I adore Claxton fruitcake. Not everyone does. Some of my subtle, understated friends give me a hard time about this preference (also for milk chocolate over the bitter stuff.) I have boldly refused to back down. This year I was given bars of my favorite cake by both my mother and my friend Carrie. A […] Read More

Here’s the tree I posted about yesterday. Never said I was a designer, just a lumberjack. Add to del.icio.us - Stumble It! - Subscribe to this feed - Digg it Read More

This was my brother Franc‘s tongue-in-cheek advice when I was expressing myself this morning on the seasonal frenzy. He said: “Don’t let the calendar kick you around.” Hearing that bold bit of wisdom, I realized I had already taken action to beat the calendar at its game. Bob and I decided this weekend that we’d […] Read More

Alcoholics Anonymous has a bumper-sticker slogan: “One Day at a Time.” Best approach to holidays, in my view, is to have a much shorter term goal: One Step at a Time. I just now sawed down a Christmas tree (we live in the woods) and hauled it into the house. As is often the case, […] Read More

Small triumphs are important to acknowledge to ourselves — and all of cyberspace, of course. Shining example: I got up this morning in time to get my car to the fixer by 8:45. Usually, I sleep from about 1:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. But maybe rising at 7 doesn’t qualify as small; this is probably […] Read More

So how’s the holiday prep going? And getting all the work done before daring to take time off? Still staying calm, happy, festive, and organized? One thing at a time, I tell myself. I seem to have gotten the idea this year that if I simply buy enough boxes of Christmas cards and sheets of […] Read More

My psychologist husband Bob told me a few weeks ago that he now knew how to help me stop clenching my teeth at night. Yesterday we took on that project, which involved first about a half an hour interview (what was the most frightening moment in my life? angriest moment in my life? etc) and […] Read More

In case you're feeling too old for an adventure, check out the salsa of 75 year old Paddy Jones, if you haven't already. She's dancing on Tu Si Que Vales, a Spanish reality/talent/dancing program. [youtube _ETKnG7rzhg nolink] Add to del.icio.us – Stumble It! – Subscribe to this feed – Digg it Read More

This morning was the Christmas brunch with five other women I’ve been getting together with for 34 to 39 years. Always fun and this one for no particular reason was particularly so. This time instead of getting each other bath products, etcetera, we each gave some money to some good cause. Mine was to pay […] Read More

I’ve been posting less the last few weeks because I’ve been working extremely hard. Didn’t want you to think it was because my boldness was flagging. I grew up in a retailing family, and December was the time of most intense work; so that feels normal. As a writer/editor/critiquer/consultant, I’ve found that December is either […] Read More