Ok, enough serious posts for a while. You’ll be pleased to know that I’m over my November Zucchini Funk. It lasted all the way into February, which is why I visited the therapist three weeks ago. Nothing makes a person feel better than going in and whining for an hour non-stop to someone who listens, tells you your feelings are valid and hands you tissues. Poor thing, she…
My dad’s death two years ago today left me with a visual I’ll never forget and a nagging question: Where will I be carried out? We’ll all be carried away from someplace, so where and how do I want to be living when they cart this worn-out carcass away? It’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately, because this apartment is not that place and I can’t help…
Today is the 23rd anniversary of my mom’s passing. She was a force of nature; making you crazy one minute, making you laugh the next. This story is proof. “Franzes!” I heard my mother’s irritated scream echoing along the metal hallways of the Queen Mary. My father and I exchanged knowing glances and knew our tour of the engine room was over. My dad loved seeing the ship’s quarters…
Craig Ferguson has no idea his silliness saved me and my kids from complete insanity. After my 2010 divorce, my two kids, my two hygienically challenged dogs and I, moved in with my elderly dad in western Pennsylvania for a few months until we could buy a house. We all appreciated my dad letting us move in, but it was a hard time for us. The cute Tudor…
My first tiny inkling of discrimination came when a friend’s dad said to me, “You know, your dad is the only Italian I ever liked.” I was a teenager and it left me confused. On one hand I was proud that he liked my dad, on the other, I felt bad that he felt that way. That was the first time I wondered, Was it bad to be…
I am not a couple with plans to mate today. There are no flowers, no candy and, unless I get very imaginative; no sex. So I wasn’t expecting much. I started the morning with a beautiful handmade valentine from my nephew Nate, who is five. Then I spent 2 hours on the phone with one of my best friends from college, who acted as therapist as I detailed…
I know, I know. I went on and on about how the lemon ricotta cookies were “the ones,” but I’ve found a new love; Toasted Panko. I feel bad being fickle, but the Panko toasted up so nicely and gave my broccoli such a nice crunch, I was helpless. This happened to my mother too. She went through many phases where she loved one thing and started using…
I don’t know what comes over me. I had a million things to do today, half of which I got done, but something told me that since I’d fixed Jesus, it was now time to deal with St. Joseph. I don’t even go to church, why do I feel compelled to do these things? It must be a combo of residual Catholic guilt and missing my dad. I’ve…
Remember, almost a year ago when my friends, my kids, and their friends helped move me into an apartment that needed a lot of work? Well, it still needs a lot of work and since I’m almost over the embarrassment of living in a place that desperately needs a paint job, I figured it was time to pay back my friends Mandy and Bjorn. (Sadly, the landlord has…
In Pennsylvania, in the depths of January, when it gets so cold you can see ice forming on the insides of windows — it’s time for polenta. Here in California, once it hits 60 or under, we shamelessly jump on the polenta bandwagon.…