Saturday movie review: 'Enough Said'

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I love that movies in which characters face — and struggle with — an empty nest are becoming more and more popular of late. I've been there, know how difficult it can be. So such movies resonate deeply with me and make me more full appreciate that I've made it through the initial challenges of accepting the change and loss and embrace (for the most part) the opportunities and delights of this phase of life.

Enough Said

Which is why, even though I'm not a middle-aged divorcee in search of...

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Our first family computer, 1994

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Throw Back Thursday

It was 1994 — nearly 20 years ago — that Jim managed to land a used computer from work, one to bring home for the family to marvel over and use on a daily basis.

Andrea plays solitaire like a modern girl, Sept. 1994We felt so modern, so plugged in — literally plugged in, with a dial-up modem and all. And oh, the options! We had not only the ability to use 5-1/4-inch floppy disks, our high-tech hand-me-down featured the more up-to-date drive for the not-quite-as-floppy 3-1/2-inch disks, too.

At the start we could access only the public library. Even then, though — months before we signed up for Prodigy — the FTP access to more information than I ever imagined possible absolutely blew. my. mind.

No more Smith Corona word processor for me. I had a computer!

Today's question:

When did you get your first computer and what was your first Internet service?

Saturday movie review: 'Love Is All You Need'

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Valentine's Day weekend begs for a romantic comedy to watch, and LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED perfectly fits the bill for us middle-aged movie lovers. Actually, I think it fits the bill for all adult movie lovers, middle-aged or not, who crave an uplifting story about heartbroken people still hoping to find love and happiness.

 Love Is All You Need movie

LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED is a delightful bilingual film — Danish and English, with subtitles for...

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This is what 100 looks like

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Bubby's kindergarten class recently had its 100th Day Celebration. Under the direction of their fabulously creative teacher — otherwise known as Bubby's mom and my daughter — my eldest grandson and his classmates marked the 100th day of school by attending class dressed as "oldies" (perhaps because they were no longer newbies) and sharing items that represented 100 to them.

I'm not sure what items Bubby shared, but my grandson proved...

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I can keep a secret, plus four more things I learned this week

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It's been a week of highs, of lows, of lessons learned. Here are those lessons, in no particular order:

telling a secretI can keep a secret better than anyone else in one particular group I'm a member of. I'm in a group that has a secret. It's a good secret. And I am the only one in the group who has not told anyone else even though we all agreed to keep it a secret. Which surprises me because though I typically have good intentions about keeping good secrets — bad secrets and...

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Wherein I share a sibling sandwich and grandchildren that aren't mine

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I didn't get to spend time with my grandsons or their parents on Thanksgiving. The miles are just too difficult (and expensive) for either of us to traverse at this time.

Making up a smidgen for not getting to see the parts of my heart that live in the desert was getting to share a warm and cozy (and filling) day at my place with many of my mountain-based family members, immediate and extended. That included two of my six siblings — my oldest (Jeff) and my youngest (Susan).

Forget the turkey and taters, this was the sibling sandwich of the day:

siblings on Thanksgiving 

I don't believe we have ever...

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