Green is good, right?
My daughter’s school is a Green School because it recycles and uses energy-efficient lightbulbs. My community is green because it collects our yard waste and gives it back to us as compost.
I am green. It’s not so good.
I’m a pot threatening to boil over with jealousy.
Jealous of my always-thin friends with their frequent [...]
It’s an ash-colored morning, typical of late February in Michigan. I’m steering my car down the Interstate, dodging potholes and icy patches, heading into downtown Detroit. I’m on my way to a training session to be a literacy tutor. I should feel excited, inspired and enthusiastic. Instead, my soul is as dirt-flecked as the roadside [...]
Brenda at MummyTime always makes me laugh. Although we’ve never met (she lives in Australia, for Pete’s sake!) I have the feeling she’d be the life of the party. I imagine she has a big personality. I’m guessing she has one of those loud, infectious laughs that invites you to join in, even if you [...]
Sixteen years ago today — Presidents’ Day 1994, I was watching the Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway, waiting for the Pitocin drip to work its magic and make a baby fly out of my body like a luge racer.
I wondered: boy or girl? What will he or she be like? Am I ready for this?
Turns [...]
Last night we dumped out the contents of a pale pink paper bag that came home from school with our girl from the East. Onto the rug spilled squares and rectangles and heart-shaped greetings. Some were store-bought. Some were home-made. Mixed in were heart-shaped lollipops, foil wrapped chocolates and one homemade heart-shaped sugar cookie coated [...]
Two weeks ago I tweeted:
That morning, when selecting what to wear, I considered the following:
I’ll be in a dark theater.
I’ll be with a bunch of kids.
I haven’t worn this shirt in two years. (I know there is a reason, but I cannot remember what it is.)
During the performance, the reason came back to me in [...]
Too little, too late.
Or, I did all I could and it wasn’t enough.
Or, this is life sometimes.
Take your pick. My head is spinning with these three phrases, deciding which one to apply to my Saturday morning. Here’s how it went: A friend and former co-worker arrives at my house so that we can carpool to [...]
Is today a free day for you? No work? No school?
Take a moment today to consider the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I attended a service yesterday and heard a few excerpts of King’s speeches. I have to admit, aside from the “I Have a Dream” speech, I’ve not taken the time to listen [...]
“You must do everything that frightens you, JR. Everything. I’m not talking about risking your life, but everything else. Think about fear, decide right now how you’re going to deal with fear, because fear is going to be the great issue of your life, I promise you. Fear will be the fuel for all your success, [...]
I’m not sure what Christmas means to me anymore.
To my children it’s a wonderful time of year filled with wishes and cookies and Santa Claus and sparkly things.
To me, it’s a Dickensian mix of shadows cloaked in chains, bacchanalia, sprigs of holly and Tiny Tim’s enduring hope. Christmas music, particularly Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker Suite” and [...]
