Don’t tell me to calm down
Twice in the past few months I’ve been told to “calm down,” once by an acquaintance/co-worker, and once by a perfect stranger. (Side note: why do we use the phrase “perfect stranger?” They are...
Author: Janet
It happens to the best of us
Am I referring to myself as “the best of us” here? Well, sort of. I am a seasoned traveler, by which I mean that I have traveled a lot. Not like every week or...
That Comma is an Artistic Choice
“That might be better without a comma.” “An adverb would work better here.” “That phrase is better hyphenated.” “An introductory phrase is better followed by a comma.” My word processing program thinks it knows...
Motherhood is my favorite
Being a parent of more than one child is such a blessing. It is wondrous to see how people created using the same recipe can be so different from one another–which may be my...
Is it soap or lotion?
One of the luxuries I allow myself these days is using upgraded (compared to store-brand) soaps and lotions that smell and feel good. (Of course, I only buy them when they are on sale,...
The Sound of a Flush
My junior year in college, I gave an informational speech in one of my communication classes which I cheekily titled “The Sound of a Flush.” Decades later, here I am reusing that title. What’s...
Bag check!
My husband and I just returned from a two week empty nester vacation. Wow. (Well, actually we returned two weeks ago, but I’ve found that it takes about as long as the trip itself...
The joy of leaving things unfinished
I am a voracious reader. Always have been. There was a big swath of time in my childhood and early adolescence where the answer to “where’s Janet?” inevitably was “in her room reading.” The...
I’ve got my eye on that
It is no secret that our bodies start to, er, decline as we age. One of the (oh so many) areas that is impacted is eyesight. I remember being so proud at 50 when...
Sunrise, sunset–and very little time in between
The older I get, the more things I have to do every day just to stay even. And by that, I mean reasonably healthy and not aging more quickly than necessary. Because of this,...