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Please Hit "Refresh" I love how Marco and Tanissa get along so well Did I just hear this? Did Chris, who has spent more time with my family in the last year than just about anyone else really just say that? He did. And his words have sent me spinning. ... ( added 253 days 10 hours ago.)

A Little Notepad - A story about money I had planned to write a completely different story. The rough draft was in my head and I was looking forward to sitting down and letting it come out, one sentence at a time, on its way to you. It was to be a good story and it will be... ( added 313 days 3 hours ago.)

Do You Believe This?? - from "Pink Hair & Chocolate Cookies" Until the age of seven, my life was fairly normal as I grew up in France with a mom, a dad and a sweet polka-dotted dog. Our home was in the country and the smells of fresh mown grass and roasted chicken wafted in the background. My dad... ( added 335 days 20 hours ago.)

The Gift of Not Knowing My son Costa wrote a book. He was eight. The book was originally a secret that he kept from me until the day he presented it at a Young Authors Conference. On that day, I sat misty eyed, along with everyone else present, as the book (dedicated... ( added 339 days 7 hours ago.)

Both! - from "Pink Hair & Chocolate Cookies" My grandmother had lived through two world wars in France - as a Jewish woman, no less. Why this is relevant to today's story, I am not sure and yet I feel compelled to include it. What matters is that when entertaining guests in her elegant... ( added 1 year 36 days ago.)

A Very Dirty Brush - from "Pink Hair & Chocolate Cookies" This story begins about 36 years ago and ends only very, very recently. I was seven or eight and the small grade school I attended was just a few blocks from my home. It was quaint and rather friendly, in an old fashioned sort of way. We... ( added 1 year 44 days ago.)

Too Darn Much I am reminded daily of how toxic “too much" can be. Too much stuff in the car, too much stuff on our desks. Too many things on our to-do list and too many places to get to before they close. Too much worry, too many regrets. Too darn much.... ( added 1 year 57 days ago.)

Big Little Words A few years ago, I found myself in an unlikely setting.  It was an early Wednesday morning and I was standing in front of an easel in the middle of a large, airy art studio. Classical music was softly playing, my cell phone was turned off and I... ( added 1 year 67 days ago.)

Oprah and The Birthday Cakes - from "Pink Hair & Chocolate Cookies" A couple of lifetimes ago, I co-owned and ran a popular French Bakery on Fidalgo Island, in Washington. Those were days of much activity, many faces, frantic schedules and not near enough time to sit and reflect. Add to that the fact that I was... ( added 1 year 68 days ago.)

He is Okay. Really. Last weekend, my son Marco and I were on our way to one of his basketball games. His brother and sister having chosen to stay home, it was one of those rare moments spent one-on-one with him (you know, three kids, only one of me) and I was... ( added 1 year 71 days ago.)

Pink Hair, Opera and My New Hero - from "Pink Hair & Chocolate Cookies" My friend Cheryl and I had treated ourselves to a fabulously fun performance of Aida", Elton John and Time Rices rock version of Verdis opera. Hanging out in the main hall during the intermission, we were high on the energy, the music, the... ( added 1 year 72 days ago.)