Hello Sixty
Well Hello Sixty.
Time for my "Do Better Dream Goals". Impossible to meet, still I set them every decade and do my best:
Twenties: Make lots of money ...
Linda Vinopal
Sometimes You Just Gotta Rant
Don't mess with me. I'm out of sorts with my grouchy pants on and I'm not apologizing. The last four weeks have been a whirl of sadness, travel, work, and joy....
Words of Advice to Myself
Words, a lot of words have been thrown at me from a lot of people in my life, in various volumes and with implicated importance. As I round the corner on a new ...
Are You Going to Wear That? And Other Wifely Criticisms
Spring Wine Tasting in California means layers. I felt cheeky checking out my own Husband last weekend, but hot dang he looked really nice. He had layered a L...
Oh No….Could I Be Addicted to Phone Games?
I have yet to miss the daily Wordle. I've added it to my OG games Boggle and Wordbubbles (WB recently released its own version of Wordle, aka my Wordle practice). The time spent on these games I justify as useful and educational in adding new vocabulary and recognizing word patterns and spellings, all great things. These skills enhance my love of reading and wordsmithing, right? What's alarming to me is the time-wastiest of all time wasters: Toon Blast. I'm finding that I’m powerless to stop playing....
Help: Life Long Search For The Perfect Bra For 38D
I have more than a handful, more even then if said hands can palm a basketball. I am a tall woman with a sturdy back and when it comes to bras, nothing is simple for me. I think that I have regular criteria: lift (somewhere between elbow and shoulder); separation (no uni-boob); something I can wear it all day; pretty. Is it too much to ask for a bralette? 'The internet,’ I thought. ‘Surely it would reveal a solution.’...
Self Acceptance and My Bathing Suit
I thought age and maturity would show up on some designated day, not that it would sneak in like a single mouse right before the massive infestation. Gray hair runs in my family, so that wasn't a surprise. The freckles on my hands were a surprise, the extra skin on my arms, whoa. Suddenly instead of the snotty idiot judgmental teenager horrified at those Ladies at the pool (who seemingly didn't care about their wobbly arms and jiggly thighs), I WAS that lady at the pool....
Dad’s Girl
"Hello Dad"
I smile as his hand covers mine. Just like that I am transported back to being Daddy's little girl, his beautiful first daughter. Never mind that his hand covering mine is gnarled and arthritic; and that my hair at fifty-nine is a white as anyone else's in the room.
I pretend not to hear the murmuring "That's Charlie's Daughter, isn't she lovely?"…and laugh when I hear him gleefully telling his Bridge cohorts as we leave the card room: "She drives that electrical car thing and, you know, they have to stop and charge halfway…" Of course, I parked by the window.
Dad. He's always been one of the one of two people on Earth (the other my Husband) who always makes me feel loved, cherished and beautiful....
The Bar Cart Dilemma: We Vowed Not To Shop At Walmart And Then…..
Mom would scary-mutter things about unfair labor practices and dismal manufacturing conditions whenever we drove past that store, her opinion proclaimed with such vehemence I could clearly imagine whip-wielding giants standing over kids (just like my friends and I) laboring over assembly of Barbie Dream Houses. Walmart-avoidance was just a point of fact as I grew up, never something I judged in others. Or did I?
I probably could have been quieter about disliking Walmart when the Kids were young. But like many Mom-isms, the words and explanations of why “We don’t shop at Walmart” shot out of my mouth. The Kids were listening....
The Most Bizarre Way to Wake Up to Self-Improvement
I will retire one day soon. Before retirement, I have projects that are stacked up, waiting for completion at a “later” time. I’ve been busy with Weddings, sick...
Dating in my 20’s: Lillie’s on Friday
Lillie's at the Embarcadero was The Bar where you went to see and be seen. He was standing by the outside bar: Mr. Lillie’s. As I circled closer, he was as tall as I was in heels, his eyes were blue. His suit was gray, shirt white, nice tie. He met my criteria,...
Husband Love
"That's the girl that I am going to Marry" You told the Hostess when I entered your Restaurant.
We hadn't met yet, and I was working through a failing relati...
Six Ways Puppies are Not Like Kids
Try searching “puppy diarrhea” on Google at 10pm and remaining calm. After reading all the horror (Hamilton slept peacefully after making a total mess of his pee-pee spot), I found myself at 5am buying organic chicken breasts and white rice, nearly screaming with panic during what turns out to be a COVID canned pumpkin shortage. Kid and puppy diarrhea cures are the same, as is the (unfortunate) inspection of poop. Thank goodness there was no internet when my Kids were little, I would have been one of those berserk zombie Moms forever banned from my beloved Pediatrician’s helpful office. Advantage: Pup...
Dad This Thanksgiving
Dad asked for a Zoom call on Thanksgiving this year. I was surprised as this was an unusual request for two reasons. One, getting Dad up and running on Zoom was...
The Travel-Alls: What Women Want
The outfit is black, of course, to hide errant spills and manage dirty seats. The top is a deep V front and back, the shoulders elasticized enough to easily pul...
What Happened To Mom That Family Christmas
As the afternoon progressed, I noticed that Mom had availed herself heavily at the bar. While this behavior from Mom happened, it rarely started during daylight hours and was usually in good cheer. Whomever was in from snow play was regaled by Mom with stories of woe......
Goodbye First Big Love
Months after my Marriage, my First Big Love (FBL) and I met up at a wedding of friends from our weekend and house party days. I was surprisingly nervous, sweating in a snug sweater dress....
My Relationship With My Mother-In Law
My Mother in Law Maria told me from the start not to ever expect that we would become friends. Maria had been close friends with Theresa, an earlier girlfriend of my Husband's, and she was hurt and disappointed when things didn't work out. It was the second time we had met....
