Blogs
Pollen season
I have a superpower. I can take ordinary grocery items, like lettuce and milk and Little Debbie Snack Cakes, and turn them into pounds and pounds of pollen-induced mucus. I can do this without, apparently, […]
Blogs
Blogs
Golden Anniversary and Advice
On April 6, 2018, just a few days from when I am typing this, my parents will have been married for fifty years. Yup, their golden anniversary has arrived. There are a number of miracles […]
Blogs
Sleep Training my Teenager
I’m having to sleep train my teenage daughter. You remember sleep training, don’t you? When your sweet precious angel baby was six months old and you thought if you didn’t get three whole hours of […]
Blogs
The Real Toilet Paper Wars
I am a big fan of indoor plumbing. I am NOT a fan of indoor plunging. There is nothing more gag-producing than jamming a wood-and-rubber plunger into a poo filled toilet and slurping it up […]
Blogs
Mrs. Potato Head
I have always looked like I came from Russian peasant stock. I have a face that looks like it was carved from a potato. My broad shoulders were designed for swinging a pickaxe through Siberian […]
Blogs
Miss Trunchbull
About ten years ago, I had eyeball surgery which implanted contact lenses right in front of my retinas. This allowed me to go glasses free for a long time. Recently, however, my left eye decided […]
Blogs
A Night at the Opera
I get it. You have some preconceived notion of the Opera being stuffy and boring and something that only rich people do after a diet of caviar and foie gras and a glass full of […]
Blogs
The Game Changer
My life has recently changed for the better. My son got his driver’s license, and it is an absolute game changer. We did not run out and buy him a new car. Rather, the old […]
Blogs
Oh Ricky You’re So Fine
I will not deny that I am older than my 47 years might imply. I’m not particularly young at heart, I’m a soul that belongs in assisted living. I know this for many reasons, not […]
Blogs
Now That It’s Over, I’m Thankful
I don’t know about you, but I’m mostly just thankful that I survived yet another Thanksgiving. Just kidding. Sort of. Holidays can be stressful. Some of us are spending our first Thanksgiving without a loved […]
Blogs
Three Minutes in Milton
On Saturday, November 11, 2017, I had the immense privilege of participating in the “Book an Author” event at the Milton Literary Festival. This was a sort of “speed dating” for books event, in which […]
Blogs
I’m Forty Now
I’m forty now (Ok, forty-six) A decent age I’ve had my fix Of parties, hoo-has, galas, and more Of drunken evenings on the shore My worries now Have changed in kind I wonder if […]
Blogs
My Box. MINE.
I’m not really a stuff person, not really. I mean, I have stuff, too much stuff (mostly books), but I recognize that I don’t have much of anything that couldn’t be replaced with insurance money. […]
Blogs
Teenager Exchange Program
In the division of labor in the Duff house, my daughter has what is probably the easiest job – emptying the dishwasher. It isn’t hard to do, or particularly time consuming. Rather than thank her […]
Blogs
They Come in Threes
Honestly, the day started out just fine if you don’t count the fact that I had to set my alarm for 6 on a Saturday morning. I drove my son to his rehearsal at the […]
Blogs
Driving with Mario
I’m pretty sure that my husband goes out of his way to accelerate and brake in the car in such as way as to maximize the g-forces his passengers experience. It is in this way […]
Blogs
Someone Else’s Life (With a Side of Drag Queens)
The other day, I went out to brunch with some old college friends that I hadn’t seen in a while. Three of us had kids, roughly the same age. The lone guy was single with […]
Blogs
Dress Code Blues
‘Tis the beginning of the school year, and, ergo, ‘tis the time of year in which teenagers all around the world get huffy about their schools’ dress codes. The teenagers in my house are no […]
Blogs
Selling Paradise
I have to sell a little piece of paradise, and I’m hoping you will help me. I mean, I don’t have to have to, I’m not a desperate seller, but it doesn’t make sense for […]
Blogs
Drinking on the Job
My husband and I have had a long standing argument about whether or not I am a cheap date. He swears I am. I wasn’t convinced. The problem, I joked, was that he was comparing […]