Today, just a few minutes after noon, my cellphone rang. It was my cousin Melissa. She never calls me during the workday, and so immediately, my throat tensed. I picked up the phone and gave a tentative, strained “hello,” expecting that she was calling to say that her mother was in the hospital, or that […]

I had thought I’d kicked it, but the cold of 2006 is fighting back, and so I’ve spent most of the day on the couch, trying to convince the mucus that is gathering in my head to go elsewhere. I’m not entirely sure if I’m winning.
This weekend, in between rounds with the cold, I […]

Last night, around 9 pm, I started bustling around the apartment, straightening couch cushions, gathering crumpled tissues and stacking abandoned magazines. Shay, a friend who has been my roommate while I’ve been between roommates, looked up at me from her computer on the dining room table, and said with bemusement in her voice, “Oh, […]

Saturday morning I got up early to take my friend Seth to the airport. I don’t have the world’s best track record with Seth and the airport and so, for the sake of our friendship, it was doubly important that I get to him on time. Thankfully, I woke up to my alarm and […]

It’s Friday once more (being out sick two days in a row sure makes the week go fast) which means its time for another edition of the Friday Random Ten. The rules are simple, set your pod or digital music device a’shufflin’ and report back the first ten songs it spits out. You […]

Today is the two year anniversary of the day my ex-boyfriend and I broke up. He was my first significant love, and I was not prepared for the end when it arrived. I realize that this isn’t the type of anniversary that is traditionally circled in calendars and celebrated with gifts or cards. But it […]

When I was growing up, I faked many a cold or sore throat so that I could stay home from school.  Grades 5th through 8th were some hard years for me, and I dealt with the uncomfortable and often snotty social situations of West Sylvan Middle School by avoiding them all together.  Although it was […]

There are several phrases I could go through the rest of my life without hearing. The first that instantly springs to mind is, “The dog ate a 2 pound bag of pitted prunes.” The other is, “your sister has been taken to the hospital.”
In August 1997, my family was out in Spokane, WA […]

Lying in bed last night, saying goodnight to my mama via cell phone, I mention that I have plans to meet Cindy for a bagel and lox brunch the next day.  This casual comment triggers a memory from her past and she starts telling me about her memories of Saturday morning breakfasts at summer camp.
The […]

I’m about twelve hours late with my Random Friday Ten today, but I do have an excuse. I spent all of today in a workshop. I went back to my office around 4:30 pm, just to check email and finish up a few things, and was there until almost 7 pm (I really don’t understand […]