Family traits.

I learned something about my face the other day. 
I have this crinkle above my nose, which comes from looking at my husband like he’s nuts for the past 20ish years.  I’ve been putting wrinkle cream on it for months now, trying to at least make it less noticeable, though I realize that being more sanguine [...]

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Deforestation.

The western side of my house is shaded by two large maple trees.  It’s great to have them there, because it keeps my house from getting too hot during summer afternoons, but the downside of it is this: 

Lots and lots and lots of little baby maple trees. 
I could sit in one spot for half an [...]

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Wayback Machine.

Over the weekend, my husband’s fraternity held a 40th anniversary reunion for their chapter at his alma mater.  The last time the frat held an anniversary shindig, it was their 20th, and he and I were both graduating seniors.  We were both younger — unlined, ungrayed, and uncowed by life  — at that point in [...]

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In training.

From time to time I give consideration to hiring a personal trainer.  Considering is just about as far as it gets, though, for a number of reasons, chief among them being money.  I mean, I think it would be a good idea and incredibly motivating for me, especially with laying out money for it.  The main [...]

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Like putting socks on a cat.

If you’ve read this space for any length of time, you know that I am mother to one of the most obstinate creatures on earth.  Spawn really has no recourse in said stubbornness, since both of the kid’s parents are mules.  I try cut the kid some slack because of this, but when an irresistible [...]

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Sometimes my train of thought gets totally derailed.

Sunny and 70-plus degree days will do that to a person, I’ve found. 
Hands down, spring is my favorite season.  The weather is glorious, and everything is in bloom, and the birds are getting down to business.  Every thought I’ve ever had just flies right out of my head. 
I always look forward to that first spate of [...]

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The one where I plan to do things differently than my parents did.

On the way back from spring break last week, we skirted the edge of Birmingham, Alabama, causing both of my parents to gaze upon the downtown skyline and remark, “I wouldn’t want to live there.”
When you have chosen a life in a small town, and you are content with that life in that small town, [...]

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And now I’m all out of Malibu Rum.

Damn it all to hell, if there should be any better occasion for consuming an entire bottle of Malibu Rum, I would think that the events of this week would certainly qualify for a position close to the top.  I mean, really.  A 33-year-old woman, full of life and piss and vinegar, and she goes [...]

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Burn, peel, repeat.

Thanks to my fair English/Welsh ancestry, I tend not so much to tan as I do to freckle.  Which accounts for the pasty look I sport 365 days a year, because really, who wants to appear as if they’ve been spattered with brown paint. 
I remember days past, when a good tan was all the rage, [...]

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Very bad things.

As predicted, I walked into a hornet’s nest at work this morning.
Vacations are so hard. You work like a slave for the week prior, and then you work like a slave for the week following.  It’s hardly worth the time in between that you take off.  And yet, if you were to depart this world [...]

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