I saw a new doctor last month. She prescribed two new medicines for my headaches, which visit me with faithful regularity. One is a preventive, and time will tell if it prevents anything. I am, as they say, titrating up, taking a bit more every…

I was looking for old things, things that meant a lot to me. Because I do this more often than I ought to, at some point I typed up a list, a house inventory, so I would know without looking which closet holds my old…

I used to love road trips. I always stocked up on candy just before leaving, and now I’m not sure if that was a way to celebrate the trip, or to survive along the way. Whatever the mission, I knew I had to visit a…

Today I broke the stove. But first, I cleaned it. It had been a while, so this morning, after I fried my egg, I sprayed the oven with the supposedly no-fume cleaner, then dashed off to work, knowing I would come home to a hard…

Once I bought a brand-new car for cash. Well, not a wad of actual bills; I wrote a big check. It was a bittersweet moment, since the money came from my mom’s estate, but I figured she and Dad would have been happy that I…

I got fed up with “Downton Abbey” midway through the last season. I’d grown weary of the suspense – Would Mary find a mate? Would Daisy find a life? Would Thomas stop lurking in the shadows? Who cared? Bob and I had been dedicated fans…

According to Facebook – the We Never Sleep! social extravaganza that has so many of us entangled in its sticky clutches – I have been a mostly willing participant since 2009. In that time, I have been glad I joined, happy to connect with old…

My son called me from his grocery store in Omaha last summer. I’d given him an ice cream maker for Christmas, and he was searching for the whole milk his recipe called for. Finally, we figured it out. “Is this it?” he asked. “Vitamin D…

I got a smarter-than-me phone for my birthday, late last year. My husband figured it was time one of us took the plunge, so there I was, trying to make sense of the thing one cold December night. I had to learn ASAP, because my…

Sometimes, a writer gets tired. Sometimes, a writer needs a crutch. I’m feeling a little lame this week, so the crutch I’m going to use is a questionnaire. Dating from the late 19th century, the quiz that came to be known as the Proust Questionnaire…

A few weeks ago, my old friend Candy posted a photo on Facebook. I was delighted by the picture and didn’t recall ever having seen it. Then I read what Candy had written: “Circle of friends forever. Taken at one of our many slumber parties…

Just in time for Christmas, scientists have discovered a surefire way to fight impulse shopping. The trick is simple: when you see something you suddenly feel you must have, think instead of all you’re grateful for. The emotion of gratitude can, when called to mind…

Every night, when I go into the darkened kitchen to get my cat’s bedtime treats, I see a bright light coming in the east window. I don’t know the people who live over there, but I’m sure they put up this security light for, well,…

I may be late to the table, but I just heard about something astounding:  Engagement Chicken, a supposedly sure-fire dish to serve to a man that guarantees he will propose. I recognized it immediately. It was MY chicken, with no secret messages attached. This is…

One thing I love about Facebook is keeping current with news about Davenport, my hometown. No matter how often I visit, it remains jam-packed with a profound nostalgia that only grows stronger as time goes by. Take the Draught House, a place on the Mississippi…

Someone complimented me the other day, when I was least expecting it. I had taken my glasses off, and this person said, “You have beautiful eyes!” I just smiled and said “Thanks!” The fact that this person was a woman, and someone I know, made…

I used to be a pretty good cook. I sautéed shrimp scampi. I filled crepes suzette. I spread two-layer heart-shaped cakes with chocolate frosting, the cake and the frosting both made from scratch. I made everything that way – buttermilk pancakes, French baguettes, banana cream…

Where I come from, the Mississippi River runs west. I know where it starts and have, in fact, walked right over that stream that trickles out of Lake Itasca in Minnesota, only to widen and grow in size and depth and sheer immensity. Of course…

One test of character is whether or not, if you’re asked about a book, you pretend to have read it if you’ve only read the review. Do you claim familiarity with Donna Tartt’s new sensation, “The Goldfinch,” or Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” a…

It all started with a plastic folder. No, wait, it started with magazines. “Seventeen” was my first, with “Glamour” and “Mademoiselle” following close on its heels. My mom subscribed to dozens of magazines, so it’s no wonder I did, too. Each would arrive in the…