Bookends: October 2025
Autumn in Southern California always feels a little like spring in New England to me. Here, instead of purple crocuses pushing up through the grimy snow, the first of the … Continue reading Bookends: October 2025
Tag: Writing
Bookends: September 2025
My favorite and most impactful read from September was Emotional Labor by Rose Hackman, followed at a close second by The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai, although … Continue reading Bookends: September 2025
Bookends: August 2025
August found me, quite by accident, reading several books dealing with the period of time immediately before and during the Second World War or during a fictional period several years … Continue reading Bookends: August 2025
Bookends: May-July 2025
I have been having trouble knowing what to write these days. With the situation in the United States, I feel like I ought to write something big and impactful, something … Continue reading Bookends: May-July 2025
Bookends: March & April 2025
Time is not working properly. It’s not just the “long days, short years” parenthood cliché. Even hours and minutes aren’t working right anymore. They clearly don’t have as many minutes … Continue reading Bookends: March & April 2025
Bookends: February 2025
Remember a couple of months ago when I wrote about traveling solo? Well, I made it happen! It was solo travel lite, in the sense that I got on a … Continue reading Bookends: February 2025
Bookends: January 2025
In 1996, I adopted a tabby cat that I named Maurice (from the Steve Miller Band song), and in 2000, my spouse and I added a second cat, a black-and-white … Continue reading Bookends: January 2025
2024: My Year in Books
Each year I feel like I’ve grown and changed, and each year I hope that this growth and these changes have been positive. This year I think the changes have … Continue reading 2024: My Year in Books
Bookends: November 2024
I am currently trying to psych myself up to travel solo. We used to travel a lot as a family back when we homeschooled, but now that my not-yet-an-adult kid … Continue reading Bookends: November 2024
2023: My Year in Books
This year was a year of changes for my family. My elder child graduated from high school and started college, and my younger child graduated from homeschool and started public … Continue reading 2023: My Year in Books
Epic Battles for Middle School
My son is using Don and Jenny Killgallon’s Paragraphs for Middle School as part of his writing curriculum this year. The idea is to introduce writing concepts, illustrate them with … Continue reading Epic Battles for Middle School
Habit Experiment: February Recap, March Kickoff
February Recap My goals for February: 1) Do daily FlyLady routines more regularly, particularly bathroom swish-and-swipe and morning and bedtime routines. 2) Streamline my weekly cleaning. 3) Add in 15 minutes a day … Continue reading Habit Experiment: February Recap, March Kickoff
Imperfect Happiness 