I’m writing every day just to see if I can. Some people are writing entire novels this month. Me, I’m just writing. I’m writing letters to my family. I’m writing postcards and thank you’s that are long overdue. I’m writing in my journal, trying so hard to pay no mind to the crooked lines and […]

The clichés, I have to admit, were right. That, too, did pass. Things only got better. What didn’t kill me made me stronger. This time last year, I felt like I was falling apart. All at once, my grandma lay in a hospital bed in intensive care, my dad bravely faced surgery and my car […]

I had a Halloween identity crisis and changed my costume at the last minute. It was not the wisest decision nor most considerate decision, since that meant I had to pick up my costume from my parents’ house and Rama had to change his costume, too. But, you know, I was being a girl. The […]

The clouds bled across the entire sky this morning. I couldn’t stop smiling on my way to work. Angie and I stepped outside to get a bagel from the lunch truck and a gust of cold wind shook us. “It’s so cold,” she grumbled. “I know,” I said, “Isn’t it great?” I glanced at my […]

We celebrated Halloween a day early at youth group last night, ducking through haunted hallways, parading in our costumes and carving jack-o-lanterns. There was a ballerina, a toilet, an elf, a Cat in the Hat, a 50’s couple and a blond afro wig that hopped from head to head. I felt ridiculously nostalgic and snapped […]

It’s snowing ashes outside, and a cloud of smoke is slowly rising behind the mountains. I watched the spectacle this morning on my way to work, which is just miles away from the fires. It’s almost pretty. Almost, until I remember that almost 1,000 houses have burned down and at least 13 people have died […]

A few weeks ago, Mom and I were walking to the movies on one of our perfect Girl Days. We get together once every few weeks to go shopping, see movies and eat out. The outings are sometimes as simple as a trip to Walmart and a cruise through the In-N-Out drive thru, but they’re […]

The other day, Ricky called me on my cellphone. I was in the candles aisle at Cost Plus when I answered it. “Can you deliver an In-N-Out hamburger to LAX?” “What?” He and his girlfriend, Brooke, were stopped over at the airport on their way to Mexico. Ricky may be a funny guy, but he […]

I left my little black book at a cafe today at lunch, and I already have separation anxiety. It’s more than just a little black book. It’s my dayplanner, doodlepad and secret hiding place all rolled into one. It’s important to me. I know it’s still at the café; I just called, and it’s waiting […]

I rode a ferris wheel, the bumper cars and one of those you-stand-up-and-they-spin-you-high-in-sky rides at a church fair on Sunday. I was fine — I was ecstatic — until that last one. My stomach leapt against the walls of my body. High up in the evening sky and at the top of my lungs, I […]