Three years ago my marriage fell apart, and no amount of counseling, shouting, or crying could put it back together again. Working with the marriage councilor, she talked about how important it was that I had something that was mine and mine alone, a personal goal or accomplishment to work towards. I had mentioned that […]

My daughter is in the 5th grade. She just got “the talk” in school from a travelling nurse who espoused the joys of womanhood, and passed out complimentary pads. I have nothing to worry about. I have already given her “the talk” at home. She knows all about menstruation and its spooky similarities to menopause. […]

I hadn’t intended to cross off a new year’s resolution this early in the year, but something urged me forward: the need to change and grow… and leave the past behind for good. I have only been dreaming of painting my bedroom since just after I first painted it — in 1999! I had always […]

Staring at my gray (white) roots in the mirror, I decide it is time once again to dye my hair. There is always that pause, however, when I think about what it would be like if I let the gray just keep growing and not dye it back to its more youthful shade of dark […]

I found a box in my basement the other day labeled “Tina’s Keepsakes.” I must have overlooked it during the mad eBay selling frenzy of 2010. I dusted it off, brought it in the house, and undid the miles of duct tape wrapped all over it. ‘What was I hiding from myself?’ I wondered. The […]

When my ex moved out, I talked to a lawyer for the logistics, but then I consulted the Divorce Whisperers: friends who had gone through it and appeared to have survived the process. I wanted to know what it would be like on the other side, and I wanted the perspective of someone with a […]

We got the phone call from our friend Rob to, “Just get the hell up and turn on the TV.” He was so weirdly insistent that Adam and I did what we were told. We watched in horror with Rob on the line as the towers collapsed… and we both reached out and put protective […]

I have a dream… a recurring dream; it’s actually a nightmare, but I’ve been having it every night for almost a year. It’s more of a personal hell nightmare that I’ve named a “stressed-out” dream. It always involves travel or moving, and I’m forever running late or have forgotten something key like plane tickets or […]

When I completed grad school last fall, I was proud, happy, and content. The thing I’d been working diligently toward for three years was over — woo hoo! Also, big bummer. Before, when people would ask me what I’d been up to, I could always say that I was studying for school, working on a […]

When I saw this year’s band listings for Coachella, a tiny part of my rock soul whispered, “You should go, there are so many great bands playing!” The rest of my weary self can think of a million reasons why not to go. While “I’m too old for that shit!” is my overriding reason not […]