Unpublished Part One
I’d like to know whom the first nitwit was that said, ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again’.
Featured Essay
Lawn Boy
I was having a dandelion problem.
I have always referred to my front lawn as The Single Mother Lawn and kind of laughed off the fact that my front patch of grass and weeds looks scary compared to my neighbors. The idea that I needed to deal with the problem was floating around my head when I saw the Chem Lawn truck across the street from Canyon Creek Elementary. I had just dropped off my daughter’s trumpet because she had left it at her dad’s and if we had stopped before school she would have been late. I was dressed and showered for a change because I was on my way into the city for a meeting with an editor over a story I wrote about a 21-year-old basketball superstar....
White Sofas and Other Parenting Mistakes
There’s something about summer that throws my household into complete chaos.
I’d like to think it’s the heat, but in reality, it’s just the fact that during summer I need a break, so I step down from my job as Admiral. With no one steering the ship, it’s sheer bedlam. The kid goes to bed whenever his eyes seem to shut and wherever his body seems to flop. Last night tha...
Bird's and the B's
Learning about sex, one B at a time.
I can remember, in almost pretty vivid detail, the day I learned about the birds and the bees. It was a muggy; overcast, hot, Pittsburgh summer day. The kind that made you want to run through everyone’s garden sprinkler. I was nine and sitting on the front stoop of my house with my 10 year old...
Sleeping With A Hall Of Famer
All those years of being married to a die-hard sports fan, and I had no idea that it could come to this.
19 years of ups and downs all related to how a Philadelphia Phillies baseball game would turn out. Evenings that could turn out to be either joyful or horrendous depending on how his team played that night. It all paid off for us this past month when my husband was inducted into th...
Unpublished Part One
I’d like to know whom the first nitwit was that said, ‘if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again’.
Due to this cruel creed I have spent a large part of my best-looking years writing books that I can’t seem to sell. Beginning in fifth grade, when some attention starved nun had me read my essay entitled, “When I Met Jesus” to all the classes in the school, I have been convinced that thi...
Pretty in Pasta
Last summer we finally took the kids to Italy.
My husband has family there and we had been talking about it for so long. I was so excited. I researched everything. Churches, museums, cooking classes. I made every reservation for dinner, tours, and even a trip to the Prada outlet in Florence. We were meeting 60 of my husbands relative...
Sentimental Garbage
I have acquired some nice jewelry over the years.
I'm not a bling person, but I treasure jewelry that has sentimental value. My mother's pearls, my wedding band, and my all-time favorite, my great-grandmother's platinum, European-cut diamond engagement ring, which I wear all the time. I don't remember meeting my great-grandmother (she passed...