Checking on the Covid Class of 2020
In 1995, I got my first job after college from a “help wanted” ad posted in a newspaper’s classified ads. (Remember those?) The headline on the ad said they were looking for an “aspiring journalist”…
Multitasking is a myth
Have you ever gotten good at the wrong thing? I think it might have happened to me. Yesterday, I read this article about the myth of multitasking — how what we once thought of as…
Let them sing
By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 Let me set the scene. We were at a restaurant with the whole family, including my mom, all three of our college kids, plus two roommates…
Tom Cruise made me do it
I’ve learned a lesson this week, and here it is: Sometimes, it’s okay to lower your standards. For the 26 years we’ve been married, I’ve told Tom that we would not become one of those…
Midlife math
My husband and I were born five years and two days apart in March. Since it’s birthday season again, here are 52 things I’ve noticed about turning 52. Numbers are not my thing. I struggle…
Left and right
When our three college kids are home for a visit and we go out to eat, we follow a protocol. We usually ask for a big booth and slide into it in a particular order…
Car twins are everywhere
There are more than 283 million cars in use in the United States. Inside that gigantic number are more than 60 car makers and 1,200 different models. But only about 10 paint colors are used,…
A cure for creative constipation
By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 The closest I’ve ever come to getting into a physical fight happened when I was five. I sat at a round table coloring pictures alongside a…
Charlie and Pete, the sequel
The first backyard skirmish between Charlie and Pete happened five years ago on a night with a full moon. Charlie is our beloved beagle mutt who is now 14 years old and missing a few…
Give me a minute. I’ll think of it.
Words are hard – much harder than they used to be. It’s a symptom of middle age I hadn’t heard about until it started happening to me. A few more aches and pains? Sure. Crow’s-feet…