The current things that put a smile on my face are:

 The mile-high chocolate cake at Claim Jumper.

This thing is HU MON GUS.  Six of us split it between us and vibrated on the chocolate content, yum.

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Mardi Gras and their live web cam feeds of the… Read full post »

I had two book events last week and I have to tell you that I'm enjoying this reinvention of myself.  I'm on an exciting new path leading me ... somewhere.

The 1/20 event was in a near suburb of Chicago (Wood Dale, IL).  The very first person to walk in to… Read full post »

 If you're on the northwest side of Chicago this Saturday at Noon you're  welcome to hear me reading some funny stories about working, not working, dogs and my urban childhood. 

You've had a taste of my stories about work since that's how this blog got started.  I've experimented… Read full post »

Mrs. G asked me to drive her to K-Mart for a couple of lamps.  I agreed to drive her and I got her back home four hours later.  Mrs. G is in her 80s and has eight toes so she moves pretty slowly, although the shopping cart helps. 

 "Leave the… Read full post »

Two people go through the same experience and come away either amused or despondent.  Which one are you?

  Read full post »

Last year was a spinning cyclone with me firmly planted in the center.  My husband of 18 years flew out into the  ether.  With my hand outside of the storm I grabbed myself some professional credentials.  Another spin took  the lives of five relatives, one with each rotation.… Read full post »

Kathy was married and two Lodge members earned quarters.  One quarter said that she would actually show up for the event.  The other is that she would go through with it.  After all, at 51, it was a safe bet that she'd hike up that white dress and run up the… Read full post »

When I tell stories I get big belly laughs.  I thought it would translate to the printed page so I wrote a book while I was unemployed and called it "My Humor's Working (Even if I'm Not)." Now I need to get it reviewed so it will exist in the eyes… Read full post »

Choosing the bridesmaids is always fraught with drama.  As if brides don't have enough drama to deal with - can't sit people at the same table if that hate or have divorced each other; can't choose a date that reminds anyone of anything; can't please everyone even though you need to… Read full post »

I heard a sneeze and turned my head in response.  The sneezer and I made eye contact.  I smiled, dumbly.  Before I found my voice, I listened to the   multiple thoughts in my head...

"If the sneezer is a Johavah's Witness, like my cousin I might  get a lecture about the… Read full post »

I spoke to Mrs. G today, the 85-year old Italian woman who I check on every now and then.  It was time.  I hadn't spoken to her in a while.  She does all the talking.

This time it was about her grandson.  He graduated from college recently.  She asked if he… Read full post »

I recieved the proof copy of my book.  When I create, I listen to blues or jazz.  While editing, I work in complete silence.  Only the non-Dyson chopping blades of my oscillating fan offer background noise.  It's a serious time, even though it's a humorous book filled with funny s… Read full post »

If I could choose a super power it would be something cool - like flying.  I would choose to fly... over traffic... to the front of a long line... or to a vacation spot.  Of course, I wouldn't fly in front of a speeding bullet for you (or anyone) that would… Read full post »

Greetings all.  As a member of the 99ers club (closing in on 99 weeks of unemployment that is about to end), I have been busy, busy, busy.  No one hired me with the 20 + year history of marketing, so I've added to the resume.

I've returned to school, getting… Read full post »

Sorry if it seems that I've dropped off the face of the earth.  I've been dedicated my efforts to a complete rewrite of my book and an entirely new strategy for the direction of the book. 

The good news is that I am mere days away from the completion of… Read full post »

The family gathered in Michigan last weekend, from Chicago, from Phoenix, from Raleigh.  We came to say goodbye.  My mother-in-law, the once vibrant woman who bore ten children, who sat up all night easing their pains from teething gums or feverish brows can no longer raise her own head.&nb… Read full post »

As John Lennon put it:  Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans.  I had plans to be with you and to keep up with your posts while entertaining you with my own.  Alas, those plans were interrupted, again.

I've been bobbing along in the sea of unemployment, sharing… Read full post »

Mom was a red-headed wild child, born in late 1930.  That means that she was 14 or 15 when she picked up the sailors and soldiers that came through Chicago on their way to or from a World War II location. 

Widowed at 35, she raised my brother and myself… Read full post »

Click, call or come to the studio for your chance to participate in your country's health care program.  After reversing the health care reform bill, this station went to work to bring health care to the masses - the good ol' capitalist's way.

You get to vote on which operation gets… Read full post »

Teendoc had a beautiful assortment of spring flower pictures on her page and asked for an Open Call for more.  Here is my response from this weekend's pictures where I met up with NoisyNora at her summer gig in a Chicago garden center:

%IM… Read full post »

Mrs. G gave me a call this morning.  Berfore saying hello, she blurted out "Don't be surprised if you hear about an 85-year old getting arrested for stealing."

"What did you do now?"

"Nothing yet, but did you see the price of milk?  I was at Butera today and the woman… Read full post »

I haven't seen him since he moved out of town six years ago.  We laughed about his white beard and the loss of weight.  He's starting to look like George Carlin.

Her blonde hair faded to gray then to silver.  "It's a beautiful color" for someone much older than us.  … Read full post »

It was a Friday the 13th.  The wind was howling early in the morning as I ran to catch the stopped "L" train at Irving Park Road.  In Chicago, on the Blue Line, that stop is in the middle of the expressway.  Cars were racing north to O'Hare and south to… Read full post »

Torman posed an interesting question: "Why do we write?"  I've been seeing the wonderful, thoughtful responses all over OS and had to jump in to the mix.

 I wrote from my earliest days.  I wrote to the old me.  I wrote short stories on little scraps of paper and hid them… Read full post »

Hi it's me, I mean you - in the future. Remember writing to old you when you were a kid?  Unfortunately it was advice about being a parent and well we didn't go that route.  We were the generation that slapped the little round bandaids on our nipples instead of wearing… Read full post »