I’ve been dubbed a “Top Writer” in nine categories (but lost several in August 2021). See links to all my stories. — My Most Popular Stories Parenting Feminism Racism Travel and Food Money Life Lessons/This Happened To Me My Dogs Miscellaneous

So I’m back to writing on Medium and musing aloud about life. — It’s been almost two weeks since I had a total hysterectomy. My amazing world-class surgeon specializes in minimally invasive surgery, which meant she had a long waiting list. She took out my uterus, cervix, and fallopian tubes and left three tiny scars on my abdomen (not counting the scar in…

I’m using my Medium earnings to pay for a VIP tour at Disneyland this summer and I don’t regret it for a second. — I am a middle-aged mom with an unhealthy obsession with Disneyland — the original park Walt Disney first created in 1955. I’ve written before here about my love for Disneyland: For me, my Disney love story started with finding myself and being comfortable in my own skin. At Disneyland, I…

It’s counterintuitive if you’re trying to make the most money possible, but this formula yields far more satisfying results. — My husband runs a small business, one his father started more than 40 years ago. For the first 16 years that the two worked together, my husband deferred to his father on many of the established business practices. His dad would say, “That’s the way I’ve always done this.”

I find myself smiling to myself a lot these days. — Most parenting advice is focused on infants and either feeding them or helping them to sleep. Yet I found myself far more nervous and perplexed about the idea of parenting teens. I know teens will sleep or eat when they’re ready. I don’t need to monitor them at that level…

Yes, Virginia, appearances can be deceiving. — When I joined UCLA’s DC internship program the summer after my sophomore year, I was assigned, roommates. Two of the three girls became my close friends. One, “Michelle,” immediately caught my attention. She has always been a very outgoing, flamboyant person. Michelle is always the life of the party, dressed…

I was focused on reducing my pain, not my weight. — Over the past two to three years, it has been difficult to get the scale to reverse the other way and lose some weight. I’ve always had an incredible metabolism but it’s finally slowed down now that I’m a middle-aged woman. I still don’t know if my weight gain since…

But I also made sure they knew I worked hard and got top grades. — There was a time when I thought to myself, “What will my kids think if they knew how I was in college?” I partied, smoked pot more than once (and yes, I did inhale), drank too much, skinny-dipped at the beach, danced on the speakers at the club, cut class…

We don’t always realize money can torpedo your relationships. — My friend, “Kimi” was a walking conundrum to me when we met in college. She had expensive tastes but was the cheapest person I knew. It was the first time I realized that wealthy people can be stingy. For example, when we had a potluck, she would bring a green…