Sometimes when were sitting on the couch and our three cats are happily snoozing on our laps and our dog is contently stretched out across her dog bed, we’ll comment on how amazing it is that people choose to invite animals into their house…and how much we love them in spite of the snags and spots in the carpet. So it’s a sad day for us when it becomes apparent that … Read More »

As our daughter began the college application process this fall, I was surprised at the many letters she got in the mail from colleges near and far encouraging her to apply to that particular school. All the letters were crafted to make the schools and their academic and social opportunities sound as attractive as possible. Some of the letters even started to resemble the credit card offers we used to get … Read More »

It was about a year ago at this time, that our son began the application process to transfer from the junior college to a four-year school. I remember standing behind him watching him fill out the Common App online. He flew through it as if filling in the answers demanded the same fast-twitch reflexes as a first-person shooter. He hit the “Submit” button while I was still stuttering to say, … Read More »

If you were standing on our front porch and hearing snippets of the dialogue taking place inside, it would sound something like “Blah blah blah college. College blah blah college.” That is because most of the conversations in our house these days center around the college application process. “I need to write another essay for this college.” “I don’t know how I get my transcript sent to the colleges.” “Does … Read More »

I certainly don’t consider myself a foodie yet I felt pang when I read that Gourmet magazine was folding. It’s always a little shocking when something that has been a part of your life and that you feel a connection with dies unexpectedly…whether, as in my case, it’s a magazine, or for millions of people, a celebrity like Michael Jackson. When I was about 10 years old, I can remember sitting … Read More »

A few weeks ago, there was an announcement in church that City Ministries of Petaluma had organized a fall clean-up day for October 10. Volunteers were needed to put in a few hours of time to spruce up the city. In advance of the clean-up day, the city departments would come up with a project list and take care of all the behind the scenes organization. All we had to … Read More »

For those of us with college-age children, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of good news coming our way. It’s tougher to get in to college because more kids are applying so the standards for acceptance have gone up. At University of California schools, C+ students need not apply: the average high school GPA of the freshman class of 2009 at UC Davis was 4.0. It’s rapidly getting more expensive. In … Read More »

I happened upon some information last week that confirmed what we have found to be the case with our kids and college: it’s harder to get in, and assuming they do get accepted, they are borrowing more to pay for it. Let me share with you what put this in black and white for me. Our daughter, Valerie, who is a high school senior, got a brochure in the mail titled “Introducing … Read More »

A few months ago, it seemed like every third phone call that we got on our business line was someone from AT&T asking to speak to the person who handled our phone service. So when they called one day and the alternative to talking to them was paying bills – a task I’ll happily procrastinate doing – I stayed on the phone and agreed to let them review our phone … Read More »

I naively thought that putting “free” in the Craig’s List posting for our old loveseat would generate some inquiries. When that didn’t happen, I thought writing a blog about our difficulty in getting rid of it might reach a different audience and turn up someone who was in the market for a pre-owned, pre-snagged loveseat. There are, after all, advantages to acquiring a piece of furniture that has already been broken … Read More »