It’s been twenty years since I’ve reported to a classroom on the Tuesday after Labor Day in an outfit carefully chosen ahead of time, but I still associate September with renewal. New classes. New clothes. New pens. New notebooks. And most welcome, a change of season. In September, the weather can reach 75 degrees and…
A few weeks ago, my introverted 11-year old announced with great pride, “Mom, yesterday I really pushed myself outside my comfort zone.” “Really?” I responded, shocked as much by his announcement as his semantics. (We don’t use phrases like comfort zone in our house.) He proceeded to tell me he participated in a singing contest…
“You gonna come for me?” my date said more than asked, too matter-of-factly as he unceremoniously slid his hand inside my jeans. “No,” I blurted out, not giving my mind time to volley between honesty and charades. “I’m not.” As the words came out, a jolt of power rushed through my body. Or maybe it…
Two months ago, I got angry at the Facebook app, which for three days straight refused to reload updates. Instead it gave me the spinning wheel of death and ate up my time and precious battery power. “Take that,” I said in my head to Mark Zuckerberg as I pressed firmly on the app, causing…
“I’m not bound by time” I used to say in my 20s when asked why I didn’t wear a watch. Now in my 40s, I still don’t wear a timepiece, but to say I’m not connected to the unavoidable ticking of the clock is far from the truth. I time nearly everything I do. Obviously,…
It’s been longer than I care to admit since I’ve sat across the dinner table from an eligible bachelor and felt that indescribable spark that marks the sign of good chemistry. While I was writing my first book – then the second – and taking yoga teacher training, I put romance not only on the…
It occurred to me that I haven’t yet detailed a timeline of what happened after the day my face went numb on my morning commute except to share that I found yoga, writing and a happier way of life. In a moment of despair, I googled “MFA creative writing” and instead found a less life-altering and…
I used to have a closet full of dresses. Expensive dresses. I justified the investment (doesn’t that sound better than splurge?) because not only were they appropriate professionally, but one dress required little thought in the morning, whereas a two-piece suit also required a blouse option, and three wardrobe components were two too many for…
In my adult life, I’ve been an English as a Second Language Teacher, a school administrator, a Capitol Hill staffer, an environmental advocate, and an energy lobbyist. I’m also a single mother, a wannabe writer and an intermittent blogger with the best of intentions to post more frequently. I’ve toyed over the years with becoming…