Making a list, maybe getting back to it later

Ah, yes, the return to the normal routine. Mine tends to include lists. I'll think of things as I get up in the morning and before I know it, there's a list of things to do for the day — but it feels like at the start of the year these lists are even longer.…

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Home for the Holidays

My tale is told Well, it's finally happened: "Home for the Holidays" is a podcast reality. It's a really great way to end what has — for the most part — been a pretty trying year. The story came about last November when I was visiting the family in their suburban Austin digs; anyone who…

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Trees, Matzo and Killer Whales … oh my!

First a little housekeeping: Spring has sprung Bette has bloomed! (Also, those keeping track will notice that the tree fairy returned post-planting and gave my little sapling a frame of stones.) Yay for Bette surviving the winter. Next: What “Well Told Tales” loved, “Alfred Hitchcock Magazine” was less than charmed by. I got a form…

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Home safe, butt kicked. Film at 11.

Out cold Whew, just back from another Texas trip. Never even saw Austin. In three days I hit: Pflugerville, Gruene (pronounced "Green" but you know we had fun calling it "Groin"), Round Rock, and Sea World. My niece Sydney (at left) may in fact have been more tired post-Shamu (and really, is there more tired…

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Thanks and giving, and giving, and giving….

Chef Combo First, there were nachos and cheese and crackers. Then there was ham and turkey breast and stuffing and corn (with a whole stick of butter!) and gravy and cranberry and pickles and rolls and mashed potatoes and green bean casserole and I think that's the whole schmear but I could have forgotten something.…

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The inevitable discovery

Words guaranteed to evoke mixed emotions once you've heard them for the first time: Mom telling me: "(Your stepfather) reads your blog every day." Words guaranteed to evoke a profound sense of relief upon hearing them for the first time: Mom again: "I don't have time to read it myself; I don't spend that much…

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Hand to hand combat

On the one hand …. Stubb's was closed. On the other …. Rudy's was not. So…. I had ribs. Yay! Burp! On the one hand … I dreamed about a young Michael Caine, and we made plans for a dinner date. On the other hand … He didn't make it into the real world, so,…

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The family way

Still trying to process much of the weekend. Still down in Austin. Are we done yet? For years I've heard of friends talk about their crazy families and how they drive them crazy even though they still (in theory) love one another, and how glad they are to get back home. I've always been sympathetic,…

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Welcome to the world

Baby Sydney, Elder Sister of the Interloper Dear Natalie Reese, You may just be a day old, but someone's already blogging about you! How exciting is that? Who knows, by the time you're old enough to know what a blog is, we might all be doing it merely by thinking of posting — at least…

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