Can You Judge a Gal By Her Pyrex?

Imagine if you will, a standing freezer, an appliance you’ve coveted for years but just couldn’t afford. Now envision your glee when a used, yet still well-functioning, keeper of all things frozen comes available at a neighbor’s garage sale. Score! Majorly awesome find for just $30. The only catch is that the contents are being …

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Always Take the Cannoli

Can you believe Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is thirty years old this year? Yepper, that teenage oracle of wisdom and guidance has reached the milestone of no longer being twenty-something. To celebrate, because how can you not celebrate Ferris, this weekend in Chicago folks will gather at Ferris Fest. If you’re in the area, put …

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The Small Moments of Motherhood

(Updated from post of May 2014) Awhile back, on a day when I was walking my dog Taz (I sure do miss that wonderful fella), I passed a mom and son waiting for the school bus. As we slowly trotted past, I overheard the boy, I’m guessing about nine years old, regaling all the fascinating …

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Can I Ask You a Question?

I love to be involved in interviews. I have friends who hate to be subjected to the “dreaded” author interview. Not me: no question is too weird, too off topic or bizarre. It’s most likely because I’m Irish: we have an opinion about everything, will discuss anything, and we never meet a stranger who we …

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Can I Quote You On That?

What happens when 350 people, predominantly women, truck in from all across the U.S. to spend three full days laughing (and a little crying), eating (mostly desserts), and baring their souls to each other? Magic. In a place called Dayton. That’s not a punchline. Last week, the tribe of Erma gathered once again for the …

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Have You Seen the Signs of Spring?

Spring 2016 has started to arrive and I believe I speak for many of us when I give a big ‘ol “Halleluiah!” shout out. This Florida Girl is not a fan of Old Man Winter here in VA. I become downright morose each February when I begin to feel as though I haven’t been warm …

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What Do You Know About the Irish?

Come next week, for at least one day, EVERYONE will be Irish. Thanks to the festivities of St. Patrick’s Day, we’ll be awash in green beer, bad leprechaun costumes, corned beef sandwich specials, and the sweet lyrical sound of “Oh Danny Boy” drifting out of every over-packed bar on Main Street. I’m not complaining: few …

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Do You Like to Watch?

It’s become a time honored tradition, up here in the Middle-Aged Cheap Seats, to kick up our feet toward the end of every February, cocktail in one hand and popcorn in the other, and tune in for a favorite annual event: the Academy Awards, or as they are also known as, The Oscars. I host …

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