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Popcorn is one of my favorite comfort foods. It fills me up, is healthful, tastes delicious and I pretend that eating this overflowing pot of it, sprinkled with sea salt, won’t make me feel squeezed in the waist by my elastic waist pants. When my oldest daughter Eliza was a toddler, I thought it would be fun . . . → Read More: ANTIDOTE TO WORRY: POPCORN September 30th, 2011  Leave a comment  FAMILY, HEALTH AND SAFETY, TIPS  activity with kids, antidote to worry, ANXIETY, comfort food, cooking, cooking with kids, I Love Lucy, I Love Lucy baking bread episode, popcorn, popping corn, stress, WORRY, worrywart I don’t claim to be chill, but I become even less chill when someone tells me to chillax. When I’m really excited about something and someone says, “Chillax,” it’s even worse; it’s what my friend calls “squishing the little bird inside of you.” Take, for example, the time I was telling an ex-Mr. . . . → Read More: CHILLAXING June 1st, 2011 8 comments FAMILY, HOME, MR. RIGHT/WRONG, travel ANXIETY, being told to chill, being told to chillax, chill, chillax, punctuality, travel anxiety, WORRY, worrywart Unrelated: Check out my articles: Chili Recipe: Easy Recipe That Won Cook-Off’s People’s Choice Award Is Your Burglar Alarm Really Protecting You? What You Need to Know From a Top Security Expert Following one’s daughter on Twitter carries risks for a worrywart. Especially when that daughter tweets all day long. Last weekend my daughter . . . → Read More: A MOTHER’S TWEETMARES January 25th, 2011 2 comments FAMILY, HEALTH AND SAFETY, HOME, RUMINATIONS, travel angst, ANXIETY, birthday parties, Bogota, danger, danger when traveling, fear of kidnapping, following kids on Twitter, parties gone wrong, stress, tweeting, Twitter, worried mom, WORRY, worry about adult children, worrywart TANGENTIALLY-RELATED ANNOUNCEMENT: See my Home Goes Strong article “Throw an Ugly Sweater Party, It’s all the Rage.” Everyone has been inviting me to their Ugly Sweater Parties. Everyone has been inviting me to his or her Ugly Sweater Party. Even though “everyone” sounds like a truckload of folks, the singular “his or her” is . . . → Read More: WORRIED WHAT YOU’LL THINK January 16th, 2011 7 comments BLOGGING, RUMINATIONS, WIRED TO WORRY angst, ANXIETY, BLOGGING, grammar, possessive pronouns, stress, what others think, what people think, worried, WORRY, worrywart Unrelated announcement: A MAGICAL USED COOKBOOK SHOP & A DIVINE COOKIE RECIPE I’m addicted to worry. Not long ago, I wrote a Huffington Post post, Worry Less: 10 Lessons From Cognitive Therapy, in which I advised, “Be aware that rumination and obsession are like drugs, in a bad way. They activate the pleasure center of the . . . → Read More: ADDICTED TO WORRY January 7th, 2011 2 comments BLOGGING, HEALTH AND SAFETY, RUMINATIONS, TIPS, WIRED TO WORRY addicted to worry, angst, ANXIETY, cognitive therapy, stress, WORRY, worrywart It’s been a longie since my last Tip Day. I’m worried you’ll think I’ve run out of tips. To be honest, I’m a little worried myself. So today, when a positive thought visited me, I wondered how I could put a worry spin on it. Then I remembered long-neglected Tip Day! (There are so . . . → Read More: LONG OVERDUE TIP DAY + A BONUS DIET TIP December 28th, 2010 2 comments BLOGGING, FAMILY, HOME, RUMINATIONS, TIPS, travel, WISHES angst, ANXIETY, dealing with worry, diet tip, eating ribs, memory, overeating, remembering, self-help, short vacation anxiety, stress, WORRY, worrywart Unrelated announcement: See my daughter’s amazing appetizer recipes in my article: 7 EASY ELEGANT CROWD-PLEASING APPETIZERS. When I was a kid, I thought if only I could wear a suit of armour, I’d be safe from predators. Then, when I learned about conductivity, I gave up the idea, realizing I’d have a disaster . . . → Read More: MY NEXT DOG December 18th, 2010 One comment BLOGGING, CASEY, HEALTH AND SAFETY, HOME, RUMINATIONS angst, ANXIETY, dog for protection, dog games, dog protection, dogs, dogs predicting weather, dogs sniffing bedbugs, dogs sniffing cancer, fear of burglars, fear of kidnappers, how a dog smells, stress, suit of armour for protection, WORRY, worrywart Unrelated announcement: How I Organized my Home, De-Cluttered my Life & Learned 21 New Tips Some call the holiday season Chrismukkah, others say HanuKwanzMas. Then there’s Festivus with its unadorned aluminum pole, miracles and airing of grievances. I say Hanukkah simply on its own can cause confusion, starting with: which of the 16 permutations do you . . . → Read More: HOPELESSLY ATTRACTED TO TINSEL December 14th, 2010 11 comments DIVORCE, FAMILY, HEALTH AND SAFETY, HOME, MR. RIGHT/WRONG, RELIGION, RUMINATIONS, WISHES angst, ANXIETY, blowing out Hanukkah candles, chrismukkah, Christians and Hanukkah, Christmas tree issues, Festivus, Jews and Christmas, Jews and Christmas carols, Jews and Christmas stockings, Jewsmas, lighting Hanukkah candles, religious symbols, stress, ways to spell Hanukkah, WORRY, worrywart Unrelated announcement: Check out my recent post on Home Goes Strong: 12 Unique & Jazzy Gifts For Everyone on Your List. Call me a curmudgeon, but so many things about restaurants irk me. Noise. I’m not likely to even patronize an esablishment that vibrates with double-digit decibels. Okay, the alliterative appeal forced me to exaggerate. . . . → Read More: RESTAURANT RANT December 11th, 2010 11 comments CASEY, HEALTH AND SAFETY, HOME, MR. RIGHT/WRONG, RUMINATIONS angst, annoying customers in restaurants, ANXIETY, bad service in restaurants, germs in restaurants, going out to dinner, noisy restaurants, overbearing waiters, restaurant complaints, restaurants, salty restaurant food, sampling wine in restaurants, stress, WORRY, worrywart It all began with a tweet from MaMoosie, even though it originally began 50 years ago with a French kiss lesson. During one of my maladaptive, obsessive, neurotic checkings of Twitter messages, I see this retweet from one of my followers “MaMoosie” who knows I’m a writer: “’Writing is easy. All . . . → Read More: TWITTER REUNITES WORRYWART WITH OLD FRIEND December 6th, 2010 6 comments BLOGGING, MR. RIGHT/WRONG, RUMINATIONS, WIRED TO WORRY, WISHES advice to writers, AdviceToWriters, angst, ANXIETY, BLOGGING, Dick Cavett, first boyfriend, French kissing, getting organized, Jon Winokur, name to use when signing email, names, nicknames, ninth grade power couple, number of Twitter followers, obsessive checking Twitter, stress, Twitter, WORRY, worrywart, writers' quotes, writing life Unlike me, my friend Eleanor never worries about the dark or anything else; she’s more evolved than I am. All my fears and worries I blame on my inner cavewoman, who is constantly on the lookout for danger. Fear of darkness (myctophobia) made sense 200,000 years before Thomas Edison came on the scene. But . . . → Read More: MY INNER CAVEWOMAN December 3rd, 2010 Leave a comment HEALTH AND SAFETY, HOME, RUMINATIONS, WIRED TO WORRY ADD, ANXIETY, caveman instincts, fear of the dark, stress, terrorism, terrorists, WORRY, worrywart Unrelated announcement: Zhuzh up hot chocolate with a candy cane stirrer and other Breakfast Ideas to Wow a Couple or a Crowd. See my article on Home Goes Strong. I’ll be flying on the day after Thanksgiving and I’m dying to try a pat down. But I’ll not do it if the lines are . . . → Read More: THINGS I OVERLOOK IN ORDER TO FLY FOR INSTANCE WHERE TO SIT ON A PLANE November 24th, 2010 One comment HEALTH AND SAFETY, RUMINATIONS, TIPS, travel airline security, airplane seats, ANXIETY, Bedbugs, bedbugs on planes, best place to sit on an airplane, food when traveling, hedonism, hedonistic worrywart, hot chocolate, lavender as repellant to bedbugs, pat downs at airport, radiation on planes, stress, WORRY, worrywart Shortly after my divorce I signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon and at first paired off to train with a divorced and widowed man named Charlie, who told me he found divorcing his wife harder than losing his other wife to death, because he had to continue dealing with the one he’d divorced. . . . → Read More: INTERNET DATING AND DEVOTED DAD November 21st, 2010 3 comments CASEY, DIVORCE, FAMILY, HOME, MR. RIGHT/WRONG, RELIGION ANXIETY, blended families, dating after divorce, fave, Internet dating, Jdate, jdate rejection, lying about your age, lying about your age on Internet dating profiles, single dads, single moms, stress, WORRY, worrywart Last week, in the writing group I facilitate for homeless people, I suggested a pre-Thanksgiving exercise that got me thinking. Instead of the grade-school-type assignment of writing what you’re thankful for I suggested we come up with some things we are not thankful for and see if we can find bright spots in those, the . . . → Read More: GIVING THANKS FOR SILVER LININGS OF DIVORCE November 18th, 2010 4 comments BIKING, BLOGGING, CASEY, DIVORCE, FAMILY, HOME, MR. RIGHT/WRONG, TIPS ANXIETY, attracting men, comfortable clothing, cosmetic surgery, cultivating friendships, diet tip, DIVORCE, divorce dating, divorced dinners, evenings alone, ex-boyfriends, family vacations for divorced families, fave, getting on people's nerves, giving thanks, holidays for divorced families, home alone, homeless, listening to NPR, marriage, mom jeans, morning routine, nighttime routine, quiet home, reading the newspaper, sex, sharing your bed, silver linings, sleeping with dog, stress, Thanksgiving, traveling husbands, walking with friends, WORRY, worrywart, writing, writing exercises Though I have a fear of catching “other people’s worries,” I don’t worry about getting infected by my friend Baxter; each of us independently has come up with the same things to worry about. While gabbing over cappuccinos the other day, she mentioned fear of forgetting people’s names. This is an example of . . . → Read More: A BOYFRIEND MEMORY & FORGETTING NAMES November 2nd, 2010 7 comments DIVORCE, HOME, MR. RIGHT/WRONG, travel ANXIETY, becoming a stockbroker, boyfriend woes, boyfriends, breaking up, cold feet, cross country skiing, family heirlooms, fave, fear of forgetting names, fear of marriage, forgetting names, grandmother's rocking chair, hatcheck girl, introducing people, living in Vermont, loneliness, moving, organizing closets, organizing refrigerator food, other people's fears, soulmates, stress, talking backwards, Vermont, Volkswagen, VW, WORRY, worrywart Right now I’m overwhelmed. My 12-year-old Casey has been in pain for more than a week and after 2 vet visits and 2 xrays we still don’t know what is wrong, except that the pain seems to be coming from his neck. The rest are White Girl Worries. My mind can never rest, because I’m always . . . → Read More: KEEPING BUSY, WORRY CURE OR WORRY CURSE? October 28th, 2010 5 comments BLOGGING, CASEY, HOME, RUMINATIONS, TIPS ANXIETY, being busy, BLOGGING, keeping busy, sick dog, stress, white girl worries, WORRY, worry tips, worrywart I’m one of those people who needs to keep everything in sight in sight (not a typo). I spread papers out on my desk, lest I forget something is there. Inevitably new layers of fear-of-being-forgotten items appear and cover the old ones, which then get forgotten. This goes on till infinity. Similarly, the kitchen . . . → Read More: MESS ON THE KITCHEN TABLE TIP DAY Unrelated announcement: See my new post on Home Goes Strong, “Chinese Peasant Paintings: Colorful, Lively Depictions of Everyday Life.” When it comes to my to-do list, there’s overwhelming potential for worry. The precursor to my to-do list was the calendar I used in high school. Mainly I wrote what I wore each . . . → Read More: EVOLUTION OF A TO-DO LIST October 14th, 2010 6 comments RUMINATIONS, TIPS ADD, Add coach, ANXIETY, birth order, calendars, cognitive therapy, day planners, filing to-do lists, franklin day planner, macbook calendar, memoir material, obsessing, planner pads, PostIts, stickies, stress, throwing away to-do list, to do lists, week-at-a-glance, WORRY, worrywart Unrelated announcement: Show Your Mojo With Coffee Table Books, my latest post on Home Goes Strong. I wonder whether anyone else avoids using favorite things. As far back as high school, I remember saving my blue Villager blouse for special occasions. Now that I’ve lived several more decades, there are so many more favorite things . . . → Read More: AVOIDING MY FAVORITE THINGS October 11th, 2010 3 comments FAMILY, MR. RIGHT/WRONG, RUMINATIONS ANXIETY, breaking favorite dishes, breaking favorite glasses, favorite things, fear of loss, Janis Joplin, leaving things in planes, leaving things in theaters, losing favorite things, losing sweaters, losing umbrellas, saving favorite things, stress, Villager label, WORRY, worrywart I’ve always worried about time running out, and after starting my blog, I knew it was only a matter of time, so to speak, before I would write about, um, time. Once I knew I’d be yammering on these pages about this t-word, naturally I began noticing, even more than usual, how much I fiddle . . . → Read More: TIME, TARRYING AND TYPOS October 8th, 2010 5 comments BLOGGING, RUMINATIONS ANXIETY, BLOGGING, capitalizing in emails, cell phone typos correcting typos, lower case emails, stress, time, typos, wasting time, WORRY, worrywart If my daughter says she has to pee, then I have to pee too. And whenever I go to restaurants, I get food envy. No matter what, the other person’s order looks better than mine. Wouldn’t it be great if, similarly, when someone says, “I never worry,” I were to say to myself Oh yeah, . . . → Read More: THE POWER OF SUGGESTION October 6th, 2010 Leave a comment FAMILY, RUMINATIONS ANXIETY, food envy, pee envy, power of suggestion, stress, unworried envy, WORRY, worrywart
I. What to do if I encounter a bear II. What the difference is between biological and chemical terrorist attacks
*All I remember is for one you go upstairs and for the other you go downstairs III. Less worrisome is that I can never . . . → Read More: THINGS I CAN’T REMEMBER When I was in my twenties, I read a book (it may have been Looking for Mr. Goodbar) in which an overweight single woman discovers that the dietetic milkshakes she has been consuming daily for months are not dietetic at all abut are packed with like 1021 calories each. (I may have some . . . → Read More: ORGANIC SHMORGANIC October 2nd, 2010 4 comments HEALTH AND SAFETY, RUMINATIONS ANXIETY, Looking for Mr. Goodbar, organic hoax, organic strawberries, strawberries, stress, WORRY, worrywart Unrelated announcement: Check out my new post “Delight Your Guests With my Mom’s Party Games” on Home Goes Strong. Check out my serious post with tons of bedbug 411, Find, Prevent & Deal With Bedbugs, on Home Goes Strong. On the Top Ten of my Hit Parade of Worries is bedbugs. Like Eat, Pray, Love . . . → Read More: BEDBUG PREVENTION INVENTION September 25th, 2010 9 comments HEALTH AND SAFETY, THINGS I WORRY ABOUT, TIPS, travel ANXIETY, bedbug eradication, bedbug prevention, Bedbugs, sources of bedbugs, stress, WORRY, worrywart When, in the middle of my growing up years, I went to typing school, they taught me to type two spaces after periods, colons and semi-colons. So that’s what I always did, until very recently, when I began writing 2 articles a week for Home Goes Strong, where my editor asked me to use only . . . → Read More: ONE SPACE OR TWO? September 13th, 2010 25 comments BLOGGING, RUMINATIONS ANXIETY, BLOGGING, brain chatter, double spacing, fave, saving time, single spacing, spacing after a period, time, typing, wasting time, WORRY, worrywart Unrelated announcement: See my latest article on Home Goes Strong, “Renovation Basics, What You Should Know Before You Remodel.” I was not looking for trouble. As you may know, my riskiest activity is bicycling and I do so with great caution, riding on sidewalks, wearing a helmet, using a Velcro travel mirror on rental bikes, . . . → Read More: SPEAKING OF SCARY TRAVEL STORIES September 10th, 2010 2 comments BIKING, HEALTH AND SAFETY, THINGS I WORRY ABOUT, travel ANXIETY, BIKING, chemical spray, coyotes, drunk drivers, foxes, Niagara-on-the-Lake, scary travel, stress, ticks, travel, vineyards, WORRY, worrywart Unrelated announcement: Check out my new post, Are You Prepared if a Tree Falls on Your House? on Home Goes Strong. When I travel, and even when I don’t, I’m both a schlepper and a non-schlepper. It’s in the worrywart’s nature to schlep. For example, I take seven pens in case six run out of . . . → Read More: SCHLEPPING, FOOD AND SCHLEPPING FOOD September 7th, 2010 3 comments RUMINATIONS, THINGS I WORRY ABOUT, travel airport food, ANXIETY, Bedbugs, being hungry, checking luggage, chopped liver, fear of hunger, food bag, non-schlepper, packing, patience, schlepping, stress, train food, travel, travel anxiety, travel food, travel food list, WORRY, worrywart This afternoon I knew my taxi would arrive in ten minutes to take me to the train for a few days in New York. I always worry about being late for the train, late for the taxi, late for whatever. And, I worry that my regular taxi driver won’t show up or will come late as has . . . → Read More: DOUBLE TIPS DAY September 4th, 2010 Leave a comment DIVORCE, HEALTH AND SAFETY, TIPS ANXIETY, fast shampoo, fast shower, flossing, flossing two teeth at a time, lateness, shampoo, taxi, timesaving tips, WORRY, worrywart As a kid at the Jersey shore, on days of ocean calm, I would float over the occasional ripple with my dad, his hands folded behind his head and his tan, slender, feet parallel and pointing skyward. “Ahh, this is worth a million bucks,” he’d say and now I know he was right about those . . . → Read More: RIPTIDE EARL AND OCEAN MEMORIES September 3rd, 2010 Leave a comment FAMILY, HEALTH AND SAFETY, TIPS, travel ANXIETY, beach, childhood memories, contractions, fear, fear of ocean, getting my face wet, hurricanes, ocean memories, pitocin, recurrent dreams, riding waves, riptide precautions, riptide risks, riptides, sea, stress, summer memories, tidal wave dreams, tidal waves, WORRY, worrywart Oh dear, I’m afraid I was terribly insensitive in my previous blog post, Worry Orgasm, which was about how worried I became when a train I was scheduled to take became delayed due to someone jumping in front of it at a previous stop. A friend, generally a supportive fan, wrote to say that she . . . → Read More: “WORRY ORGASM” REGRETS September 1st, 2010 One comment BLOGGING, HEALTH AND SAFETY, travel ANXIETY, apology, BLOGGING, friends, insensitivity, stress, suicide, taboo, train delays, train suicide, trains, trivializing, WORRY, worrywart |
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