Every drink you make
By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist, novelist, and mom of 3 Here’s a transcript of a conversation I had last week with the software robot, Alexa, who lives in our kitchen. Me (eating breakfast and looking…
It’s the little things
By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist, novelist, and mom of 3 “I forgot how nice it is to be able to walk all the way around my bed,” he said. “And it doesn’t matter when I…
Showing up
I couldn’t pick him out of the sea of green graduation gowns, but I knew he was down there somewhere. Our son Jack was one of more than a thousand students lined up in rows,…
If’s, and’s, or butts
Today I ordered a chicken wrap from a server while sitting poolside at a Las Vegas hotel. She was so polite, so professional. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention — her butt cheeks were…
Quotes for being alive
I watch for great quotes the way kids hunt Easter eggs, eagerly peering around every corner in case a good one is nestled nearby. It’s one of my favorite parts about reading – the way…
Beauty of body doubling
Sometimes all you need to get something done — especially something you’re dreading — is another warm body. If you arrange to do that boring, hard thing while another person is nearby working on their…
Nightmare fuel
Weird things land in my email inbox, and then I know things I never wanted to know. I see things I can’t forget. And because I can’t get it out of my head, I end…
Night chores
Evenings should be easy. Don’t we all want to coast to a gentle landing at the end of a busy day? But lately it’s taking longer to get ready for sleep. Even though the kids…
A wild Wednesday
Only three days after clocks sprang forward, I watched snow fall outside our living room window. It was March 15th. Four days before the official beginning of spring. The unexpected blast of winter surprised our…
Hazardous hospitality
There are chirping sounds outside my office window today, and I bet this visiting bird is doing a countdown to the first day of spring. Now and then, I go to the window to see…