Best Buys
"Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope." — Bill Cosby Insert tie for soap-on-a-rope in the Kelly household. Another boring Father’s Day rolled by. Hubby Patrick got the tie; the man doesn’t …
My folks have been retired for five years, and they’re spending their golden years on the road. There have been trips to China and Peru and a train tour of Canada. This year, they’re sticking …
‘I need a tan — now,” said Tara, flopping on my couch and gazing out at the cool, cloudy afternoon. “No, I need it yesterday. I just found out Jay will be at the wedding …
I had only seen it done in sitcoms — a giant hairy gorilla proposing to a girl standing shocked at the front door — until last week. A friend relayed her proposal story. It wasn’t …
The afternoon nappies are starting to take their toll on my husband Patrick. Coffee has become his drug of choice. I wondered if there might be a gentler solution — a change in diet. Something …
‘Cleanliness and order are not matters of instinct; they are matters of education, and like most great things, you must cultivate a taste for them.” I slumped into my La-Z-Boy as I finished reading this …
Pride goeth... My best gal pal Bernice has a niece, newly engaged and eager to learn the secrets of domestic bliss. Bernice sent her to me for an introduction to the kitchen. I was pleased …
“If I have to evacuate, will you take my goats?” “I’ll take your goats but not your kids!” I still can’t believe I said that. The goat-lady was my friend Michelle, calling me during the …
My jewelry box bears within it the booty of 25 years’ worth of self-adornment, and when I stopped to think about it, I realized that I don’t wear about three-quarters of the stuff. Sure, my …
Spring is here and pal Bernice has soccer on the brain. A layer of dust has descended on her cleats in the closet. Her shoe size is a higher number, as is her jersey size; …
“Mom, do you call Mrs. Phelan a cat lady because she looks like a cat?” Smart kid. Mrs. Phelan, who works as an aide at my boy’s school, does have a feline aspect to her. …
“When I was a child in Mayo,” said my Irish mother as we drove along the Embarcadero, “my aunt used to send me down to the village pub to buy ‘a pint for the washing.’” …