Lost and Found

When I was fifteen, I earned my learner’s permit but couldn’t legally drive without an adult in the car. One night, my mother’s car broke down on the other side of town, and since no one else was available, my father took me with him to pick up the abandoned car. 

The Creative Home Invader

When my daughter was seven years old, my mother-in-law came for a visit. One evening, I came home from work to find that my young son had a raging fever. I bundled him up and drove him to the clinic, where the doctor determined that he had a double ear infection and an eye infection.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, when we returned home, I got the shock of my life. 

Yes, the SHOCK OF MY LIFE.

My Kingdom for a Flashlight

One year in May, my husband flew up to Canada to spend time with his grandmother, who was very ill with cancer. I was home alone with the kids. One night, I went into the garage and plugged in the treadmill, thinking I would try to exercise a little…what a mistake!

Camping for Feminists

One summer, my younger sister and I decided we would go camping with our small children and without our husbands. Both of our husbands worked weekends, and if we waited for them, we knew we’d never go anywhere! So, we packed up our four kids (her youngest was three months old!), and headed for Lake Tahoe in our minivans. 

My Northern Alberta Baby

It was 10:45 on a Sunday night, December 27, 1992. I was more pregnant than I cared to be and the baby was four grueling days late (although the doctor told me three weeks earlier that I would deliver at any moment!!).

Icky the Indestructible Madagascar Hissing Cockroach

“Right off the top of my head, I would say it’s a terrible idea to bring home a hissing cockroach.”

My nine-year-old daughter tossed her curly head and prepared for battle. It wouldn’t be outright rebellion—no, that would be undignified. Sara preferred a quiet but relentless clashing of wits, during which she systematically dismantled any argument I was foolish enough to present.

The Problem with Exercise

Most nights in the summer, I drive (!) the six blocks to my parents’ house and swim laps in their pool. Well, last night was no different, except that when I went to place my foot on the first step to enter the pool, a slight movement caught my eye.

A Dog's Life

One day in 1998, my father stopped by to ask me, pointedly, when I planned to get my children a dog. We had moved back to California from Canada, and had only been in the house a short time.

I replied, vaguely, “I haven’t really thought about it yet, Dad.”

Well that wasn’t going to satisfy him.

Short Biography

I was born in Aviano, Italy, just north of Venice. My father served in the military (Air Force) and we lived in Italy, Spain, and then Sacramento. My first language was actually Spanish, and my sisters and I didn’t speak English until we attended an American school at Travis Air Force Base. I was eight when I first learned to speak English, almost overnight, out of sheer necessity.