Moments with The Mayor

The late morning August sun shines through the windshield so bright even the visor and their sunglasses do little to help the glare. He accelerates on the on-ramp of the highway, and he speaks clearly and directly, “Siri, directions to Jeffrey’s Antique Gallery in Findlay, Ohio…”

Actual picture taken by the author.

“Okay. Here are directions to Jeff’s Flooring Warehouse in Scottsdale, Arizona.”

They look at each other and start cracking up and he says, “Jesus fucking Christ, Siri, it’s way too early to be drinking.”

“I’ll type it in,” she offers from the passenger seat as he merges across the highway into the left lane to pass one of the many truckers on the road. She pulls up the directions and they appear on the Apple Carplay screen in the dash. He reaches cruising speed and sets the cruise control at 72. 

She has taken the day off work and he is taking her out of town to get a change of scenery from her home office that she has been confined to for the past two weeks. It is a blessing and a curse working from home. While she has the flexibility to take off when she needs to, being a contract worker means no vacation days—if she doesn’t work she doesn’t get paid. So she puts in long hours, often logging time on the evenings and weekends. This is her first full day off in over a fortnight.

They talk about what he plans to make for dinner and how they really need to start on painting the cabinets in the kitchen if they are going to sell in the spring. Since his job ended two years ago he has become a full-time homemaker—a domestic engineer, as she liked to put it—and if they could grant degrees he would certainly have a Ph.D. He has become so adept in the kitchen that she looks forward to what’s for dinner from the moment she wakes up in the morning. He used to turn to Food Network for inspiration, but lately he has been thinking of old recipes and how to jazz them up in his own way. Tonight he is taking a favorite recipe for a local restaurant’s shepherd’s pie and adding edamame and sundried tomatoes to the lamb and traditional veggies. She knows it will be killer—he rarely disappoints.

She catches him drumming along with his thumbs to Hall and Oates and smiles, singing along as she looks at the familiar scenery along 75. He is handsome, not in your typical Chris Hemsworth way, then again who is, but in an inviting and comforting way. More than his outward appearance, he has a gentle, caring nature that makes her heart gallop. He always knows how to take care of her, when to refill her water cup, when she needs physical touch, when she needs to be left alone, and when she needs to just let go and laugh. He is her rock and she could not be more grateful.

“So, what are your thoughts on just staying partners versus getting married?” she suddenly says, surprising herself with her abruptness as they pass Troy. “Are we gonna be like Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn and just never tie the knot? Or do you feel a strong desire to make it official?” She had always assumed they were on the same page, but they never discussed it in their hopes and dreams for their future together. She herself waffled back and forth between the romanticism of getting married, but she was also practical and knew there were financial consequences to taking the plunge. She loved looking at wedding dresses and engagement rings, but the idea of getting married again terrified her. 

He takes a beat and replies, “I mean, I feel like we already are life partners like Kurt and Goldie. A marriage certificate won’t change how I feel about you. If it makes sense for us to get married, then I’m game, but otherwise I say why mess with a good thing? If we decide we want to in the future, it’ll be on a whim by Elvis in Vegas or something like that,” and he laughs, casting a sideways glance at her to gauge her reaction.

She is relieved by his response and tells him that. They have eleven years under their belt, she can’t imagine herself with anyone else and a ring didn’t mean as much as his steadfast strength and compassionate shoulder as he stood by her during one of her darkest hours last winter. He would always take care of her, and in turn, she would always provide for him. She had come to realize how deep her love for him really was, and she felt his devotion and affection on a daily basis. 

Siri’s voice suddenly pipes up and notifies them of their exit in 10 miles. The trip has flown by, their easy conversations punctuating the comfortable silence as the western Ohio scenery passes by. They have some backroads after they exit and she looks out at the houses and churches in the little town by the antique mall. In a clearing, she sees a small graveyard and two solitary headstones right next to each other. The engravings are faded, but one of them has words that form the shape of a smile and it is tilted to the right, barely touching the headstone next to it. It is as if it is pressing its forehead to the marker next to it and even in the afterlife the two can’t be separated. She immediately gets the warm fuzzies and points it out to him.

“Look, it’s you and me! You must’ve said something in the afterlife that made me smile and want to always be near you…” Can you pull over? I want to take a picture. Such detours were not uncommon. They did a u-turn for a cheese castle during a recent trip to Wisconsin, he could take a break for a snapshot of something she found inspiring.

She gets the picture she wanted, is pleased with herself, and is already mulling the story she will write about it one day when she has more free time. They pull up to the antique mall, take a sip from their water bottles, and head in. He opens the door for her, following behind her, then takes her hand as they walk the aisles. She leans her head on his shoulder for a brief moment. Thinking back to the gravestones, she is thankful that she has a lifetime of tender moments and fun adventures to look forward to with him. But for right now, she is happy he is by her side exploring this tiny part of the universe, keeping her grounded and her heart full. 

Center Star of the Bingo Card

For the past few weeks I have been pondering what my first post of 2026 would be about. I have been in the throes of perimenopausal rage, the brunt of which my family has taken. At the suggestion of friends, I have sought out HRT to help with the rage, and at the suggestion of my sister, who has been my sounding board for the past 44 years, I have sought out a therapist. In a reflection on the state of our healthcare system, this is the first time in the 17 years since my divorce that I am able to afford therapy. Yep, that’s right, 17 years of suppressed trauma, stuffed down to keep the peace and the facade of a healthy coparenting relationship, paired with wild hormone surges, and I am a train wreck. 

How has it been 17 years, you may ask? Well, since my ex dropped me from his health insurance the millisecond the divorce was final, I was without health coverage. My stress and trauma induced mental breakdown followed very quickly and suddenly I had a preexisting condition and didn’t qualify for care. This was five years before the ACA, so in order to stabilize my brain chemistry I went $50k in debt just to survive. I am just now nearly finished climbing out of that hole. I was briefly paired with a welfare/medicaid therapist by my social worker in the first few months after my breakdown, but we didn’t touch on the trauma and gaslighting that X and his new wife inflicted on me during the divorce and after my breakdown. Instead we focused on my mental health and how I dealt with my new diagnosis. So I stuffed it down even further and put a smile on my face in what I thought was the best thing for my kids. Turns out it wasn’t.

Once I was able to get covered due to the ACA rule on nondiscrimination based on preexisting conditions (bitch all you want, Obama saved my life), I could never afford the mental health component. I already pay out of pocket for my psychiatrist and medications, I had bare minimum coverage in case of emergencies, therapy just wasn’t in the cards. Finally this year, I am with a plan that covers mental health. So I’m finally ready to unpack.

I have made my health a priority over the past couple of years (I’m down 60 pounds!), but have never prioritized my mental health, thinking I was just fine as long as my bipolar was under control. It turns out I was inflicting harm on those around me by not processing my anger and betrayal by X and his new wife. In 2010 in a long blog post I laid bare all of my own mistakes and transgressions, thus taking down myself along with an entire community. I took the blame for the divorce and buried my anger deep down, praying that I could raise my kids with the illusion of a happy, healthy, coparenting family who “just couldn’t make things work out.” Well, it turns out the healthiest thing I could’ve done was find a way to process that pain. Though it wasn’t possible at the time, I  am looking forward to processing everything in private with my therapist, and hopefully eventually healing the relationships that I have harmed through my own neglect of my psyche. 

So while I continue on my path toward physical wellness, I have added mental wellness, something that wasn’t on my bingo card for 2026 but is now center star. I hope to work through my anger and get some hormone relief as well as some closure on my past. That way I can move forward into the next chapter with The Mayor with a fresh head and healthy boundaries and a sense of trust that has been missing from my relationships for the past 17 years. The Mayor has a way of making me feel like I’m actually worth the effort, something I have never felt in any relationship before. So here’s to wellness and healthy living. May 2026 be a year of change and personal growth.

I love you all, some more than others. 💜🌻

PS These hot flashes are no joke. I had to stop by the freezer section three times just to cool down while shopping at Meijer with The Mayor this morning! 

Seven Sentences for Sunday: The Heading into the End of the Twenties Edition

  1. I made some financial, health, and creative resolutions. I didn’t share them last year and I made good headway on all fronts. So superstitious me is keeping them to myself so I don’t jinx all the progress I’ve made. 
  2. That being said, I went down a pants size! 
  3. The best part about new pants that fit in a smaller size is they make you feel cute and sexy all day, but after I’ve eaten dessert, I can unbutton them and they become my comfy pants til it’s time for bed. 
  4. I got one last Christmas moment. I am always transported to a magical place when the tree lights are the only light in the room. 
  5. I’ve already gotten J’s and Ez’s birthday gifts for their birthdays at the end of March. I have to get The Mayor’s gift for his birthday in February then I am taking a few months off before I start on Christmas shopping for next year. 
  6. I am hand making R and J’s advent calendars for next year, so I will start collecting for those in March. 
  7. I was supposed to have lunch with my BFF after Christmas but he came down with norovirus and had to cancel. I have an entire file in my Notes of discussion questions the next time we get together. It is getting longer by the day, so we are going to have to make a date sooner rather than later. How often do you catch up with your BFF?

I love you all, some more than others. 💜🌻

Last night of Christmas lights. Goodbye Christmas magic til December!

Shooting the Moon

Let’s play hearts, he suggests. But not yours, mine. 

He threw that jokers wild from the blue, never before having tipped his hand.  

I would love to know what your heart says, she replies, calling his bluff.  

My heart says you’re all mine, he reveals, going all in.   

That’s beautiful, she muses,  but is there a part that says YOU are all MINE?

 I could definitely say that, he smiles.

And she folds. 

Unexpected Hope from the Littlest Lovebug

We are having unexpected January temperatures in the beginning of December and my mood is that much poorer for it. We have barely made it above freezing for the past 10 days and we are expected to hit a balmy 5 degrees on Sunday. I could feel myself slipping when I started replacing my water for hot cocoa and my daily workout with doomscrolling in my recliner. I hung on to happy-go-lucky D!  with my fingernails, as if I were scratching out the demons’ eyes who were ready to overtake me with one skipped breath, one exaggerated sigh too many.  And then like they did when they announced their presence on the ultrasound 17 years ago, Ez gave me hope.

Our car rides can range from dead silence, as they lose themselves in their headphones and Spotify, to full on philosophical discussions that are only halted by my pulling into the driveway. The other day, they were feeling philosophical. 

“If you were a mouse and you could only eat three cheeses for the rest of your life (keeping in mind a mouse’s life is only 4-5 years) what three cheeses would you choose?” It took me a minute, but I finally chose Camembert, honey goat Gouda, and Muenster for everyday snacking. They responded with Colby jack for every day snacking, pepper jack for when they were feeling spicy, and Bella vitano for the fancier times. We agreed that I have a wider breadth of cheese knowledge than they do, but they classed it up with the Bella vitano choice. 

We then talked about making positive changes in our lives, with Ez taking steps to get healthier through exercise and more water, fruits, and veggies. Once they started talking they opened up about how they are feeling better, losing weight, and feeling the mental benefits of regular exercise. I knew they were right and that’s half the reason I started to tumble into the weeds of depression that ensnare me in winter. I eat just fine, with The Mayor carefully curating a meal plan that is both healthy and delicious. But exercise is my bugaboo. I had finally found something that seemed to work for me, lifting weights and doing my walking and step ups every other day through autumn, but since The Mayor quit his job before Thanksgiving, I bumped and rolled right off that wagon and into the mud of “I just don’t feel like it.” 

But something about seeing Ez get excited about their walks around the lake and packing their lunch for work instead of the regular Crunch Wrap Supreme on the way home gave me the spark of hope that I needed. I made it a point that afternoon to do my step ups and lift my weights that had been untouched for 10 days. Feeling the natural high of my blood pumping through my arteries and my synapses firing on all cylinders, I vowed to get some form of exercise every day, even if it’s a simple walk around Meijer or Fresh Market. It is so easy for me to slowly descend into slothfulness and inactivity with my commute literally being 22 steps from the bedroom to the recliner, but I legitimately feel better if I give myself that endorphin rush. 

From the moment I knew they were growing inside my belly, Ez has been a source of hope for me. I remember half-joking during my baby shower that I hoped they weren’t a dud, since I had already been blessed with two kiddos who were perfect in their own unique snowflake kind of way. Ez has been anything but a dud. They continue to inspire me with their words and art, and they give me hope that I can pull myself up when I see them making positive choices that will affect their future. I don’t think there is anything more you can ask from a 17 year old on the cusp of adulthood.

I love you all, some more than others.💜🌻

I Write Therefore I Am

It’s winter time, which means I have plenty of dark days to ponder such somber thoughts as what kind of legacy I will leave behind when my time comes to become stardust in the universe. As I collect past writings and journal entries into a collective published piece, I am reminded of the Latin phrase Verba volant, scripta manent, which translates to “spoken words fly away, written words remain.” I live and die by the pen, so this resonates particularly strongly with me. 

Between Facebook and my blog, I am pretty much an open book. This has enabled me to nurture and develop relationships with people from all walks of my life all over the world, and with some whom I have never met. Just this week, I have been messaged by three different people of varying degrees of familiarity who said they thought of me because of something I had written.

My friend, Nick, from my study abroad year in England, messaged that something came across his feed about people who can make jokes about grammar are the cleverest of the lot and he thought of me. My bff’s mom, Linda, texted that she thought of me because she got an entire bag of “foldy” chips with her dinner and she knew that bag should’ve been mine. And then my own daughter, J, has texted me at the exact same time numerous times, indicating that we are never far from each other’s minds. 

Just the idea that I crossed these friends’ minds and made them smile for a moment fills my love bucket to the brim. I am not one for long conversations, always a better listener than I am contributor, but I can collect my thoughts into an essay with relative ease. I think this has allowed me to be precisely in the moment soaking it all in, and then write about it later. While I hope to make an impact on people in real life connections, the reality of our virtual world is we have so many of those interactions online. We are who we are because of our words, and our written words are even more pertinent and meaningful today. 

It brings me joy and a sense of fulfillment that I can elicit a smile through my actions, but especially my words. My writings are an expression of my love for this journey we are on together, and that Love will remain in others whom I have touched after I am ashes. Hopefully I have plenty of years left to continue to make an impression in others who enter my sphere. At the very least, I will have left a library for my children and future grandchildren so that they will always know I love them. After all, scripta manent, amor manet. 

I love you all, some more than others 💜🌻 

A Present to My Future Self

I am a procrastinator at my very basic core. My friends can attest that I spent my college years doing everything last minute. I even wrote the speech I gave at graduation 2 hours before I was to deliver it, nearly giving my roommate, Karri, a coronary in the meantime. Somehow I never had any natural consequences because it always amazingly got done. 

This habit followed me into adulthood, through my marriage, divorce, raising kids, and finally meeting The Mayor. My procrastination techniques did not sit well with him, as The Mayor lives by a “future you will thank you” philosophy. He is the first to get the worst chores out of the way, rarely putting off til tomorrow what can be done this instant.

Now, although we had vastly different philosophies, he never lectured me to be more responsible. Instead he led by example. It started benignly with Christmas shopping. I grew up shopping and wrapping up until the 24th. The Mayor’s family celebrates on Christmas Eve, so we had to start earlier. Over the years, I have morphed into the one buying gifts months in advance and socking them away. This allows me to spread out the damage and shop the sales. Plus the kids always end up getting more on Christmas morning in the long run. I also never have to worry about stores running out of what I want and can enjoy the holiday season relatively stress free.

The Mayor has infected me with this philosophy in other areas of my life as well. Putting off a phone call? He’ll mute the Spotify and say “get it over with then it won’t be hanging over your head.” And he is always right. The temporary pain is minor compared to the stress of dragging something out.

Yesterday when Ez got into the car, they told me how they wished they weren’t such a procrastinator, as they stayed up past 10 the previous night to finish a presentation. I told them they come by it naturally, but they also have no natural repercussions, because they aced their presentation and the only downside to doing it so late was they were tired and grumpy during school. A boba tea and lunch at Bibibop after school straightened that attitude right up, and I gave them an example of how The Mayor’s philosophy has helped me and might help them.

I told them that earlier that day I was feeling puny and I didn’t feel like working out even though I haven’t worked out since last week. Instead of thinking of excuses I picked up my weights and told myself I was only going to do my bicep curls and then I would be done. Once I finished my reps, I thought “since I have my weights out, I might as well do my shoulder press …” which led to a couple of sets of triceps and finally abs and obliques. What started as me making deals with myself to stop sooner ended up with me saying just one more and a full workout. 

Oftentimes what I say as their mother goes in one ear and out the other, but maybe, just maybe, they will put more credence in The Mayor as the voice of reason. It’s a hard habit to break, and there is something to be said for brilliance under pressure, but I have learned that just getting started is half the battle. Once you write the first few words, make the first few presentation slides, do the first rep, you gain traction and momentum that carries through to a superior result.

 I still fight myself to not put off what should be done now, but I have trained my brain to override those foreboding thoughts by repeating, “Future you will thank you.” I know Ez has to learn that lesson themselves, but I hope as they make their way through the deadlines and projects of life, they will remember our conversation and relieve some stress by starting a bit earlier. Even if it’s one slide at a time. Future Ez will thank them, and that is one of the best presents I could give.

Seven Sentences for Someday: The Snowy Monday Edition

  1. When I am super hungry, I get highly irrational. Adam will ask me how many squares of pizza I want and I respond “Eighteen” and he says, “Hmmm. How about we start with three.” And of course he is always right. I hope we never lose this type of interaction. 
  2. Ez killed their senior pictures. We got proofs and they are outstanding. 
  3. R turned 19. The last year of her teens. I know so many good things are going to happen for her this year and she is going to go into her 20s soaring.
  4. The Mayor and I had early dinner out on Friday at one of our old haunts, Dos Amigos. I was thrilled the waiter checked out my cleavage and smiled, only for me to realize it’s because I had already spilled salsa down my top in the 25 seconds between him dropping off the chips and coming back to take our order. I’m 48 and still hopeless. 😩
  5. Today is our first day of snow. I love how peaceful and quiet it is, but only because I don’t have to be anywhere. 
  6. I accidentally dipped my thumb into a 460 degree water bath that I was pulling out of the oven when I made homemade baguettes. My entire thumb is one big blister now, which makes texting and typing a very surreal experience. 
  7. I finished and submitted my 1% Club application this morning. I don’t know if I could make it to the 100k, but it sure would be fun trying!! For my video I sang a made up song to the tune of Seasons of Love from Rent. Fingers crossed they like me enough to cast me!

I love you all, some more than others. 💜🌻

Proper Punctuation

The idea came to me the other day that not only is my career ruled by proper punctuation as an editor, but my adult life stages can be defined by punctuation marks as well. 

My first decade of adulthood started off with some certainty, as I married early at 21, but the rest of my life was a big fat question mark. After I decided not to go to medical school, I began down a path that would have many detours toward different careers. I spent a lot of time in nonprofit land, working with an adoption agency, the Girl Scouts, and an art museum. In my mid-twenties,  I would spend hours on the phone with my college roommate, Karri, wondering what I was meant to do with my life. We both had big aspirations and knew we were meant for “more,” we just weren’t sure what. Motherhood at almost 27 solidified a little for me, as I started a new job both as a mother and as a science editor. I pondered going back to grad school, but two quick pregnancies followed and I had 3 kids under 4 by age 30. Grad school would have to wait.

My thirties brought a divorce, a mental breakdown, several years of instability, and navigating single parenthood. A semicolon, signifying a pause in your life’s path, defined this decade. Being in and out of mental hospitals in my early thirties, finally stabilizing in my late thirties when The Mayor became a fixture in my life, marked a decade of tumultuousness with frequent “time-outs” and pauses. I was glad to make it through my thirties without the finality of a period, full stop. 

I spent the majority of my forties raising three teenage girls and growing my relationship with The Mayor, so I choose the ampersand for my forties. My forties weren’t about Just Destiny anymore, but rather Destiny and…I still have two years left of this decade, and though I am still working through the ampersand years, with adding projects AND hobbies AND work AND helping teens become adults, I anticipate the next decade will reap the rewards of all of my addition of my forties. The way it is going, I can already determine that my fifties will be marked by an exclamation point. Will it be a book deal? Grad school, finally? Eloping with The Mayor? Who knows, but whatever happens, I welcome the next decade with open arms. But only after I tie up the loose ends of my late forties.

I hope to revisit these ideas as the decades progress and I gain wisdom and insight into this raw and beautiful journey I have been so fortunate to live. I hope I am in my 80s writing about my 90s being the ellipses as I fade into the universe. But for now, this editor is still leaving her mark. Here’s to fresh red pens and track changes on…

I love you all, some more than others. 💜🌻

The Ultimate Extravagance

It was the day before my 10th birthday. Double digits this year. The stores were already decorating for Thanksgiving, with hints of Christmas peeking out of the aisles.

 “We’re here just for necessities,” my mom said, leading me toward the cake mixes. I loved this tradition of picking out my cake flavor. Mom made my cake every year and she always used a Duncan Hines cake mix as a base, but then added her extra secret ingredients to make it taste better. And homemade frosting. Always homemade frosting. Because the cake mix itself didn’t matter so much, but the canned frosting didn’t hold a candle to her homemade icing. I looked over the options, mulling a carrot cake versus devil’s food cake. And, oh, there’s the German chocolate cake too, but that icing meant getting pecans and coconut as well, and mom made it clear that her paycheck was late so I tried to be mindful of the extra expense. Finally I settled on devil’s food cake and asked for chocolate chip buttercream icing. Mom added the red and yellow box to the basket and said, “we need more eggs, too. I only have one left at home.” 

We made our way to the dairy, saying hello to the lobsters in the seafood case on the way. In front of the egg cooler, there was an end cap with individual butter sculptures carved like turkeys. Mom paused and gasped when she saw them. “Aren’t these just the most extravagant thing ever?” She ran her fingers over the box, as if she wanted to poke at the waddle of the butter turkey to see if it would gobble. She lingered a little longer, sighing that it was an unnecessary expense, but boy wouldn’t that be cool on the Thanksgiving table, before turning to the egg cooler and retrieving a dozen large. The way my mom said “extravagant” with a hint of longing, a smidgen of preposterousness, and a touch of regret made me want to experience that butter sculpture. I wondered if it would taste different, being carved up to look like a turkey. Surely it had to, if rich people were buying it. I determined right then and there that I would get one of those butter turkey sculptures on our Thanksgiving table somehow.

Mom made my birthday cake while I was at school the next day, and I opened my presents when I got home after I blew out my candles. I hadn’t stopped thinking about that butter sculpture we had seen, so when I opened my card from Papa and there was a crisp $20 bill with a note that said, “Buy yourself something extravagant…” I knew what I had to do. 

That Saturday, I asked mom if I could walk down to Kroger by myself; now that I was 10 I felt I was old enough. She agreed, but insisted on following me down and back in the car. I felt so free and grown walking down the big hill and in through the double doors. I thought to myself, “ten is old enough to walk to the grocery store by myself. It’s also old enough to start contributing to the house.”

I quickly weaved my way to the back corner of the store, praying the whole way that nobody had bought all the turkeys, and was rewarded with a whole selection of butter sculptures in the dairy. I picked one up, purchased it, and went back outside to let mom know I had made it out okay. I handed her the bag with the butter turkey in it and said, “I bought this for Thanksgiving because I wanted you to have something special.” Mom immediately started crying when she looked in the bag and said I shouldn’t have, but that it would look perfect on our Thanksgiving table. She’s always good about being grateful for gifts, even if she thinks I wasted my money. I asked if she would drive me up the big hill so I didn’t have to walk it by myself and she said of course.

At Thanksgiving, I helped set the table and put the butter turkey on a little plate in the center of the table next to mom’s yeast rolls. We said grace and loaded our plates. It was just the two of us so when we went to butter our rolls, we looked at the turkey sculpture and then at each other. It seemed a shame to cut into something so beautiful, we didn’t even know where to start. Finally mom said, “aw hell, I’m just gonna go for it” and cut that butter turkey’s head clean off and smeared it in the roll’s crevice. I started laughing at the headless butter carcass that remained and said, “I’m going to go for its butt” and took the tail feathers right off. Mom giggled and watched me as I took a bite of the roll with the fancy butter. I felt the creaminess and saltiness of the butter on my tongue and lips and pressed the excess to the roof of my mouth. I wanted to taste the indulgence that wealthy people thought nothing of and let my whole body feel its richness. Mom smiled at me and said, “I’m so thankful for you, turkey butt. I love you so much.” 

“I love you, too, mama. Happy Thanksgiving” and we devoured our dinners with the headless, buttless butter turkey between us, both of us realizing that the ultimate extravagance was spending the holiday together with a home cooked meal.