December 30, 2013. Was an equally extraordinary and ordinary day…I turned 50! After months of build up (begin here, if you’ve missed the excitement) that included a weekly birthday announcement from my mother, my half century celebration officially began. And the answer to that million dollar question, “So, how’s it feel to be 50? (or any age for that matter…): It … Read More
I Believe…
“How was your Christmas,” I asked the clerk. “I’m glad it’s over,” she replied, “I’m not a fan of the holiday.” She went on to share a few lamentations about shopping and parties, her words sort of trailing off as she ticked off a few other dislikes. Within hours of gift exchanges and Santa’s arrival, numerous Facebook statuses declared … Read More
Music to My Ears
Friends, I started the week off with the most magnificent sounds of the season you can imagine! And here’s me with three members of Mannheim Steamroller’s Red Touring Group! Three Members of the Red Touring Group L-R: Jeff Yang, Tom Sharpe, Joey Gulizia I’ve listened to them for YEARS, and here they showed up in my backyard! … Read More
Small Indulgences
There is a woman who sells jewelry at one of our local craft fairs every year. And each year I purchase a set or two for myself and as Christmas gifts for friends. And every single time I wear one of the pieces, as I did several times this week, I receive compliment after compliment. The name of her business? … Read More
Loving the Skin I’m In
My week began with number five in the Soon-to-be-50 series of fun my mother’s been sending me. She even managed to inject a little more humor into Warren’s birthday celebration! At the ugly (as in I can’t believe I’m up at this time of day!) hour of pre-dawn, there’s nothing that gives this Night Owl a Good-Morning-Pick-Me-Up like … Read More
Paesanos
Yesterday, I spent a gloriously exhausting day at a TEDx event, where I met with many wonderfully new and exciting ideas and people. One speech brought together those two entities in the form of a single word: Paesano. Paesano, as he told us, literally translates to countrymen or villager, but the truest essence of what it represents is friend. Not … Read More
Feeding My Near-Fifty Happy
These are some of the Moments that fed my happy this week. Big Guy came home from school with a big smile on his face and this carnation. He was one of only eighteen students from the junior and senior classes of his high school to be accepted into our local National Honor Society chapter. I am often reminded how … Read More
A New Lease on Life
Sometimes it’s just the littlest things that either bring us down or help build us back up… I spent my entire Saturday in a hormonal stupor. I wore a path between the bathroom, the kitchen, and my couch. When I wasn’t pacing, I sat with my computer on my lap, wandering back and forth between Facebook, my blog, and open … Read More
I Am The Cure
I am the cure. For what ails me. And I’m so glad that this past week of Mad and Sad is over. Some weeks are that way, where The Shit seems to flourish. That seemingly eternal anguish makes me all the more appreciative for those times like Mother’s Day week, when I noticed plenty of Happy. Honestly, until Friday, I … Read More
Well Color Me Happy!
I was hurrying through the Dollar Store, in search of a tiara to give a friend who had been fighting turning fifty. Nothing like a little royal treatment to make someone feel special. This coloring book practically jumped off the shelf at me. I paused and then smiled as the memories of me—prone on the floor, carefully outlining and coloring … Read More