One does not think too much about bucket lists when one is young. You’re too busy rushing forward to be concerned about the things you’re not doing. At least for me, during my first five decades I was full steam ahead, go-go-go, to-do list in hand busily checking off items and then quickly moving on …
I cannot breathe. I stand awkwardly in the parking lot, unable to force air into and out of my lungs. One of the greatest loves of my life, a person I’ve held onto as tightly as possible for the past eighteen years, is leaving me. As much as I’ve tried to prepare for this day, …
A few weeks ago I asked my Club Fifty gal pals to help me choose a new mascara for my increasingly skimpy eyelashes. As a result, many of you also forwarded your recommendations for additional products that are must haves for anyone, but especially those of us in our fifth decade and beyond. This got …
Back in 2005, I shocked the majority of my gal pals by announcing that I would be heading to Alaska to go… wait for it… salmon fishing. This crazy southern Irish gal is a bit of a weird hybrid: love pretty pedicures, but will also happily get downright muddy in the garden. I’ll rabidly watch …
Summertime! Having come of age in Florida, I didn’t truly appreciate the importance and beauty of a cloudless bright sunny day until I moved north to Virginia. In Florida, except in January, every day is cheery and sunshiny. Now I know that for the rest of the country, these summer months are provided by the …
This month one of my best friends left this world. Our dog Taz, the little miracle mutt who survived a crazy emergency surgery last year, finally succumbed to old age at thirteen + years old. Up until very recently he was still chasing squirrels and had hauled ass after a fox that had shown up …
“Hello, my name is Kim, and I’m addicted to house porn.” “Hello Kim.” Well, at least that’s what my husband calls it. Yes, I may have a wee bit of a problem: I really can’t walk away from a shelter magazine. The darn things are everywhere: right there next to the snickers in the check-out …
Walking my dog Taz this morning, 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 intricacies of the silk worm. Mom listened intently as he displayed his prowess in all things silk-worm-esque. As he …
You’re traveling through another dimension — a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That’s a signpost up ahead. Your next stop: The Erma Zone. On New Year’s Day, son Jimmy threw down this gauntlet: Mom, what are YOU going …
It used to be true that bigger was considered better. Big bank accounts, big cars, big houses were the battle cry. The pendulum seems to now be swinging back the other way. Financial independence is great, and being poor is no picnic, but the excessive wealth and greed of the 80’s and 90’s (see “Wolf …