Okay, I’ll admit I was one of those who cringed just a little at Oprah’s Weight Watchers ad this week, where she bared her soul. “Inside every overweight woman is a woman she knows she can be.” Yeesh. Painting weight loss as a panacea for self image issues rubs me the wrong way. I’ve been […]
Life lessons from the checkout stand
Thank you so much, Mr. Albertson’s Checker, for your thoughtfulness this evening. After taking time to inquire about my day and whether I’d found everything I needed, you complimented my clever cell phone cover/credit card holder combo case as I swiped my card. … And followed that up with just a smidge of concern for my […]
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Tips for the outbound exchange student
One recent Saturday morning I woke early, my brain spinning. Jack had announced the day before his plan to take the bus to the ski hill. He hadn’t asked for help and I hadn’t offered. I hadn’t pulled his boots, gloves, hat, goggles and helmet out of the closet, checked to make sure his ski […]
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Aruba for the faint of heart
Pretty much anything we’ve done here this week has been preceded by a mimosa and followed up by the favorite local cocktail, the Aruba Ariba, which is a mixture of rum, vodka, a bunch of liquors and a couple drops of pineapple juice, a deadly combo which is hugely popular and probably explains the proliferation […]
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A little excursion to One Happy Island
As some of you know, traveling has recently become a bigger part of my job. As things like this go, an opportunity for a site review came up with very little notice, and at a crappy time for bringing the rest of the family. My client, also a very busy professional and a mom, sensed […]
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Sparkly part III: The Faction Awakens
As I’m sharing this story with you, about how I hired my friend – whom we’re calling Sparkly – who turned out to be unqualified and then turned the whole office against me, Mike keeps reminding me of things I’ve blocked from memory. Like the time we took personality tests at a staff retreat, and […]
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Sparkly part II: The mean girl at work
It seems weird today, but there was a time when “out of the office” truly meant incommunicado. And once, about 15 years ago, I left town for a family vacation and a much-needed recharge, and had not one shred of news from the office for at least two weeks. It was bliss. A couple of […]
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The office bully? Totally my fault
I recently took a mini road trip with a colleague who needed a ride as well as a shoulder to cry on about coworker conflicts. I can empathize. I have a fair amount of experience with people who can masquerade as well-adjusted adults in every other setting but the office, where they’re likely to pair […]
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We have been doing it all wrong
“Nothing against the way you and dad did things, but …” When a conversation with one of my kids starts like this, it’s time for my poker face. Whatever he has to say is likely to conjure up an “oh reeeaaally,” followed by a “let me tell you a thing or two about a thing […]
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Think YOU can mess with Texas? A mini Houston tour recap.
Houston folks may have thought their little ol’ convention center was in the middle of a billion dollar (yes, I did say billion … with a b) renovation. That was before I got there. Subsequent to an inopportune brush with fate and my big fat elbow, they’re going to have to add another couple hundred […]
