I struggle with estate sales. Usually someone has died, and someone else has called in the professional troops to disperse their stuff, making some money in the process. The public is invited into the homes of the deceased - their houses! - to paw through the things… Read full post »

This year I quit my second marriage. It was long overdue. Why did I stay so long? Because our relationship had such potential. We could laugh together. A lot. We had similar world views. It could have been so good...if we had respect, honesty, open communication, less competition and more sex. S… Read full post »

Today I'm at the laundromat.

My trusty washing machine of 14 years took a digger. A week before I am moving into a new house with a different washing machine. So I'm spending Sunday with some fellow washing-machineless folks.

Let me tell you this: most of my fellow launderers seem none… Read full post »

I have always referred to my son as "The Boy." 

When I need to get his attention, I will say, "Boy!"

Throughout his life I have gotten comments on this; people are either amused or completely unamused. They say "You call him Boy?", accompanied by a surprised look, meant to make… Read full post »

It's like I run a homeless shelter. 

On any given day, at any given time, there are four teenagers in my house. They all call me mom.  Three live with me. Two I gave birth to.

They're always hungry. I'm constantly shooing Number 4 away from food I've designated as mine… Read full post »

This is my first July 4th weekend in 10 years spent without my husband, from whom I recently separated. Again. For the last time.

So when I decided to bring the teens up to the family cabin with their friends for the long weekend, I was a little nervous. I mean,… Read full post »

On Thursday I was diagnosed with ADHD.

I am 39 years old.

It never occurred that there was anything out of the ordinary about me, until someone suggested my seventeen year old daughter may have ADHD. My beautiful, creative, smart daughter. The one who has struggled with grades for years, but… Read full post »

I can hardly bring myself to think about kids who kill themselves because they are being bullied. It gives me a pit in my stomach to think about people who take the bullying to heart so much that they feel they can't go on.  

I remember a couple times during my… Read full post »

There's a woman my husband and I have been watching for years. 

Wait, let me back up a minute.

We live in a suburb of Detroit--a wonderful, close-knit suburb full of safety and sidewalks. All the schools are walking distance. And most kids walk. It's one of the reasons we decided… Read full post »

My new hobby is getting ready to turn 40. I've got one year, four months.

One of the biggest sources of angst for me has been clothes. What the hell does an almost-40 mother of two teens who works at an ad agency by day wear?

As a teenager,… Read full post »

Michigan's getting a new governor. And it appears the guys going to be a nerd.

I don't have to tell you Michigan's not doing so hot in the jobs department. We've relied of auto manufacturing too long, and it's not working out so well these days. I usually vote democrat,… Read full post »

We have two kids. A sixteen year old girl and a fourteen year old boy.

Technically.

Then there are our kids' best friends--both of who live in homes where it's difficult for their parents to give them the attention they want. With single parents who love them very much, but aren't… Read full post »

I'm having trouble figuring out how to age.

Obviously the years are flying by. The actual "age" number goes up on its own.  Read full post »

My mother and I have this weird, strained relationship.

It's largely attributed to the fact that she became one of Jehovah's Witnesses when I was eleven, and I chose not to follow down that crazy-talking, cockamamie path when I became an adult. Yeah, I said it. Crazy talk. 

She thinks… Read full post »

I recently told someone that I've weighed anywhere from 114 to 170 pounds in my adult life, but one thing was constant: I always felt like I had a few pounds to lose.

For the past ten years I've weighed enough to put me in the BMI category titled "Overweight". This… Read full post »

I've tried to be a vegetarian.

Just because it seems like something I would do. I love yoga. Animal rights. Environmental health.

But for some reason, a meat-less diet doesn't land with me.

Oh, I've seen all the movies, I've read all the books. I've heard the reports about how all… Read full post »

Our daughter turned 16 in May.

In July, we bought her a car. 

My husband and I were on a bike ride one Wednesday evening, while the kids were off at their father and step-mom's house for the week. Near the end of our ride along the main drag,… Read full post »

I'm a huge fan of yoga. But I can't stand a yoga studio.

I know everyone thinks I will love THEIR yoga studio. But I won't, I assure you.

In general I don't enjoy a room full of people. I especially don't care for a room full of giant… Read full post »

Practicing psychology.

Housekeeping.

Wrangling monkeys.

Being a chef.

Being a sugar mama.

Laughing.

Crying.

Accounting.

Googling.

Offering a complete concierge service.

Administrative assisting.

PR consulting.

Law making.

Enforcing.

Private investigating.

Schedule keeping.

Ignoring smells.

Forgiving.… Read full post »

It's a joke now. "I'm gonna grab some beers, pull the chute and get the f*** outta here."

And it's still funny every time.

Just like Mr. Slater (a gentleman who deserves to be referred to by his honorific), it's often not big events that drive us… Read full post »

Some drugs are legal; caffeine, nicotine and various cold medicines, for example, can be purchased over the counter. Others, like Vicodin and Zoloft, must have a doctor's prescription.

Some drugs are illegal; marijuana, cocaine, meth, ecstasy for example. Although most illegal drugs are more eas… Read full post »

When I was eleven my parents went from liberal hippy types to conservative rule followers. Our home went from a free, fun, barefoot haven full of music, friends, and the smell of cigarettes and marijuana to a quiet, reserved place where family Bible study was done and our only friends followed… Read full post »

I've been trying to lose weight for as long as I can remember. Not that I've ever been fat, mind you, though I have been more "well-cushioned" since I turned 30.

My weight has ranged from an unhealthy-for-my-body 118 (when my daily intake was quite literally unlimited coffee plus one vanilla… Read full post »

Travel anywhere outside of Michigan and say you're from Detroit. You'll get the same reaction: "I'm sorry. Ha ha!"

My home city is the butt of jokes. It is struggling to exist, let alone stay viable.

But if you've never lived here, you don't get it. And if you don't get it,… Read full post »