I was considering what I should write about, and not feeling terribly inspired. It is a gorgeous day outside — weeds have been calling my name, breezes are drifting flower scents, and above all, my dogs wanted to play...

If I had a wish for the world, it is that each and every person would have a Jeannie.

My Jeannie died from cancer three and a half years ago and the hole she left is like “Dear Eliza” filling the bucket. No matter what I do, the hole is still there. Her daughters are busy mothers and teachers, but when someone mentions their mom, they get that flickering look of soul-deep loss...

Many, many, many, many, many years ago…new shoes…new skirt. My mom made me get my hair cut short and I hate it. What if the kids laugh at it while I’m walking to school? The teacher I’m getting is really grouchy. What will we read in class...?

We’ve been having a heat wave and it was time to write another blog, so I decided that duty would win out over the garden – providing I had a nice big frosty glass of home-made iced tea at my elbow...

I’m a dedicated wordsmith. I think in words, and in my dreams, everyone always has something to say. And those words! Weaving from ideas to fantasies to nightmares. It’s like being caught in a tide that will drown you if you don’t watch out. It can get exhausting...

Fiona likes to climb into boxes.

She’s five now, but I can’t tell you the number of photos I’ve seen of her crammed into everything from shoeboxes (yes it was tight and most of her stuck out!) to pulled-out drawers (with all the tutus, skirts and sweaters on her body) to the odd-shaped cardboard boxes from Amazon...

I’ve been Skyping and Facetiming with my grandsons, Ethan and Isaac, since they were old enough to poke a finger in my virtual eye.  We played hide under the blanket, peek-a-boo, and Mommy-I-want-milk-right-NOW. 

With our homes half a world away, technology is amazing...

One of my former students posted on Facebook about the verbal abuse she suffers from customers at McDonalds. The epithets are ugly and intolerable, and I won’t perpetuate them by writing them down.

I really wonder about people.

So, let’s move away from things I love, to things I…well…hate’s a strong word.  Let’s go with, view with distaste.  That of course, would include housework in general, and doing dishes in particular.

Continuing with things I love…I love to get presents. 

I know I’m supposed to get PC here and talk about how I really prefer to give presents, but not so.  When I give a present there’s always that thud of anxiety that I have picked the wrong thing, size, color, age appropriateness – or that they’d rather have money or they’d rather have had a present….

Things I love, continued…

Flash mobs.  I adore flash mobs.  I watch the videos and hope to actually see one some day.  I’m always a sucker for singing and dancing and when it is presented as the rising of the human spirit, I am reduced to a sniveling mess of happiness.

Two-thirty in the morning and the dogs are barking to go out. A frantic hunt under my bedroom window erupts, with the dogs circling, growling, and charging. I'm out there with a flashlight, yelling at the dogs to come in, when Emmett crashes out of the bushes with a huge possum dangling from his jaws.

I was running down my list of errands (how can one life generate so many?), and had just pulled into a good spot in front of the pharmacy when an old song that I truly love came on the radio – That’s All by Genesis.  The training of years – too much to do and not enough time to do it – nearly kicked in, but with actual effort, I simply sat and listened to the song instead of hurrying to make another tick in the box.

Welcome to my new website!

Now that I’ve ventured into the world of being an Indie writer, I wanted to build a website that would showcase my latest books for teens and my dabbles in flash fiction.