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Angels dropping a dime

by Karen, posted in Angels, family, friends, good grief

I dreamed about my mother last night. We were in the house she grew up in and ultimately died in. We were standing together on the back porch, looking out at the snow-covered street. It was very sunny and bright, and we were watching a plow making its way through the snow drifts, clearing a … Continue reading Angels dropping a dime

Coffee or tea?

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, friends, local fun

I love coffee. I became a regular coffee drinker in college. My friend Diane and I would go to HoJo's for late night breakfasts and bottomless cups of coffee. Because I drank it faster than the waitress could replenish the cream, I soon became a black coffee drinker. This worked well for us because then Di … Continue reading Coffee or tea?

National Cupcake Day

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, baking, family, friends, Holidays, local fun, quest for the best

I just got this in under the wire...I can't believe that I didn't know it was National Cupcake Day today! I must be pretty darned distracted to miss this. I'm not even in any position right now to bake or obtain a cupcake to consume, so I must celebrate vicariously through Thoughts of Cupcakes Past. … Continue reading National Cupcake Day

Stocking stuffers for the kids

by Karen, posted in Holidays, tweens

Just in case the edict "Write what you know" is true, I thought that just maybe it's cousin, "Buy what you know," may also be true. In this post, I'll do both; it will be in relation to teens and tweens stocking stuffers. Okay, so my teen is recently promoted to "twenty-something", but I still have … Continue reading Stocking stuffers for the kids

Alternative Christmas Songs

by Karen, posted in family, friends, Holidays

*I am republishing this list from last year. I haven't heard any songs in 2011 that I feel compelled to add to it. Enjoy! The Waitresses: Christmas Wrapping The Killers: Don't Shoot Me Santa Adam Sandler: The Hanukkah Song Sarah Silverman: Give the Jew Girl Toys Bob Rivers: The 12 Pains of Christmas Bob and … Continue reading Alternative Christmas Songs

Christmas Music and other minutiae

by Karen, posted in family, friends, Holidays, quest for the best, relationships

Since I'm feeling all Christmas-y at the moment, and since (more importantly) I have a huge leg up on my Christmas shopping (and wrapping) this year, I decided to write a little more about Christmas.  Here are some random thoughts: When I was wrapping up the gifts I'd bought so far this year, I had the presence … Continue reading Christmas Music and other minutiae

Making Gingerbread Houses

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, baking, family, friends, Holidays, local fun, tweens

I admit it: prior to yesterday I was a Gingerbread House Virgin. Through twenty-plus years of motherhood, I'd managed to avoid ever baking, never mind decorating, a gingerbread house. The desire just was not there. I couldn't have been less interested. Then something incredible happened: I wanted to make one.  Something shifted inside me and … Continue reading Making Gingerbread Houses

Angels and the creative process

by Karen, posted in Angels, family, tweens, writing

Instead of writing my blog post and examiner.com article and more NaNoWriMo words yesterday afternoon (and well into the evening...), I helped my tween daughter with her project for school. The assignment was to make a collage that showcased the following: Your career aspirations Your interests Your talents Something else that I can't remember (*midlife … Continue reading Angels and the creative process

Thoughts on writing

by Karen, posted in books, family, friends, my one word, no fear, Work from Home, writing

My first book written during NaNoWriMo 2010Okay, I was going to entitle this post "On Writing" but didn't want to piss Stephen King off. This is my second year participating in the NaNoWriMo challenge. For those of you that wonder what that alphabet soup of letters stands for, it's National Novel Writing Month and it … Continue reading Thoughts on writing

Clearing clutter (continued)

by Karen, posted in Life in the cube, my one word, Work from Home, writing

I decided to take two days off from the computer and surprise! When I logged into my email today there were 97 messages. Ninety. Seven. Messages. I blame myself. I have subscribed to so many food blogs (for recipe purposes) and department stores and restaurants (for coupon and discount purposes) and writers and agents blogs (for … Continue reading Clearing clutter (continued)