With all the bread making we’d been doing since quarantine began, our oven was bound to break. When that happened, I received a recommendation for a local repair shop and scheduled a service call. After greeting the unmasked repairman in my driveway, he put one on and came inside to inspect our out-of-order appliance. […]

Read more "The Un-Masked Desire for More, More, More"

One of the mantras I remember hearing, and still hear on occasion, is “You can always work at McDonald’s.”   This statement rests on several assumptions, i.e., 1. McDonald’s is always hiring, 2. potential employees have a McDonald’s nearby, 3. potential employees can get to said McDonald’s, and 4. the hours offered to said potential […]

Read more "The Tainted Golden Arches of a Broken System"

With the advent of social media, especially Facebook, people have been given license to say pretty much whatever they want, whenever they want, about any subject–though mostly the preferred subject is oneself. When social media was growing to the behemoth that it is today, commentators praised the democratization of thought that social media could foster, […]

Read more "Asking for Child(ish) Support"

Well, it happened last week: I snapped. The accumulation of months of thoughtfully choosing my words, carefully picking my battles, and patiently awaiting spontaneous combustion to light little fires underneath my four teenagers led me to call an official “family meeting.” These gatherings, which were a regular feature of my own childhood, usually yielded both […]

Read more "Shifting Expectations"

Four months ago, quarantine began for my family. After retrieving our college freshman from school in a panicked rush of stuffing boxes as our cars waited in 15-minute, loading-zone parking, my spouse and I drove home separately. Looking back, I’m grateful that Asher was with Rob; I was too overwhelmed by the anticipated enormity of […]

Read more "All the Projects"

Second only to riding a motorcycle, where the rider’s attention must be sharply focused in order to avoid death or dismemberment, having a puppy requires an exceedingly high level of concentration. With the ever-present danger found in a young canine’s all-too-small bladder, her impossibly rapid digestion of puppy chow, and the attraction of shoes and […]

Read more "Present Moment Awareness"

Today I was checking my bank account, my business bank account. Every once in a while, I put personal stuff on my business account. Self-employment has some “gray areas.” That’s where I tend to use the business plastic. Anyhow, I see charges in June, July, August, and September for $39.99 to “Rocket Lawyer,” a company […]

Read more "Re: Free Trial You Forgot to Cancel"

One of the many terms of art with which I have become familiar since embarking on the vocation of writing is WIP, short for “work in progress.” Unlike other acronyms that are read as words in and of themselves, e.g., AWOL, WIP reads letter for letter, like DOB or RMV. The hashtag, “#WIP,” appears in […]

Read more "A Work in Progress"

Today, my 16-year-old daughter bought her first prom dress. Although I thought I was the one to take her shopping, her father took her. The two of them found a gorgeous, yet simple, floor-length, sleeveless, black dress as well as a pair of patented leather pumps with a reasonable heel height. They bought this outfit […]

Read more "The First Prom Dress"

When given the opportunity to spend long stretches of time with someone, we have the opportunity to get to know that person better, learn more about that person’s life, and see aspects of that person’s character that perhaps are only revealed with hours of “togetherness.” For the most part, when those with an established affinity […]

Read more "To See and Be Seen"