At the end of each summer, like clockwork, I used to anticipate surviving the fall. Thinking about back-to-school, carpooling kids, back-to-school events, weekend social calendars, travel plans… as life spun like a top perilously close to the edge of the table, I believed I could alleviate this feeling of over-extension by getting everything in order. I’d organize the dreaded … [Read more...]

Last December I did something bold, and something absolutely terrifying. I told my husband I wanted to move. Out of state. Away from California, our home for twenty years. Actually, I had been telling him I wanted to move for months, but I wasn’t being received. He didn’t want to move. We’d lose his retirement benefits. Not the right time. Maybe in about five years. And the … [Read more...]

I bumped my elbow walking out of my office this morning. It hurt. My first thought was, Well, Jessica you shouldn’t be walking out of the office while still getting dressed. Do one thing at a time, huh? As my elbow throbbed, I paused and felt the real sting. This reprimand stung more than the injury itself. Why wasn’t my first response to a bump on the elbow, tenderness? A … [Read more...]