So, Cymbalta withdrawal has been kicking me in the face for the last couple of weeks or so. It’s very weird, and non-linear, and the experience reminds me of nothing so much as the creepy Hotel California: I can check out anytime I like, but apparently I CAN NEVER LEAVE ..read more

A couple of months ago in a moment of nutritional virtue I gave my husband custody of all the chocolate chips in the house and asked him to put them in the outdoor freezer. Today, in a massive PMS craving that shook the foundations of our home I flung open the freezer door, BUT THEY WERE NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. I searched some of his previously used hiding spaces with no luck, and was walking to the phone to demand in my best kidnapper tones: “Where are the chocolate chips, Ryan?! Spill now, or the convertible gets it!” Then, in what was clearly the power of the Holy Spirit intervening to save m ..read more

A few days ago I saw that one of my Facebook friends had started a thread asking, “If you wrote a book about 2020, what would you call it?”. Given that so far this year in addition to COVID-19 we have dealt with a Saharan dust cloud, murder hornets, yesterday’s hurricane, and salmonella’s hostile takeover of all the onions, my book would be titled as follows: 2020: Anxiously Awaiting The Final Five Plagues   ..read more

Originally published 5/11/12 You Say You Want A Revolution So I spent last week with my parents since my husband was on a business trip, and since my dad had to travel as well for a couple of days, my mom and I decided to have a girls’ night out. As we split an exquisite slice of chocolate cheesecake we shared stories of crazy experiences we’d had-or heard of-on the job, such as corporate controllers who did not believe in math, companies who listed as one of their values the ability to make fast decisions with little to no information, and people who based their decisions on whether or not t ..read more

So, I’ll be the first to admit that I am totally spoiled. Ever since we’ve been homeowners my husband has taken on all the responsibility for the “outside” tasks of homeownership: lawn care, landscaping, cleaning the gutters, the house repairs that don’t require a professional, etc. But even more importantly (to me at least), is the fact that he also handles any and all math-related tasks, math having always been the bane of my existence. He’s currently working on redoing the deck, and this time I’ve even helped a bit, in that I painted three boards in the time it took him to paint the other t ..read more

You’re recovering from driving 17 hours over 2 days to spend 14 hours at a 2-day women’s conference, but you still had to call your husband so he could remind you that, “No, as a matter of fact you are NOT allowed to vacuum the entire house”, because your big fat lying fibromyalgia brain is insisting that not only is that a completely rational, but completely necessary, thing to do. (Rest easy; this trip happened last summer. I only now re-discovered this post in my unpublished drafts folder ..read more

Because the skills I’ve honed in over a decade of being homebound have gone, overnight, from hardship to Superpower. Isn’t it ironic ..read more

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Earlier in the week my husband met with a lawn care expert to get some advice on landscaping our yard. I was busy with some task or other at the time, so my husband opened the door to greet the guy and then the two of them went outside to tour the yard. For the most part I could hear them talking as they discussed the condition of the lawn on each side of the house. But then there was silence for about 30 minutes or so, with no sign of my husband, so my reptilian brain, amygdala, and fight/flight/freeze system swung into action. Of course my husband eventually came back inside the house, and I ..read more

So, Cymbalta withdrawal has been kicking me in the face for the last couple of weeks or so. It’s very weird, and non-linear, and the experience reminds me of nothing so much as the creepy Hotel California: I can check out anytime I like, but apparently I CAN NEVER LEAVE ..read more