Seventy is the New Thirty??

IMG_1930 (1)

If orange is the new black, and sixty is the new forty, then I think seventy should be the new thirty…or purple…or chartreuse…or something. Who comes up with this stuff??

This year I hit the big 7-0. The start of a new decade, a new era, a new whatever. I know some of my friends and family don’t wish to share their age, and that’s okay, but I think I’m going to own seventy. I mean, really OWN it! It’s taken me seventy years to grow up to be this zany, carefree, madcap, crazy lady that I am. And like Jenny Joseph wrote in her poem, “Warning”, I can wear purple with a red hat that doesn’t go, because now I have an excuse for my eccentric behavior! Continue reading “Seventy is the New Thirty??” →

“Ya-Ya Sisterhood of the Traveling Aunts”

I got an email from my niece, Renee, back in July. It was an invitation for me, her mom and my sister, Lila, and my cousin, Melody, to come spend a weekend at her log house in the mountains at Red Feather Lakes, west of Ft. Collins. What I really liked about her email, though, was it was addressed to the “Ya-Ya Sisterhood of the Traveling Aunts”. She really gets us. And yes, this is the same group who made the pilgrimage to Hugo, Colorado to discover our roots back in June.

Of course we all accepted and selected the last weekend in September to visit so we could enjoy the fall colors while we were up in God’s country. Renee and her husband, Mike, are the Godchildren of Charlie Parker, a former NFL and Bronco football player back in the 1960’s, and they acquired the cabin from him and his wife this past year. We affectionately call it the “Parker House”.

(Renee on her front porch reading a good book!)

Continue reading ““Ya-Ya Sisterhood of the Traveling Aunts”” →

You Nailed It, Erma!

In 1980, Erma Bombeck wrote an article entitled “The Special Mother”. It was a tribute to the 100,000 mothers who gave birth each year to handicapped children.

In 1984, I gave birth to a son with Down Syndrome.

Matt I don’t remember if I read Erma’s accolade before or after my Matthew was born, but I do remember when I did read it, my tears blurred the words so badly I could barely get through it. Erma really nailed it. How she did, not having a handicapped child herself, I don’t know. Did she interview professionals? Or doctors and experts? Research statistics or read formal theses? Or did she do what I think she did – just sit and observe and talk to these mothers one by one until her heart became one with theirs. Continue reading “You Nailed It, Erma!” →

“Little Farm on the Prairie”

Move aside Laura Ingalls Wilder! There’s another fabulous family of farmers (try saying that fast five times!) sharing the prairie spotlight these days! Mine!

Grandma and Grandpa

(Albert Lee Roseborough and Ola Elizabeth Rogers Roseborough with their children.)

My maternal ancestors were wheat farmers in western Kansas. Albert and Ola Roseborough, my grandparents, farmed there until the great depression and the dust bowl years caused them to lose their homestead. In their later years they lived in eastern Colorado where my Grandpa continued to farm until his death in 1955. And let me tell you folks, western Kansas and eastern Colorado is nothing but prairie, prairie, prairie! Continue reading ““Little Farm on the Prairie”” →

Dear HOA…Kiss My A**

image001[1] (Actual picture sent from HOA)

On Saturday, July 7, 2018, I received a letter from my HOA that said “during a recent inspection of the community it was noticed that there was a significant amount of weeds on your property”. (Okay, I know I live in Colorado, but we’re talking about garden weeds here, not the marajawana kind.) They attached a photo of said weeds, and after searching the picture thoroughly, the only things I could see that might be deemed as weeds were a scrawny rose bush that can’t seem to decide if it wants to live or die, and a lovely Day Lily plant that obviously wants to live because it’s flourishing beautifully between two shrubs. Continue reading “Dear HOA…Kiss My A**” →

Beach on Mumbai

I love seeing all the posts and pictures of my friends on Facebook. Especially the ones that are traveling outside the US to exotic locations. Oh, I could travel to those places if I wanted, and I have in the past, but right now I’m a little tied to home, mainly because of my new rescue deaf dog who has severe separation anxiety, and my almost 100-year-old dad whose health goes up and down like a yo-yo. Doing any long-distance traveling isn’t in the cards for me right now. Continue reading “Beach on Mumbai” →

Laugh Out Loud

I’m honored to be one of the 40 Women Humorists who contributed to this book. I describe it as kinda like a “Chicken Soup for the Soul – Erma Bombeck style”. It’s now available on Amazon. Read more about this book at Laugh Out Loud.

Italian for a Day!

One of my classmates and a good friend, Joanie, who ran her family’s restaurant, the Blue Parrot, in Louisville, Colorado for many years, retired and closed the restaurant in 2017. Since then I’ve been enjoying her company at class reunion meetings and lunch gatherings and I’ve loved catching up with this sweet Italian friend, which was impossible in the past because she was always too busy with the restaurant to socialize much. Several of us lamented one day that we really missed the Blue Parrot’s Chicken Cacciatore, so Joanie offered to not only give out her recipe, but give a cooking class too! So, one bright spring day a group of us got together and we watched and took notes as Joanie prepared this hometown “comfort” food for those of us who were privileged to grow up in Louisville and feast often on this delicacy. Continue reading “Italian for a Day!” →