Desperately seeking Zen

4:04 a.m. I know my body will punish me around 4:04 p.m. today for not getting enough sleep. What it doesn't understand is that I would LOVE to get more sleep, but lately my sleep clock is off and I find myself waking up around 3:30 a.m. just for fun! Since my family is sleeping I can't do anything uberproductive like mop the floors or walk the dog or clean out my messy cabinets. Nope, just gotta tiptoe around and either a) work...which I already did until about 9:30 p.m. last night or b) read, which my mind is not quite awake enough to do and my books are back in my room and I don't want to wake my husband or c) write on my blog which includes five followers. I recently read a book all called "The HappinessProject"by Gretchen Rubin. She basically spends a year trying to get happy and devotes an entire chapter to the importance of sleep  to getting "happy." I do not disagree but despite her tips like "hide the clock," "put socks on your...

There is a young man living in my daughter's bedroom. His presence is so pervasive that I've come to think of him like one of family. He's quite charming actually, with a sweet voice, and -- until recently -- this floppy signature bangs-in-the-face style that drives tweens wild when flipped just right (no wonder he sold a lock of it on E-bay for $40,000 to charity). All this going for him and he's still stayed away from drug addiction, petty theft and (that I know of) sexual scandals. His name is Justin Bieber. That's BEE-ber, which rhymes with fever, which is why they call the international phenomenon and crazy following around this boy "Bieber Fever." This winky young Canadian crooner was discovered on YouTube at age 12 by a manager/producer who new a teen angel and originality when he saw it. Justin rose quickly to worldwide fame on YouTube before he was signed by rap star/producer Usher. J.B. went on to sell more than 4...

When I was a little girl, I liked to play with dolls but preferred pants to dresses. As I got older I cut my hair short and prefered to play Star Wars or run around with they boys on the playground. I found myself attracted to boys in general but thought Marilyn Monroe was amazing. I share these things, not to reveal that I secretly wanted to be a boy (though at a certain time of the month it would have its advantages), but to point out how fluid and blurry gender lines can be. The recent brutal beating of a transgender woman at a Baltimore McDonald's reminded me that sadly, our society has a long way to go in recognizing that some people are born with a body or biological gender that just feels alien to them. To most of the world, unfortunately, these people seem alien in a world of blue and pink. What society forgets, however, is that gender is more than just anatomy. It's an identity that is often chosen for us from day one when the hospital puts a certain color cap on ...

I remember not so long ago when my mother told me how hard it was to stay in touch with her girlfriends. "Oh not me," I quipped. "They are a priority...and help me keep it real." Then something happened...I started losing touch. Weekly lunch dates were downsized to maybe birthdays and Christmas. Wine tasting...can't remember the last time. And phone calls...I'm lucky to get the occasional text and then if I reply I usually misspell things. Book club was hopeful. Once a month with a circle of intelligent women who may or may not have read the book but always had a good time. Then they started meeting on Thursdays and I was doomed to admire them virtually from afar as that is the crazy night spent shuttling to piano-dance-karate (that's even with my husband doing part of the driving). My husband tells me to give myself a break, but the break would be a regular night out with my girlfriends. That said, my job is demanding including weeknight meeting...

My old friend Kelly used to watch American Idol before it was fashionable. I was baffled by her devotion to a TV show until I discovered GLEE!If you are unfamiliar with this Emmy-winning phenomenon, this weekly high school musical comedy with a message is not for the judgemental or close-minded. The main characters are a group of misfit, while sometimes stereotypical, teens who are in their school Glee Club at McKinley High somewhere in Ohio. http://www.fox.com/glee/about/ . There is so much to love about the show even if the second season just quite doesn't have the authenticity of the first. After all, they are famous now...on I-tunes, on You Tube, on magazines everywhere and of course, the Emmys. What I truly love best about the show though is that both adults and kids can relate to it. Granted some of the themes are mature, but it has given me a golden opportunity to talk about things with my kids in a non-threatening environment (Oh NO! Here goes Mom again trying to ...

Getting a smart phone was not very smart...or so I'm learning. Choosing the Droid over an I-phone was stressful enough but more so is the constant nagging I have to check my email (work and personal), or my Facebook, or my texts many, MANY times a day. My family makes fun of my texts as they are often in another language. Example: "On my way home" could come out like "I am a gnome." Or something. My husband feels I'm becoming way to intimate with Mr. Blue. I think he's more annoyed with the song I put on for his calls: the sticky sweet addictive country hit, "Stuck on You" by Sugarland. So this week I am vowing to put the phone aside more even though it is sort of my lifeline to my kids, my peeps and co-workers. The reason it has finally hit home is that I have caught myself texting while operating a motor vehicle which in my state is now illegal and well, just plain stupid. Oprah even says so and has a contract for folks to sign called ...

"Which one do you like?" asked my husband of nearly 20 years as we surveyed the options before us. I glanced over at him then paused, admiringly, flashing back to when we met during a summer internship in Ohio. His blonde hair was longer back then in his pre-engineering days. He was the carefree Californian guy who took me on my first camping trip and introduced me to Rush (and tolerated my Richard Marx and Madonna). Back then, we were still young, carefree -- and poor. When he proposed on the lakefront at Northwestern the following summer, he didn't even have a ring (and I didn't care). Later, he sold one of his many beloved guitars to buy my small but shiny diamond engagement ring which up until now I have refused to trade up because it reminds me of where we came from when we first fell in love in the foothills of Kentucky. And I like taking trips abroad more than big rings. Back to the question at hand, "Which one did I like?" I tr...