I did nothing. I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything I thought it could be. That was me channeling my inner Peter Gibbons the first Monday back after February break (and if you think I’m going to offer up the name of the movie here, please refer to my…

Things were getting heated in the chamber. At one end of the room, one member was asking for more. Just a little bit more, and then it would be all right. At the other end, another was demanding it stay as it was. …

It shouldn’t have surprised me. Still, it did. We were in the sun room — my son and I — the cozy side room that doubles as my office/writing space and Ben’s I-want-to-be-alone hang out space. We had just created his first resumé, and were now on the career page…

I love my holiday traditions. There’s Christmasification Day, the day when I lug all the Christmas decorations from the attic, take down all my year-round home decor and replace it with its holiday-themed counterpart. It always takes hours. It’s always exhausting, and it’s always worth the effort. There’s the annual…

A short horror story…happy Halloween! “…wife’ll kill me.” Oscar drained his beer and turned from the TV to his companion. “Huh?” Derek slid off his stool and laid a ten dollar bill on the bar top. “I said I gotta take off. …

Yesterday, I came home from two days away at a writer’s retreat. I use the singular form of writer’s as there was just one of us there. Me. It was a do-it-yourself retreat. I planned it for two reasons. First, I was stuck with my second book. I had a…

So let me ask you this: a cleanse isn’t a tough concept, right? Like, if I say — hypothetically — “I’m doing a 10-day smoothie cleanse. I’ll have smoothies for all my meals for the next 10 days,” that’s pretty clear, right? I’m asking for a friend. My “friend” has…

Candy, candy, everywhere / Chocolate dark as ink / Candy, candy, everywhere / Pour my smoothie down the sink (with apologies to Samuel Taylor Coleridge). Day 7 was Halloween. In years past, when my kids were still trick o’ treating, my strategy on candy was to buy the stuff I…

So it snowed today. Yeah, snow. In October. Don’t get me wrong, I love snow. I love watching it fall. I love getting snow days (back when I was commuting, that is), and I love how it looks covering the trees when I take my dog into the woods for…