My spin class instructor is a tough nut. Today, as I and twenty-four other torture lovers huffed and puffed and groaned our way ‘uphill’ on our stationary bikes, she shouted at us, “You can DO this! WIPE those negative thoughts from your mind! The only word in your head right now should be YES! YES, […]

I’m sitting in a room with three four-year-olds who are playing peacefully with each other. I’ve got misbehaving grownups on my mind. Kanye West, for one. Two nights ago he stormed onto the stage at the internationally televised MTV awards, ripped the microphone from a nineteen-year-old’s hand during her acceptance speech, and hollered that the […]

I stink. No, I’m not referring to my writing, or to my editing, or to my behavior or personality. I mean me, my body, I stink. I completely, absolutely, totally reek of coffee. The ironic thing is, I hate coffee. I can’t stand the taste of it, and the smell is only mildly tolerable to […]

My twenty-year high school reunion was eleven days ago. I missed it. Eleven days ago, I was in another country altogether, furiously scrubbing mold out of our rented house in Lowestoft, England, in preparation for the landlord’s inspection. Sad about not being able to hang out with dear friends I’ve kept up with over the […]

My friend, the amazing mother of the Amazing Trips, alerted me today that I’d been named 2009 Mother of the Year. How do you like that?! Here’s the link to the announcement on CNNBC. Pay attention to the last line—it torpedoes my entire personal hygiene strategy right out of the water. Stay tuned until