In the old days my biggest job in a company move was to keep the kids out from under foot. Today, I have choices. Pay for the one stop shop. Or cobble the pieces together into a DIY moving experience. Just like Hobby Lobby sells materials for crafts, and Home Depot sells supplies for home improvement, a variety of companies sell pieces and parts for a DIY move. Packing supplies, packing services, trucks, loading services, storage solutions, specialty piano loading. You name i

I remember the days of asking people for directions and recommendations.  The days before Google and Facebook. I’m not even sure when my phone became the go-to resource for everything. Even at the dinner table, I’ll consult my phone if the information is relevant in the moment. “What time does the hardware store close?” I finish chewing and pull out my phone.  “Eight o’clock.  Enough time to wash the dishes before we go there.” It’s not rude if it enhances the conversation. R

Not a motorcycle exactly. Not like a Harley. Most people her age can’t afford Harleys. Those are for established business men and retirees. She called hers a scooter. I sent her this picture from the grocery store and asked if this is what it looked like. Her husband rolled his eyes. “Not that kind of scooter.” Lots of people drive motorcycles, but I never pictured my baby girl out on the open road without the protection of tons of metal and airbags. As my kids grew up, I con

If the song from the 1988 Kit Kat commercial isn’t running through your head after reading this blog title, click on the picture below and it will be. I took a much needed break last night and read a novel until way past my bed time (which isn’t as late as it used to be). Being a compulsive, all-or-nothing person, I run as hard and fast as I can. When I get tired, I want to quit. For good. Never to do the thing again. Last night I felt that way about this blog. Life has worn

I filed taxes last year and tax day is almost here again. It’s like the government wants me to pay taxes every year or something. I was reading a book about the history of the Santa Fe Trail. It said that the Spanish treasury was so broke that people were required to pay taxes on their taxes. I told my daughter about the unique phrase “taxes on taxes.” Her response, “A co-worker used that phrase the other day.” Obviously, her co-worker read the same book about the history of

. . . because life is an adventure. We moved to the suburbs last year, after thirteen years in a small Colorado mountain town. I wrote a blog about the plethora of choices in the suburbs. Now, we are moving again. This time to a small town in rural New Mexico. I welcome the slower pace. But the move and the buying and selling of homes might do me in. At the same time, both of my kids have found the love of their lives. Can’t complain about that. I’m becoming an expert in thin

I watched the hot wax come near my eye. What had I agreed to? The warmth touched my skin, so close to the lid. I stared into a stranger’s face. She’d said her name was Ramona. She’d said I would look so good. She’d been horrified by the unkempt state of my eyebrows. Then, ripppppppp. She peeled off the wax. How had I ended up with a perfect stranger putting hot wax near my eye? Not a doctor with a pile of degrees. Someone who admitted she had trouble getting to work on time.

My dog is a geriatric German shepherd, mixed with who knows what. Sixteen years old. She moves and creaks like an old lady. Unsteady on her feet and mostly deaf. But she still loves walks and table scraps. Since she’s mostly deaf and often stiff-legged, I make adaptations for her. To call her inside at night, I flash the porch light a couple of times and open and close the screen door so she can see it. The neighbor’s probably think it’s a secret code. She enjoys barking at i

Keeping up with Technology Seems like I’m always looking for technology before it is ready. Later, I am surprised to learn that it has caught up to my expectations, and no one told me Case in point, my daughter suggested using Google Keep. It’s a list keeper that manages everything in online so that I can see and edit my lists on my phone or computer. I was carrying around a notebook with the lists and reference material (half my brain). Worked great until I left it at the gr

I’m a small-town girl, who recently moved to the suburbs.  I find myself faced with so many new decisions. How do suburb dwellers figure out where to shop? For example, when I need something for my home, perhaps a dishtowel.  In the small, mountain town where I used to live, I would go to Walmart, buy the towel and be home within a few minutes. Now I live within ten minutes of three Walmarts. How do I choose? I can go to the one that is near the Kickboxing gym.  Maybe I’ll wo

When my daughter was a teenager, she would say, “I’m on time when I’m in my bedroom, but when I come upstairs, I’m running late.” She suspected a time warp. I blamed her clocks. But lately, I experience a time warp in the mornings. I have a very structured routine. Shower, dress, brush my teeth, etc. Why, on some mornings, does the routine take fifteen minutes longer than on other mornings? Is it possible that on tired days, each movement is slower? On a good day I spend two

Who hasn’t dreamed of having an amusement park or tourist town all to themselves? Why fight the crowds? Just go when no one else is around. I recently had the opportunity to visit one of my favorite little mountain towns in the winter with my husband. I had imagined poking through the shops and eating funnel cakes without crowds or lines. Instead, I found this. Closed for the season. Most of the town shuts down when the train stops bringing shoppers. One die-hard tourist shop

I got rid of TV six years ago.  Not the TV itself, but the satellite service that brought programming into our home.  Didn’t have time to watch and didn’t want to pay for it.  Much cheaper to buy an occasional streaming movie and a Netflix subscription. But, lately, I miss the times snuggling next to my husband to watch a show.  Time spent together.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have a series we could watch together—a couple of episodes a week?  My husband wasn’t keen on the idea,