Yes, I know it’s getting tiresome, my stringing along April’s A-Z Blogging Challenge. The month is, what?—almost July now—but I still feel enormous pressure to finish this challenge for a couple reasons. One, I don’t like abandoning such a great, fun exercise meant for my benefit. Two, I suffer extreme guilt because my writing club, positive their president would finish the task, prematurely awarded me this fantastic new coffee mug for accomplishing the A-Z writing challenge. I accepted it in the way of a person who’d just gotten credit for …read more

Grateful April in the A-Z Blogging Challenge I hope a new habit isn’t forming, but I really had to work today and did not begin writing this blog until 4:00. So if you aren’t reading this “J” post until the day “K” is due, forgive me. But if the truth were known, I did not even have my “J” word until after 2pm today when I met a dear friend for coffee. St. Patrick’s Day 2012 Jean is a gorgeous woman who has children my age but looks young enough to …read more

Grateful April in the A-Z Blogging Challenge No one else was in the car with me on the day it happened. Well, almost no one. Speeding on the freeway isn’t new to me. If I have the need for speed, blame it on either the most popular Tom Cruise movie of the 1980s or my parents. My dad brought home a shiny red Delorean in 1983, and I fell in love with the aerodynamics, the compact, two-seat design, and the idea that it just looked fast. When I reached 16, my …read more

Grateful April in the A-Z Blogging Challenge Two days ago, I was visiting with a friend who said, “So, do you know what your “E” topic will be?” At that time, I hadn’t yet written “D,” so if you’ve gotten familiar with me through my writing, then you know I rarely think ahead, much less plan my blog topics ahead.  Scarlett O’Hara and I don’t like to think about anything today. We like to wait until tomorrow. Later that same night, I was in the middle of my spin class when …read more

I’m not a big jewelry gal, but one sparkly bauble I never go without           In the fifth grade, I begged my mom to let me get my ears pierced. I wasn’t a tomboy, but you wouldn’t have known it by my Dorothy Hamill bowl haircut or my plain t-shirts and jeans. I had an overbite, a gap in my two front teeth, and an older brother who let me tag along with him. Even though I loved sparkly things and baby dolls, my outward appearance …read more

It was an ordinary day, except that it wasn’t No one else was in the car with me on the day it happened. Well, almost no one. I feel the need…  Speeding on the freeway isn’t new to me. If I have the need for speed, blame it on either the most popular Tom Cruise movie of the 1980s or my parents. My dad brought home a shiny red Delorean in 1983, and I fell in love with the aerodynamics, the compact, two-seat design, and the idea that it just …read more

What I learned from the shoreline As I previously admitted, I recently hit the bottom of the writing well and found it dry. But that’s OK. Some people find inspiration in sadness and turmoil; I am not one of those people. My desire to write comes from happiness. And opening this blog today to write is a very good sign that there might be water in the well yet. For roughly two handfuls of people, this is welcome news. My natural habitat is happiness; my innate disposition is joy, and …read more