Not IRL. That's definitely not a problem. But in OS, I tend to add people as friends after reading a few posts that just awe me with their humor, their writing and storytelling abilities, or just that it feels we have a lot in common. Writers who I want to make… Read full post »

Recently, my company decided to stop providing Kleenex to employees. I'd never given it much thought before, although in hindsight, none of my previous companies had provided each employee with a never-ending supply of desk-top box of Kleenexes ... even the companies with cheap soda machines, ge… Read full post »

At 16, I saw an ad to enter the Miss T.E.E.N. pageant. (Note, this is not to be confused with the more popular Miss Teen pageant. This stood for Teens Exhibiting Excellence Nationally.) Big-city girls had to enter and win a local competion before moving on to State. Small-town girls… Read full post »

I recently re-read the saying that the person you are in 1st grade is the person you'll become. While I take that with a very liberal grain of salt, I saw enough wisdom in it to share it lightly with my kindergartner. If you're a bully in 1st grade, the patterns… Read full post »

(And wounds all heels.) Well, I’m wounded, but I’m not healing. A few years ago, we had a terrible year. We knew it was coming, since neither of us had lost a close family member in more than 20 years. We just didn’t know how hard it was going… Read full post »

I can't believe it. I'm those one of those parents. Snotty, pretentious, bragging about my kid like it's my accomplishment, instead of genetics. Hell, I didn't even teach him to read; it was all HIM!!

Tonight I introduced my 5-year-old to two women, new to my Board meetings. I don't remember… Read full post »

  

Cocaine was always my drug of choice. It never became a problem, because once I stopped waitressing, it was never that available. I worked at a conservative company, was poor, didn’t travel in the circles anymore.

Then my boyfriend “just for fun… Read full post »

Or at least we did at breakfast this morning. Just keep your fingers crossed that we still have one tonight.

My son eats breakfast at the breakfast bar next to his fish tank. Sometimes he watches them closely, but more often, he doesn't pay much attention to them. The novelty's pretty… Read full post »

I have two cats, both female. The shorthair is independent during the day, doesn't want much attention after the initial evening greeting, but she snuggles with me all night.  She's genuinely happy to see me, affectionate, but then wants to do her own thing. Sweet kitty. We get al… Read full post »

Another random flashback this morning, one I thankfully haven't thought of in several years. One that I've been told was my fault by the few guys I trusted enough to tell.

In college, I was friends with a group of guys in the dorm that was attached to my dorm.… Read full post »

For anyone who missed this:

  Read full post »

I volunteer in my son's classroom, which is helpful in many ways: talking to him about his behavior, which children are good role models for him, the teacher's methods, learn the other children's personalities, etc.

Today it struck me. Although I would dearly love to be a kindergarten teacher o… Read full post »

This morning, I was kneeling with my son and the other early-arrivers at kindergarten. We can get in the building, but we can't enter the classroom before 8 a.m. They don't want the children alone in the building before school starts, but for some reason, I'm always the only parent there… Read full post »

Maybe this is common, or not socially acceptable, but this week, I realized that I'm a lurker. I take what you are offering—your souls, your writing, your most personal moments—but I don't share much of myself in return.

I hide in my anonymity, both in my own posts and in… Read full post »

As you may already know, I have a boy in kindergarten. Like all moms, I think mine is great. Not perfect, not by a long shot, and sometimes I want to disown him (temporarily, of course), but overall, he's great.

And like many moms, I think mine is brilliant. I… Read full post »

I had a flashback this morning. Driving home from college down a back country road, seeing a homemade roadside cross with the name of a crush from high school, obviously marking the spot where he’d been killed in a car wreck. I hadn’t even known he’d died, and sobbed the r… Read full post »

I’m sorry—I’m not a good fish owner. I thought it was easy! I had Mollies in junior high, and don’t remember it being hard. When my son was 3, I bought him a Beta, and it lasted about 18 months. Not too bad, I thought, although that thing was boring… Read full post »

I survived! 

It actually was fairly nice. I took a lesson on Day 1, which improved my attitude and didn't burn my knees out because I actually learned some better techniques. Then on Day 2, I spent most of the day on the freebie bunny slope helping my 5-year-old. When it… Read full post »