Author Archives: Mermaid

Our $1.2 Million Dollar Ski House

Birk had such a fantastic time skiing in Tahoe with her daddy, that she wants to quit regular school, and go to ski school full time. She realizes that this requires a house in Tahoe. She first asked daddy to buy her a ski house. He said, “Get good grades in school, get a really […]

Piercing and the Modern Tween

Our family debate of late: piercings. Ruth, 10 going on 11, is ready to get her ears pierced. The dinner table discussions have sparked Birk’s interest, as well. Daddy, who never wants his little girls to grow up, holds fast to his rule: you must be 40 years old to get your ear’s pierced (Come […]

A Nice, Cool Frosty One At Pippi’s

My youngest, Birk, kept asking me to go out to dinner at Pippi’s. Dumbfounded, I asked around about a new restaurant named, “Pippi’s.” No one seemed to have heard of this fabulous, new restaurant, but they all wanted me to let them know where it was when I found it. Months later, driving down the […]

Good News, Bad News

Here’s the bad news: I was in my garage this weekend, finally trying to put order in my abyss of chaos. The bins were willy nilly, and I needed to get the Christmas gear with the Christmas gear, the Halloween stuff with the Halloween stuff….well, you get the idea. I decided that all of the […]

Old Dog, New Tricks? In French?

So much in my life happens just because of where I’m standing at a particular moment. This particular moment was on a Friday night and, yes, I did have a glass of wine in my hand. I guess that could also be a factor. It was a dinner party of very sophisticated and international friends. […]

Blankies, Lovies & Loss

Birk’s blanket, which for some reason she calls Fuji, is missing. There is not much left of this lovey, it is tattered, threadbare and torn–held together with clumsily stitched embroidery thread of every color. Fuji was gifted to us with our first baby, John. My husband’s Godmother gave us this silky soft, 100 percent cotton, […]

The Seat of Death

There are weird terms and phrases I use with my children. We have our inside jokes that even Daddy can’t quite figure out. One of these is the phrase: seat of death. I knew this phrase had joined our hall of fame when I asked Ruth to sit in the middle seat of the mini […]

Driving in the Dark

I remember a long time ago, when I was driving somewhere with my kids. 2 year old John said, “Mommy, we are driving in the dark.” It never dawned on me, how much we didn’t drive around with the kids after sunset. Bedtime was as early as we could set it and there was rarely […]

A Happy Spin on Life

Going to the gym is truly a luxury of time. It eats a hole in your day bigger than a donut and I’ve resisted the pressure to commit to exercise in my lifestyle. I’m a curvier girl. I am not built for speed. Even my hair is very Roseanne Roseannadanna–it probably adds a good 5-8 […]

Frustration in 15 Easy Steps

#1 Agree to host the school’s Thank You Luncheon at your house. #2 Decide, since all these people are coming to your house, you might as well replace that grungy, stained, extra gross carpet on the stairs that you’ve been talking about replacing for two years. #3 You ponder putting in hardwood on the stairs. […]