Yesterday was a picture-perfect day in Southern California. The sky was blue and cloudless, the temperature was splendid, and the agenda included family. We set out early to make the most of our day in San Diego, and we were fortunate to have good traffic in both directions; Paul really is clever with traffic. He’s […]

Read More Of Memorial Day, Half-Birthday, and Big Brother of New Nephew (aka a random summary of yesterday)

Calm It wasn’t the first time I’d been asked, but it was the only time that mattered. There was no drama, no anguish, no panic attacks this time, only him … and me, of course. I was calm, despite my excitement and pleasure, I was calm because I felt good about this. The calm I […]

Read More Weekly Anamnesis #25

Yesterday our new nephew was born. He is yet unnamed, but will be called Grandpa Darth Vader if his brother has anything to say about it. Welcome, little one!

Read More New and Notable

My friend just delivered Princess #3. That one act not only gave life to this little girl, but also gave birth to the developing womanhood of Princesses 1 and 2. Princess 1 was born in the standard way: at the hospital with little childbirth prep. She had assumed, as most women do, that the doctors […]

Read More The Gift of Womanhood

Stagnant(note: I am not the I in the story I am about to relate.) It all started when he met that girl. They fell in love, they claimed, and wanted to marry. But they were young, and they were both still in school. They didn’t listen to us, but married anyway. He’s been stagnant ever […]

Read More Weekly Anamnesis #24

It was my first real job, not my first job. I wasn’t employed by a family member, like my first job working at the laundromat and dry cleaners, and the wage was the same but the hours more plentiful than my summer job of the previous years as a lobby pianist. I considered myself, for […]

Read More Scent Stories

Cure I used to joke that I should have been an American. The theory was simple: I never go to the doctor, thus I should trade places with someone who could truly benefit from the Canadian healthcare system. I would rue my words, later, when my maternity bill arrived. Suddenly, midway through adolescence, everything got […]

Read More Weekly Anamnesis #23

My mother-in-law often tells me of when she was a young mother. Her first son was such a great kid and a spectacular sleeper, and she would reflect that it was because she was such a clever mother. When my husband came along she used many of the same tricks that had been so successful […]

Read More Nurture vs. Nature?

Just in case any of you were as concerned as you sounded when I reported my high blood pressure reading, I wanted to report that while running errands this morning I stopped at the blood pressure monitor at the Target pharmacy. The reading was 112/76, pretty normal for me. That high reading at the Doctor’s […]

Read More Healthwatch