Desert Magnolia

Driving home after clinic last night I was struck by the sudden appearance of Fall in the color of the trees, the feel of the air, and the quality of the late afternoon light that shone down. It happens fast, and suddenly Summer is gone and the mornings have a chill, the leaves turn that beautiful golden yellow, and it's time to bust out the long sleeves and sweaters again. I always enter a soup frenzy this time of year too, and break out my favorite Italian Wedding Soup and Lemony Chicken Soup recipes to make and enjoy in the cooler evenings. There's something so fundamentally comforting about a fragrant, nourishing soup and crusty bread, often accompanied by a rich glass of red wine to round out the meal. Running during this time of year always makes me smile. As I ascend the desert trail I smell the late blooming desert plants with their tangy, spicy fragrance. I notice the shadows in slightly different positions than they've been all Summer long on the trail, and I...

These days there is no norm. Which isn't a terrible thing, but tends to be a little disconcerting at times. I watch my fellow students caught in the vortex of their studies, defining their realities by project due dates, quizzes, exams, milestones that are part of this endeavor. I have those things too. What I'm struggling with is how to meet all of the obligations for the long-term effort while striving to be productive on a work level for my former colleagues/now clients. It should be easy, but it's not. Even if it's not supposed to be easy, per se, I don't know if it's supposed to be this damned difficult. I'm not sure if I am just about to break through another one of those stupid walls that keeps showing up in front of me or if I'm missing something obvious here, but I'm looking forward to some kind of clarity, the sooner the better. And it's not about inertia. I'm pretty sure I'll figure it out soon, but in the meantime I...

Happy Fall, everyone! Aren't the cooler days and beginning of changing colors amazing?? I love this time of year...I really do. It's been awhile since I've felt like writing anything. Big changes have been taking place in my life and for some reason the energy to deal with them, their implications, the day-to-day and try to think of something remotely interesting to say has been too much. But it's time to press on and let the thoughts flow again. I'm now a consultant. What does that mean? Well, it means I am on my own to generate enough business so that our financial ship doesn't sink while I tackle the enormity of school. It means I'm no longer an employee in any sense of the word, that I have no benefits, no real ties to speak of professionally, and am floating a little in a sea of possibility that feels a little like it's pulling me under at the moment. But that's how it goes. I've done this before, but many years ago with much less a...

Hard to believe the Summer is nearly gone. Hard to believe that this weekend is Labor Day, after which we'll refrain from wearing white ..shoes, pants, hats, etc. Or maybe not. As summers go, this one has been good, but mostly uneventful, which is ok. We've gotten rain for the first time in years (lots of it), which has been good. We've had fires everywhere, which is not so good. Son is back in the UAE, which is good, but means he's far away and if it's possible to miss someone more because they're further away? I do. He's working like a dog, but says he loves it, so we're happy about that. Not the dog part, the happy part. Daughter is playing soccer, and has begun her senior year of college, after which many possibilities exist, but no real plans yet there. We'll see. We just want her to have some fun, have a good season, and kick butt her final year of college. We are doing what we do. GG is settling back into the school routine again. I...

GG (hubby) works hard to keep our yard gorgeous. We have an amazing garden, water features, grass, fruit trees, and a gorgeous Japanese maple that has found a home in the Buddha corner of our yard and is thriving after nearly dying from our climate. When GG was driving our girl to the East coast this summer, I took care of the house and yard and stuff and whined mightily. Doing that on top of work and school was a lot, and some days I felt like there weren't enough hours to handle everything well. Anyway, the grass needed mowing, and GG decided to handle that task before dinner Sunday night. I was inside studying (I know, I am so boring right now - finals are a killer), and suddenly he burst in the back door with a red face, and FURIOUS!  He's a mellow guy, so this behavior is startling, to say the least. Apparently we have a hornet's nest in a wall next to the grass. And one of those stinging insects attacked GG. He said he felt a sudden searing burn on his leg, ...

I recently had a conversation with someone who found out I have a blog, and who decided I needed advice on how to market and monetize it. As well-intended as their opinion was, I smiled and politely declined to 'sit down over lunch and map it all out.' In fact I had to suppress the urge to smack them, which caused me to ponder about my nearly violent reaction. Here's what I came up with: This is my escape from all the hype and marketing and spin, and, God forbid, 'monetizing.' Not only does the idea of promoting Desert Magnolia beyond my close group of friends/fellow bloggers make me nauseous, I really don't think it's geared toward a general audience. I expound on shit even I don't understand using hindsight as a lens, and wouldn't subject the rest of the free world to my mental aerobics. They've done nothing to deserve that. You, however, are here because you either like to be, or because you lost a bet and were forced to come here, or...

Today the scientific community announced that, and I shit you not, MICE CAN COUGH!! Immediately my strange little brain went to the mouse meeting following said announcement: Fellow mice, we've been outed. Our ability to actually fully cough, vs just utter gentle throat clearing sounds, has been discovered by those ridiculously curious humans who will stop at nothing, nothing mind you, to reveal the secrets of our treasured species. From this day onward, all mice soldiers will be issued lozenges lest they feel the slightest tickle in their throats. You will immediately pop a lozenge and relieve the tickle before you commence with operations. Just let your fellow soldiers know what's up by pointing at your throat then making the universal sign for 'shhhhh'..... All civilians will also receive prophylactic lozenges, to be taken in any situation where a cough is imminent, and humans are present.  Please attend your next neighborhood watch meeting, where ample supp...