In August of 2019, my daughter and I went on a trip to Scotland. We had the time of our lives. It was one of those magical trips where everything was perfect. You can read a little about that trip here. Our flight home was canceled and we received compensation from the airline. We put that money aside and told Celia that she and I would return to Scotland when she graduated from high school. Little did we know that that promise would become a lifeline that she and I would cling to for the next four years. We had taken the original trip because life had been stressful and…

A day by yourself. A day with your kids. A day with your favorite person. (Maybe that is your kid.) A day in the country. A day in the city. A day at the beach. A day spent reading. A day spent listening to music. A day spent making music. A day of drawing. A day of writing. Going to a party. Going to your favorite restaurant. Making your favorite meal. Sleeping late. Getting up early. Going for a walk. Going shopping. Talking on the phone for hours. Not talking to anyone all day. Trying something new. Doing something you have done a hundred times before. Planning. Being spontaneous. Doing…

Last week I was talking to my daughter about something she needed to do but was finding difficult. I jokingly suggested that I should make her a sticker chart with a prize box just like I did when she was small. She could get stickers for doing difficult things and then trade them in for prizes. She looked at me very earnestly and informed me that she thought it was a great idea. I think all of us need sticker charts and prize boxes. Do you have to make a scary phone call? Do it and you can have a sticker. Clean the bathroom, exercise, forgo the chocolate cake, or…

I met an old friend for lunch the other week. We have been friends for about twenty years and she views me, so she says, as the big sister she never had. We are both quiet introverts with a good bit of social anxiety though you would never believe that if you saw and heard us talking for three hours straight. Over the years, we have talked a lot about how to combat our inclination to stay home and avoid people and how to overcome our conviction that we always look as awkward as we feel. This time, as we were catching up on life during the year or so…

Life is a little rough these days. We will get through it but it isn’t a great deal of fun. Why do stressful things always occur in bunches? The only thing to do is to get through one day at a time and the best way to do that is to get through one book at a time. When I am stressed I end up doing a lot of rereading. It is undemanding. I am not going to be suddenly and unexpectedly confronted with the death of my favorite character. It is a bit like a visit with old friends. Lately, I have been rereading Mary Stewart and Georgette Heyer.…