weird?...
The Thing About Dreams
The Launch: A College Drop-off Story
I wake up extra early the morning my babies move to Oregon. It’s a big day. The biggest. Jack’s car waits in the garage with all of his things and all of Karly’s things (and a gap for visibility in the back window). They plan to hit the road...
Book Giveaway! SPINNING: Choreography for Coming Home
When Tarja Parssinen of Moxie Road Productions asked if I’d be interested in an Advance Reader Copy of Janine Kovac’s debut, I jumped at the chance. Memoir is among my favorite genres, and I wanted to share this one with you. Before I began reading, however, I couldn’t help...
Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover (Except Sometimes)
Seriously. Just when I thought I couldn’t handle any more excitement around here, Velvet Morning Press surprised me with all new cover designs. Check them out below: If you HAVE to have this edition of Letters for Scarlet (and why wouldn’t you?) it’s available in paperback and Kindle. You can also buy the...
Ready or Not
My kids leave for college in one week. Both of my kids. All of my kids. Next Tuesday they’ll drive 13ish hours to Eugene, Oregon in Jack’s car. Bill and I are flying up Wednesday to settle Karly into her dorm and Jack into his apartment. Two days later,...
The Hermit Crabs
On June 22, 1996, Bill and I collected the keys to our first house. This was when it was under construction, in a new (at the time) community. With its zero-lot line and postage-stamp yard, our place was technically a condo. It boasted three bedrooms plus a loft, and...
Happy Place
Since I took a break from writing fiction, I’ve been compelled to blog again. The post below is something I wrote during the April meeting of my writing group. Each month we begin with a brief meditation, then a ten-minute response to a prompt. I’m sharing the result of...
Water Under the Bridge
First the days pass and then weeks. You blink and three months of water flow under your blog’s bridge without a new post. Do I care? Does anyone else? Do people read blogs anymore? And anyway, I tell myself, I like my last post. It was for my mother...
Mother Knows Best
In my earliest memories, she wears a long blue robe and smells like coffee. My dad offers goodbye kisses to her, my little sister and me. Then he goes to work. He’s a high school Spanish teacher. My mother’s work is us. She is young, in her early twenties,...
You Can’t Buy Everything at Ikea
*This post on Christmas Eve traditions originally appeared at Dances with Chaos in 2011. — Our Not-So-Silent Night I hear–first—the angel chimes. Do you know about them? (They’re sold now at IKEA.) The ding-ding-ding of bells as golden trumpeters circle the candle flames, urged onward by heat and little-girl excitement....