Last week, final paperwork was signed, converting my legal separation to a divorce, and giving responsibility of an upside-down house to me. Each time I think I’m in the clear, I find myself circling one more ring of divorce hell. In several weeks, I’ll go to court for the last… Read full post »

The Academy, 2012

My fair city houses the most important historical building in the Pacific Northwest; and I have the unusual honor of renting a little bit of space here.

Recently, local media went bananas with news of its sale to a non-profit organization that runs our Historical Reserve.… Read full post »

I was 25 years old when my first child was born. Idealistic then, I planned a home birth, read the books, and attended class. Treating the endeavor like any other college course, I soon discovered the difference between academic learning and on-the-job training.

When that baby was set… Read full post »

The previous two weeks have been a lesson in surrender. Every button I have to push has been pressed repeatedly… every old fear dragged out and shoved in my face. Like a puppy with its nose pressed to its mistake, I think I’m finally getting the picture. I can only do… Read full post »

Last weekend, my friend Andrea organized a garage sale at her place, and invited the kids and me to participate. Arriving early, we set up our table among hers and welcomed the bargain hunters. Rain held off, our merchandise looked good, and the kids were behaving… the stars were aligned for… Read full post »

A couple days ago, I noticed my younger son was struggling a little bit with his breathing while we ate dinner. He has a history of respiratory troubles associated with allergies and viruses. With the saturation of tree pollen in the air this week, I figured he may have been having… Read full post »

I try to be a tolerant woman, really I do. And I know times are changing, and social media is the new water cooler. But I don’t want to find out big news that affects my family via Facebook, which is what happened last week.

I’m struggling to be… Read full post »

In my extended family, there was a couple with nearly mythical compatibility. Their names were Ernie and Ruth. Many years ago, they passed away…so perhaps they wed in the 1920’s or ‘30’s. Before the Women’s Movement, the Self-Help Movement, or the New Age Movement, the… Read full post »

When I was eight, I broke my leg while riding a bike. My mom and her good friend, both nurses, decided it was a sprain and laughed that I’d be limping to school the next day. A few hours later, my dad found me on the couch in something approaching shock.… Read full post »

“We may not be happy or satisfied…but we are always joyful,” said my sister Patty this weekend. She was speaking to an evening out with some old friends. Plenty of experiences accumulate in our lives, and it’s fascinating to watch those we grew up with deal, learn, and grow.… Read full post »

Easter mass was such a relief when I was a girl; Lent was over and I could eat candy again. Sermons would lighten in mood since poor Jesus was back home with Dad/God. Tulips and green leaves replaced the sludge of winter decay. Though rain persisted, a new season was born, and… Read full post »

I turn 37 today. I know, I know, I'm still a kid. But it's the mileage plus years, you know. Maybe this new year will bring all sorts of lovelies..and if it does, great. But savoring what I've already got is pretty sweet too.

Music has been my dearest companion… Read full post »

When asked how I was doing the first few months after the end of my marriage, I’d say, “You know…just circling the rings of hell and hoping to get thrown from its orbit soon.” Anyone who’d been through this would nod vigorously. Been there, done it. As… Read full post »

"Oscar, 2012"

My mother asked me to dog-sit her grumpy lhasa apso mix named Oscar. She and my stepfather are visiting the newest member of the family in Arizona for a few days, so I was happy to do it. Dropping Oscar off at my… Read full post »

Last week, my pc started acting up. It didn’t want to stay online or open files. I asked my ex to kindly take a look at it for me…and he did look at it a few times. Asking me, “Did you download this?” he clicked on something called Internet Security, which… Read full post »

This is not the fairytale I’d imagined when I wore sparkly white slippers down a church aisle twelve years ago. The way things have turned out is nothing like the vision I had when I planned a home birth for my first son: so that everything would be done purely from the… Read full post »

When I saw Trayvon Martin's parents on the news last night, I was blow away at their dignity and strength. Their grace in this tragic time enables a movement to begin around the injustice committed to their son, and his loved ones. My deepest sympathy and respect to these parents.… Read full post »

On Saturday at four in the morning, I was woken by a sound everyone is familiar with: a police radio. I tried to tell myself it was only the neighbors leaving for work; but there is no confusing that sound with any other. Pulling myself from bed, I peered through the… Read full post »

Last night a friend and I rented videos. She recommended 50/50, a so-called comedy about a young person with cancer. We watched it, and it is really good, but the funny only offsets the awful. We finished it and ran back to Video Connections, our locally owned cool place to pick/… Read full post »

Proudly, I am a resident of Washington State, which recently signed marriage equality into law for gay couples. We are a diverse state, truly purple when it comes to partisan affiliations; but enough of us agree on this: homosexual couples are entitled to the same legal and financial benefits as stra… Read full post »

Our national conversation about birth control has veered into bad science fiction lately, as Rick Santorum has declared the prevention of unwanted pregnancies wrong and Rush Limbaugh accused women who utilize birth control of being sluts. Flirting with some kind of misogynistic dystopian vision of a… Read full post »

I have large hands, long fingers. A therapist commented on it once, while I told him a sad story. Resting a palm to my face while I explained something deep, dark and painful, I was startled when the man said, “I’m sorry, I missed that. Your hands are so big…it just… Read full post »

A relative told me in December, “Things aren’t going to be perfect anymore, Maureen. Get used to it.” She was speaking to life after nuclear family: divorce, dating, and family relationships…all of it. Still in shock, dazed and confused, I couldn’t begin to absorb what… Read full post »

Whitney Houston was laid to rest this week, and the world of pop culture is left mourning the fall of another great artist. At one time, she was unbelievably beautiful and talented: a phenomenon. In the public’s unyielding eye, she slowly destroyed herself with drugs and a bad marriage. Like ot… Read full post »

It feels like a funeral around here lately. What my children and I are grieving isn’t a person; it’s a thing, an invisible and infinitely precious thing: our nuclear family. Reborn will be a new family, of course, like a phoenix rising from its ashes. But until the rising, there's moments… Read full post »