Do you know anyone who deals with change well? I don't think that person is me.
I started sharing my essays as I was coping with uprooting my life and moving to another part of the country, re-entering the workforce after a brief hiatus from professional life to really random things. The outlet provides a way of sharing humorous, exasperating and often ridiculous stories, from the mundane to the obscure. The title of the blog, Unfinished For Now seems completely appropriate, as I am not done with anything.
My essays are well received, appearing on Scary Mommy, LinkedIn, Newsweek and Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PANCAN) delighting readers all over the world with heartfelt realism and humor. My hope is that the stories will resonate and take you to some far away place, even for a few minutes.
Thank you for reading.
In order to write about life first you must live it.
Meet me at the Diner When I think of New York and the North East Corridor, I fondly think of Diners – the restaurants that are open 24 hours, with a menu that reads like a novel and can take a week reading it from cover to cover. The menus are also larger in size and width than most menus, that have that protective plastic layer, and is spiral bound. Diners are the only place I can think of that can offer you scrambled eggs with home fries, toast, unlimited coffee, or a Vea
Thanksgiving has always one of my favorite holidays, partly because there were no religious implications and secondly it’s a time when families get together and just eat really good food. For almost a decade, my husband and I hosted our family by default. It was my parent’s holiday. For over 40 years they hosted Thanksgiving. I used to love having everyone come over to our house as a kid. I would watch my mother prepare and enjoy the smells of the day and when the meal was o
On the Right Track My days of being a professional interviewee are over. Since moving to North Carolina, I’ve haven’t worked, and the transition hasn’t been easy. One would think that since I had all the time in the world, I would be much more productive than I’ve been. That happens they say, when you suddenly stop what you’ve been doing – you lose that momentum and that is what I did the minute I said my farewell to my last job. I tried to find humorous things about my jo
Art of Language – Body and Mouth Living anywhere in the United States basically affords you the ability to speak the same language and mean the same thing regardless of where you are, right? English is the spoken language, and we assume that most people have a good command of it. However, I have found that there are vast differences in language both body and the spoken word from region to region, state to state, or even within a state. I didn’t believe it until I moved fr
When did I become a Ma’am? Aging sucks, there is no getting around it but the alternative is worse. I try to age gracefully by being on the never ending diet, exercising until I need surgeries (another story), or hiding my grey. This process takes work and is by no means easy. Sometimes, when I look in the mirror, I can still see that self conscious teenager with frizzy curly hair, with no clue on how to tame it, yet, the tiny creases around my eyes and forehead tell me ot
A cream cheese worth the risk? Why is it I always go back to food? My tastes are really not all that refined and pretty generic. However, once you have a taste where nothing else compares, I question if it is worth the risk of going to the ends of the earth to satisfy that taste bud. I traveled back to NY this past week for spring break. While I was there, I visited with friends and family, went to NYC for a touristy kind of day and felt as if I had finally to come to ter
A Tale of My Two Cities I am living a double life – I’ll admit that. My life revolves around two locations, Raleigh, NC and Huntington, NY and am teetering tenuously between the two. I really love one, painfully so, and attempting to love another and find I am caught in the middle. How can I love one place down to the bone and not feel a sense of guilt for learning to love the other? Huntington is part of my heart and soul yet, Raleigh, is now where I reside. Still no
Separated By Miles – A Sister from Another Mister (& Misses) Putting it out there to meet new people -from fitting into to a new community or group of friends while trying to re-establish your identity when you are not sure of who or where you are anymore has its challenges. When I first arrived in Raleigh, I really didn’t know where to start. I had thought that people would be knocking at my door and inviting me over for sweet tea but that didn’t happen immediately. I sup
A Fashion Misfit Finding the right article of clothing has always been a challenge – from head to toe – and now that I am in North Carolina, I am certain I am becoming a fashion misfit. At least when I was in New York, my fashion forward sister would always correct my lack of fashion knowledge and point me in the right direction “you’re not going to wear that, are you?”, or“what were you thinking?” I have long held the belief, if it fits, I’ll wear it until my sister scold
Is Premio Primo? This is a question I often ask myself when I have the time. In the world of sausages, I personally think Premio takes the cake, I mean sauce. Premio sweet sausages are a mainstay in supermarkets across the northeast but once you move south, there are none to be found. When you contemplate moving to another state, weighing all the pros and cons, certain food availabilities are never factored into the equation. I never really thought much of sausages before
Finding Sadie – The Power of Puppy Love I never fancied myself as a pocketbook dog lady but here I am, sporting the hot pink carry bag that has my 3.5 pound puppy inside. All I need now is matching rhinestones on her collar and leash and I will be that stereotypical person carrying this puppy-person around wherever I go. I really didn’t think we would go through with getting a puppy, but having her in the house, reality has set in. Her chirp/bark echoed throughout our hous
Connecting the Dots People try to make connections in every way possible – following instructions, matching checks drawn to those not cashed on your account, playing games, looking for landmarks when navigating an unfamiliar location and yes, meeting new people. The last I think, is the hardest for some and for others, it’s effortless. When I first went off to college and then in my early 20s, I broke out of my shell and made the effort to meet new people. In college, then
Starting Over – The Bad, The Ugly and Just a Little Good I never thought I had it in me to start over – to pick up my life and move somewhere else. It sounds like a divorce and it is – I was divorcing my life as I knew it. After uprooting my life 2 months ago, I frequently ask myself, what the hell did I do?! Sometimes I wake up hoping that this was just one of those weird dreams that leave you feeling as if you experienced it but on some cognitive level you know you will