darling lucie girl -

omg, what a total mess everything is.  all the furniture is dragged into the middle of the rooms and can't be put back until the trimwork is done.  i have blue paint in places i don't think i'm ever going to get out - and i… Read full post »

darling lucie -

you've missed the entire month long process of going to every available store for paint chips to pin on the walls to watch in different light, getting small samples to paint patches on the wall and the inevitable muttered swearing of unloading 13 feet of bookcases and dragging… Read full post »

darling lucie girl,

i haven't heard from you in a while and we never seem to connect on skype because of the time difference, so i just wanted to send you a note so you know how much i love and miss you.  we are ridiculously busy here, with work and school,… Read full post »

(chapter one of the never ending saga may be read here.)  

2.  The Camps (or where we stayed & why & how)

The bridges of Cincinnati behind us, we pressed on down the length of the country.  The wonderboy proved to be a/… Read full post »

part one of however long it may take:   

If you want to read the backstory (eg, me endlessly whinging about being laid off) click here.

Foreword:

It all started when we got an apartment that should have been impossible to get in my hometown… Read full post »

originally posted december 2008.  reposted 11 August 2009 in response to Gwen's request and because i finally caught the documentary this weekend on HBO on demand - and found  (much to my chagrin) that i'm still angry with him - and his choices.

I’m a li… Read full post »

Yesterday wasn't the four year old wonderboy's best day.  He was teary as I buckled him in the car, knowing he was in for another visit to the doctor.

I need to hear some Leonard Cohen, please. he told me, I want to hear something sad. 

I flip thr… Read full post »

Back when I was gainfully employed, I gave a fair number of speeches – especially this past year.  I spoke quietly to the eight members of the United Methodists Women’s Club as we sat together on beige metal  folding chairs pulled in a circle.   I spoke to over/… Read full post »

I moved to Michigan in early 2002, shortly after Washington went boom and my then husband’s clients went bust.  There’s a tangle of reasons for the move to Ann Arbor, most of them seeming logical at the time.  Since I had always worked in DC or overseas as an adult,… Read full post »

(or:  How to Lose Readers on OS and Gain Some Mental Space)

Let me save you privacy lovers some time:  the easiest way to purposefully lose OS readers?  Post poetry – serious ass, technique-heavy, hugely structured sonnet series with oblique titles will do the trick/… Read full post »

The four year old wonder boy has been a little petulant lately.  Maybe it’s growing pains or a typical almost kindergartner’s raging need for independence.  There are a lot of explicit statements being made around here about what he is or is not going to do – and pa/… Read full post »

There are only three rules for my four children: always tell the truth; think about others; and, be brave.  Over the years I’ve found these three rules will cover just about anything that comes up. 

I’m pretty sure I’m about to throw the first one out the window.&n… Read full post »

I’m afraid I’m becoming (in the dark corners of my soul) the thin lipped woman that peers disapprovingly through the window.

 But first, a little background.  In keeping with the spirit of the Michigan uber-recession and children leaving the nest I recently/… Read full post »