My Mom was delightfully, wickedly, intelligent but born in the wrong era for the outspoken woman she was. She loved us, but children and family really weren’t her thing. You had to believe she meant well when she said some of the things she did. That wasn’t easy sometimes. Check this out. I was born
Read Moretwo tales of a kitty
Here are two tales about our cat named Jack Pumpkinhead Underfoot. He’s a green eyed ginger fellow and the best cat I’ve ever had. I’m calling tale #1 “Smashing the Pumpkinhead.” One winter I came out of our garage not knowing there was ice underneath the snow on the little deck. Jack came up for
Read MoreI’m no Barbie
My ex-husband and I lived out West but when an old college roommate called me asking for help in a new position she’d taken, we said so long to Colorado, packed up our old Chevy Nova with the 457KEN license plate and drove to our new adventure in Indiana. We lucked out and found a
Read MoreRiding the Updraft
I drive by an active limestone quarry on my way home. It’s common to see 20 plus vultures sailing on the updrafts from the stone pits. I figure it’s the one beauty in a vulture’s life: to be sailing in the sunshine on the updrafts. Ken says we might want to be worried about the
Read MoreHave you ever done something really stupid?
When I was in my 20’s I lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I love Ann Arbor and as time has passed I see my life there as having been a time of excitement, new ideas, new experiences and huge growth. However, for various reasons a lot of it sucked at the time. One winter day
Read MoreFire Escape Voyeurs
After a great breakfast at the Uptown Café, Ken and I headed to the car and as we buckled up, we noticed a couple arguing on the outside stairway of the apartment building in front of us. The woman was clearly angry and the guy kept backing up floor by floor as she moved toward
Read MoreSweating With the Kitties
We have 2 cats: Zim and Jack Pumpkinhead. Sadly, some of our family developed cat allergies so the kitties got demoted to permanent outside status. Jack doesn’t mind being outside because he’s a former stray who has never been inside although he knows that inside is where the cat food lives. Zim is unhappy about
Read MoreSuperwoman has a cold
Many years ago I had an-eat–your-soul job. You know the kind: you should take some days off but they sigh and frown on it even though you just worked 20 hours overtime and slept under your desk a couple of nights when it wasn’t worth driving home. I was conscientious, a loyal, valuable and hardworking
Read MoreThanksgiving chaos ala Mackey
My Mother didn’t want to cook a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. She was more interested in sitting in her favorite chair, reading the convoluted history of the English monarchy while drinking a beer and eating popcorn. Actually, this sounds great to me so I totally get her attitude. I regret to say that we were argumentative
Read MoreLook Out: I Am the Alpha Chicken
Here’s another post about a Thanksgiving Day disaster at my Dad’s family farm. I have mixed childhood memories about that farm. And check out the other T-day post called Stinky Dog Thanksgiving. In fact, check out all the other posts you might have missed, I dare you! I grew up in suburbia. My mother loved
Read MoreStinky Dog Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving for us meant a trip to the family farm in Kentucky where Dad’s aunts lived. One year Dad decided to go hunting while we visited and packed his guns and his hunting dog Chad for the trip. Bright and early on T-day we headed out to the Farm. Dad and my brother returned around
Read MoreConflict with the librarian!
I got scolded by the return book librarian. Oh the shame! Ok, my book was 2 days late but a scolding? I wasn’t allowed to renew the book even though there weren’t any holds on it. Reminds me of Mrs. Schumaker from grade school. Mrs. S in nasal voice: “You break the rules my dear,
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