I am ½ Korean, born and left in Seoul, S. Korea but saved then raised in America. Even now, my culture feels foreign to me. I don’t know my other ethnic half, so I claim Hungarian/Swedish thanks to my parents. Trader Joes creates my Korean dishes but I whip up Chicken Paprikas almost from memory….
I confess, I did not make our Kindess cookies from scratch. Another confession; instead of giving cookies to random people, having scrapped that plan for a new crafty direction, we took them to Boy Scouts to fulfill our snack duty. When closing, one parent said “Those cookies were really tasty!” I responded with, “Oh, those?!…
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be a butterfly! I continuously search beyond the obvious symbolism in the complete transformation from the worm – [CUE: Heimlich’s voice] – into a beautiful butterfly! Once the Mariah Carey song “Butterfly” starts playing in my head, I lose…
Today being Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I wanted to teach my kids some of his lessons to love each other, contributing to the good of humanity and that small actions yield big power. I asked each child to dream up a random act of kindness that we could do. After a few suggestions, my…
Recently lots of noise hit the Internet about quarterback Tim Tebow, known for his beliefs and philanthropy almost more than his football. Today the glamorous Golden Globes paid tribute to those most talented this year in their craft. I got to see some of my favorite stars that used to wink at me from my…
When I left my job in the double-dip recession, I was determined, a bit crazy, but surprisingly, not worried. In my self-exploration, I discovered that by staying calm, not drowning in “What ifs?” then my efforts remained more logical, strategic and energetic. When people flipped out around me, it raised blood pressures and drained everyone….
At my age I’m climbing that flowery hill, and every birthday brings me one step closer to hurtling down the shady backside, heading straight for the briar patch. I love great celebrations with friends, but found something more my taste in a blog that I stumbled upon. Robyn Bomar celebrated her 38th birthday by committing…
I’ve driven through town, rushing through lunch hour, wondering about people running behind strollers or heading to yoga. I assumed they married, divorced, or invested well, lied to their bosses, had a trust fund or worked from home. I wished out loud to switch places. My wish came true – I have loads of free…
I spent my first 8 years living in an end row house close to a school. My best friend lived a few doors down, so we constantly ran in between. When our imaginations outgrew our yards, we explored the back alley. Near my home it opened up into the parking lot. We ran where we…
Ever try to get out of a ticket? I recently avoided a fix-it ticket and I tried to get out of my first-ever speeding ticket but after approaching the car with his gun drawn, the officer wasn’t chatty. That is another story for another time. At our recent garage sale, my neighbors and I chatted,…
It takes an iPhone, copies of class schedules, and a fridge calendar to keep my family on time. Events usually fall into place, but my random lists get unruly. I use to-do lists for planning parties; bucket lists of goals; lists of where I’ve traveled; wish lists of books; lists of accomplishments; even lists of…
The Glee cast breaks in with “Is this the real life, is this just fantasy?” My finger hovers over the snooze button poised to give them additional time to ponder this question. At 6am I am hung over from waking up earlier on Saturday, herding kids and friends to various sports tryouts. I also dread…
