Whether you celebrate Christmas, or Hanukkah, or Kwanza, or any of the other Winter Solstice holidays, the magic of the time transcends religious and cultural bounds, so I share with you one of my favorite Christmas articles. I wrote this when my children were young and chaos reigned at the Miller house. Enjoy! Christmas is …
Yikes. I did it. I applied for Social Security. Wasn’t it just last year that I helped my mother do that? Where have the last twenty years gone? Getting older has never really bothered me. Some people obsess about turning forty, or fifty, or even sixty, and I can laugh at the “mourning” parties with …
I did it! For the first time in my life I read the sports page of the newspaper. “So what’s the big deal,” you might want to ask. “It’s not like you’re blazing new trails here. Some women have been enjoying the latest in sports news for some time now. What took you so long?” …
Since the state of Texas is barely a blip in the wide world of the Internet, there are some people who might not be aware that we are having a serious drought here and are facing some scary prospects for a future water supply. But it’s true. My little patch of East Texas is shriveling …
The following is one of the essays in my new book, A Dead Tomato Plant & A Paycheck. It first appeared here on the blog in 2006, but it is still fun to read today. Check it out, then check out the book for more fun reading. In all honesty, most of us will have …
Sometimes I wonder if there’s a new element in the air making people crazy. I especially wonder when I find myself fighting an urge to do something stupid while I’m driving, like drag a car that’s trying to pass me. (By the way, I lost. A Pontiac Vibe, even a very nice Pontiac Vibe, is …
My son called recently to tell us that his wife had gone to visit relatives for a few days and had taken their baby. So he was alone in the house – except for the dogs – for the first time since baby’s arrival in their lives. He sounded a little wistful as he talked …
They’re suing the Colonel? When I first heard it, I thought it was a joke. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) filed a suit against Kentucky Fried Chicken because the company still fries chicken in oil that has trans fat in it. I guess the CSPI has concluded that we are not …
When we built our house a number of years ago, the spare bedroom was delegated to be my home office where I would write the novel that would enable my husband to retire and live off my royalties. I’m not sure if the agreement stemmed from some magnanimous gesture on his part, or if he …
At age ten I decided to be a writer. My friend and I were in our favorite reading spot, a small clearing in a wooded area with a blanket between us and a colony of ants. I hugged my just-finished book to my chest, watched wisps of clouds drift across the blue expanse of sky, …
