rituals – Karen Creamer Author, Coach, Speaker

The Annual Ides of March Quest for Fried Clams

March 17, 2018March 17, 2018 by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, Adult children, celebrations, comfort, family, good grief, quest for the best, restaurants

My dad's last meal was fried clams. Flashback to 1998. Dad was dying of lung cancer. The living room was dominated by the hospital bed sent by hospice once it was clear he could no longer manage the climb to the second floor bedroom. He had been in and out of consciousness for several days … Continue reading The Annual Ides of March Quest for Fried Clams

Midlife Monkey Mind

May 27, 2012 by Karen, posted in Angels, education, Midlife Crisis, Turning 50, yoga

I've been on overload these past few weeks, with my mind overly full of stress-inducing thoughts. Sleeping has been a challenge. Lying awake from 1:30-4:30am two nights ago, I trotted out all my tricks for putting myself back to sleep: saying my ABC's, counting backward from 100, tensing and relaxing muscle groups, saying the So … Continue reading Midlife Monkey Mind

Easter

April 8, 2012April 9, 2012 by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, family, friends, Holidays, Midlife Crisis, the beach

How do you celebrate Easter? Even though my kids are older now, and the Bunny has been found out, we still celebrate the holiday in much the same way we did when they were little. I make Easter Baskets of some sort for them. I hide eggs for them to find in an Easter Egg … Continue reading Easter

Homemade eggrolls with friends

December 30, 2011 by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, friends, Marriage, quest for the best, relationships

Last spring (we finally agreed that it was in the spring; I thought it was in the summer) my husband and I got together with another couple of friends to make authentic homemade egg rolls. Our friends make them every 3 or 4 months at home, but were gracious enough to drive an hour and … Continue reading Homemade eggrolls with friends

Angels dropping a dime

December 25, 2011December 25, 2011 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

Making Gingerbread Houses

December 5, 2011 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

Thoughts on writing

November 28, 2011 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

Distracted

November 18, 2011 by Karen, posted in Midlife Crisis

Almost every day, when I go to check my watch to see what time it is, I see that I've put it on backwards. Day after day...after day. What's up with that? Even after I noticed that I was doing it, I'm still doing it. Like today, for example. I thought it might be sort … Continue reading Distracted

Date night at the Ogunquit Playhouse

July 2, 2011 by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, Date night, family, local fun, relationships, restaurants, Someone's gotta say it

Summer of Love is the current show at the Ogunquit Playhouse. May I just say this: save your money. Skip this show and buy tickets to Legally Blonde instead, which stars Sally Struthers (among others) and runs from 8/24-9/17. I have seen Sally Struthers in two other Playhouse Productions and (both my husband and I … Continue reading Date night at the Ogunquit Playhouse

Garden update: end of May

June 2, 2011 by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, gardening, local fun

The veggies are in! Found some interesting tomato varieties and practiced supreme self control by not buying all of them. New tomatoes (so far) for me this year are Taxi, Chiquita, Mr Stripey. Old standbys that are returning: Sweet 100's, Lemon Boy, Brandywine, Black Cherry, a couple of Romas. I am told by the Master Gardner … Continue reading Garden update: end of May