I leased a new car recently – a gorgeous silver Subaru Outback named Sheila, who’s never been barfed in or had a can of Pringles potato chips explode in her backseat – so thought I’d take a few minutes out this morning to quickly set up a monthly automatic payment plan for her and checkRead more…
Every Sunday I wake up fairly certain I’m going to start putting into motion all the magical elements needed to change the course of my life, and this weekend was no exception. To that end, I dutifully made a list of all the tasks I wished to accomplish throughout the week, investigated the health benefitsRead more…
Well, it totally happened this weekend. Some time while I was sleeping and probably in the midst of dreaming about snakes or giving birth, something far more sinister occurred. I turned 50. Yes. I know. It’s true. And contrary to popular belief – er, that is, what I assumed was going to happen – itRead more…
My mother-in-law was a lot of things, but fancy wasn’t one of them. And even though in the end she would wind up living on a golf course in Florida and belonged to one of the swankier beach clubs on the Jersey Shore, she stayed pretty true to her humble Pennsylvania roots. She saved rubberRead more…
At least once a day this summer, I will notice a woman of a certain age out of the corner of my eye and think, just for a moment, that it’s my former mother-in-law. Maybe it’s the color of the woman’s hair as she moves briskly through the parking lot of our local farm market.Read more…
Here’s something you should know about me: I can be pretty spur-of-the-moment. It’s an attribute that helped get me invited recently on an amazing Caribbean getaway, but also may or may not be the reason why I ended up with so many kids. It seems I prefer to let things happen organically. Now, this typeRead more…
I saw a little piece of magic this weekend, right here on the Jersey Shore. Something that reminded me, not for the first time, that I am right where I’m supposed to be. The celebration of our nation’s independence stirs up a lot of emotions for me. I mean, when you’re divorced, all holidays kindaRead more…
Time management has never been my strong suit. I begin most days well-intentioned, with big plans to DO THIS and DO THAT, which mostly degenerates into watching videos on Facebook and taking quizzes to determine who was Rory’s best boyfriend on the Gilmore Girls. So I was really struck by a recent piece in The NewRead more…
It’s graduation season, so in preparation for my final journey eight hours south to the big state university my two oldest children have attended over the last five years, I downloaded a couple of audiobooks to help make the time hurtling down a major interstate pass as quickly as humanly possible. Over those years ofRead more…
To all my younger mommy friends, I am sorry to report the following: it never ends. I know. Take a deep breath and let me explain. When you had your first baby, you managed the terror of what you were about to take on by reassuring yourself that it was merely an 18-year commitment. All youRead more…