Best Buys
When her third child bolted off to college, my friend Janice thought she was free of her domestic duties. She returned to the workplace -- college is expensive, and a bunch of her friends had …
Summer party season is upon us, and my clan has already attended quite a few potluck barbecues. But I'm sick of my potluck side-dish offering: penne pasta with chopped spinach, golden raisins, tomatoes, and slivered …
Patrick is a watering fiend. Over years of marriage, I have come to realize that he uses it as a relaxing escape. During early-morning hours and as the sun sets in the evening, I will …
Nine p.m., Thursday. All I want to do is download a couple of episodes of The Office and relax with my husband while he rubs my feet. But just as I'm sending the nine-year-old off …
Babies are in the air. Everywhere I go I see babies or pregnant moms. Among families and friends, it's no different. My children will have a few new cousins by year's end and a handful …
I've been tired, bordering on logy, all week. I eat pretty well, and I do a bit of walking, but I was beginning to think more was needed. I scanned the bulletin board at Whole …
My college friend Bernice was impressed with my feng shui research and spent the past week trying to rid her home of excess clutter, making way for feng shui. "I am such a packrat," she …
My friend Bernice's ten-year-old son is pleading for guitar lessons. He's decided to be the next great rock guitarist. "I'm not sure where he came up with the idea," she said, "because we don't listen …
The sweet old lady has moved out of her house at the bottom of our back yard. In her place are young people. Young people with tattoos; young people with a band that practices in …
Why is it that every time I use this jigsaw, the blade breaks right before I finish the project?" complained my father. My parents were visiting and Dad was spending a lot of time in …
It's the end of an era here at the Kelly home. For over a decade, I've bragged to friends about my Electrolux vacuum cleaner, the one I inherited from my husband's grandmother. I called it …
The Irish soda bread wriggled inside the lifeless Saran Wrap. The van rounded a corner and the bread pan slid to the edge of the seat, nearly toppling but for my last-minute grab. "Is there …
My first memories of California are of salt air, sun, and speed: the wind whipping past my face as I rode with my brother Bill on his motorcycle. I had come to visit him at …