It's been two weeks since my mom died and one week since her memorial. Last Sunday, I was almost inconsolable when my brother and his family left town. After all the memorial planning, obituary writing, and photo sorting, everything came to a screeching halt. And I suddenly missed my mom. This explains why I've been [...]

Without my mother. There will be no one to truly worry about me or wonder if I’ve gotten home safely or ask if the kids should really have a bunk bed. There will be no one to pass me good books or try to tell me the ending of movies or call me on the [...]

My mom died yesterday. In typical fashion, she managed to do it so that she wouldn't ruin Tenzin's birthday (July 2nd) or the 4th of July. She was basically in a coma for the final 24 hours, but I could almost hear her figuring it out so that no major holidays would be adversely affected. [...]

My parents' kitchen is seeing its final days of organization because no one knows exactly where everything goes -- things are slowly being put back in places where they "fit."I decided to spend the night there, without any of my stuff, and realized I won't have any "girl's" toiletries to borrow pretty soon.I hate seeing [...]

I had one of those "I cannot believe this is my life" moments today. Like when you're paying the mortgage and you suddenly realize you're married and own a home. Or when you're driving to a birthday party and suddenly realize you have two kids. They're "Holy crap, I'm actually a grown-up" moments, and I [...]

My hairdryer broke today. As far as I know, you can't fix a broken hairdryer. I think it's one of those things you generally just ditch and go buy again. I actually went so far as to toss it into the garbage, but Tenzin suggested I ask our hair dresser about it -- maybe she [...]

I will be breaking my children's hearts on Sunday morning.After a week of swimming in Vegas and a Saturday packed with three birthday parties, I'll be letting them know that their Nan isn't getting any better. Is never getting any better.They already know something is wrong. They're not stupid. They've been asking me to sing [...]

Thanks to a friend of mine who I’m fairly certain has bodies buried in the desert somewhere, I saw “O” in Vegas last night from what had to be the best seats in the house. We practically could’ve jumped into the pool. Thank god for minimal audience participation. "O," if you don't already know, is [...]

I've been thinking about that old, philosophical question, "If a tree falls in a forest. . ." It's come up because I've been wondering: If something bad happens to you and you don't complain about it to anyone, did it actually occur? I suspect the men are going to have a much harder time with [...]