Tag Archives: 2020

Aaaand: Christmas!

Posted on December 25, 2020 by PB Rippey

Countdown over! A certain teen is happy about this. The cats could care less.The dog just wants to be loved and wants us to pretend he is tiny enoughto fit in our laps. Not. May your days be merry and … Continue reading →

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Christmas Countdown (w/Cats)

Posted on December 24, 2020 by PB Rippey

1 day to Christmas! All is calm and super bright. The kits watch for birds and sunning lizards. 80+ degrees the other day, extra dry as we experience our Christmas La Nina. Wishing for rain this winter–we could use it! … Continue reading →

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Christmas Countdown (w/Cats)

Posted on December 23, 2020 by PB Rippey

Two! Christmas miracles are real (see previous post)!Celebrating our 14th wedding anniversary today by ordering take-out dinner from locally owned Wolf Creek.Don’t forget to look at Jupiter & Saturn!Joyeux Noel!

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Christmas Countdown (w/Cats)

Posted on December 22, 2020 by PB Rippey

Three! Digory doesn’t like company under the tree. It is his tree, his alone. Shadow, however, doesn’t care. Joyeux Noel!

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Christmas Countdown (w/Cats)

Posted on December 21, 2020 by PB Rippey

Four! Digs thinks he’s invisible when he’s under the tree. The second it’s up and decorated and the lights are on, he heads to his favorite spot. We’ll see him again next year.Joyeux Noel!

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Christmas Countdown (w/Cats)

Posted on December 20, 2020 by PB Rippey

Five! If there ever was a Christmas Princess, it’s Mittens. And yet–her perfection is not limited to Christmas, spanning simply every holiday–obviously. You might be amazed, though, when you see her ‘play’ sparring with her brother, Shadow. She makes his … Continue reading →

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Christmas Countdown (w/Cats)

Posted on December 19, 2020 by PB Rippey

SIX (see below)! Days 12, 11, 10, 9, 8 and 7 are missing as I was too busy for this idea to light up my brain. Better late than never? Because: CATSJoyeux Noel!

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Writing & Covid

Posted on December 7, 2020 by PB Rippey

Pulling a Trumbo.

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Note-to-Self (Pandemic Edition)

Posted on December 1, 2020 by PB Rippey
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TG Countdown

Posted on November 25, 2020 by PB Rippey
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Memoir

Posted on November 23, 2020 by PB Rippey

Years ago, the Santa Barbara Independent published an essay of mine titled ‘When Reagan Came To Town’, in which I ratted out my mother’s dysfunctional/anger-riddled/bullying (all this despite being a pot-head) live-in lover for calling the police from our kitchen … Continue reading →

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Relief Is Palpable (BIDEN/HARRIS2020 WIN EDITION)

Posted on November 9, 2020 by PB Rippey

“Dogs and cats living together!”–Ghostbusters

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Debate Night Finale

Posted on October 24, 2020 by PB Rippey

This time, you feed your tween at the kitchen table, not in his bedroom, perhaps because it is the last ‘debate’, hopefully the last time a thug will have the opportunity to one-on-one malign a better man in front of … Continue reading →

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A Voter’s Tale

Posted on October 23, 2020 by PB Rippey

Sunday morning, after obsessively researching my local candidates and measures, filling in my mail-in ballot, packing it in its envelope, I turned the envelope over, moistened the seal with a sponge, pressed the seal home, grabbed a pen and: SIGNED … Continue reading →

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Debate: Part 2 (Fly Edition)

Posted on October 14, 2020 by PB Rippey

That you feel total confidence about the evening’s outcome irks you because you know from experience (parties, weddings, Masterpiece Theatre, vacations thwarted by pandemics) that 100% confidence only invites disaster. You zoom to the grocery store for comfort-food ingredients and, … Continue reading →

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BP 148/80 (VOTE EDITION)

Posted on October 5, 2020 by PB Rippey

You make dinner early for your small, by American family standards, family–a guy, your tween-guy you would die for, and you–except you shove your dinner portion into the freezer. And hurry upstairs. HERE! you declare with a carny-smile and bowlful … Continue reading →

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Learning In The Time Of Covid (Coursera Wesleyan U edition)

Posted on September 24, 2020 by PB Rippey

My book-recs arrive from: author-friends; writers I heart on social media; my 3 sisters/avid-readers; always Claire’s recs on WORD BY WORD. Thank you, Claire. You suggest so many writing worlds that shouldn’t, ever, be missed. In this basically word-of-mouth vein, … Continue reading →

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Heat

Posted on August 31, 2020 by PB Rippey

I don’t know about your environs, but ours will be blessed with consecutive days of triple digit heat, again, later this week. It’s helpful for my psyche and staving off writer’s block to remember that last year at this time … Continue reading →

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School Days 2020

Posted on August 27, 2020 by PB Rippey

Bring your pet to school day for my son’s English class. It is this mother’s opinion that my tween’s middle school is rockin’ this distance learning business. #englishteachersrule  

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Doubt (Pub Cheese Edition)

Posted on August 20, 2020 by PB Rippey

I ferried my laptop to the kitchen table and brought up my novel-in-progress. A poppy-orange dawn filtered through window blinds and the coffeemaker hiccupped sighs and I relished being the only human in our house awake, tapping the pg dn … Continue reading →

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It Happens

Posted on July 25, 2020 by PB Rippey

   

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Mask America

Posted on July 22, 2020 by PB Rippey

A couple of days ago I shopped the web for masks, something I swore I wouldn’t do way back in March, right after my son’s school switched to online education, after I’d purchased non-medical grade masks for my family, and … Continue reading →

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100% True Horror (Bad Dolls Edition)

Posted on June 13, 2020 by PB Rippey

Last night it was my turn to choose a movie. As my husband practiced the guitar (his Covid-19 learn-something-new goal) on our front porch, delighting dog-walking neighbors, the last of the day’s sun blessing his face, I spent 45 minutes … Continue reading →

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Black Lives Matter

Posted on June 5, 2020 by PB Rippey

6/5/2020 Last Wednesday rumors circulated via my Next Door app and local FB community pages that Valencia was going to be overrun by thugs from nearby Palmdale intent on looting our stores, destroying our mall, and terrorizing neighborhoods. No one … Continue reading →

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Morning Essentials

Posted on May 15, 2020 by PB Rippey

6:28a.m. 2 minutes until I need to fill the dogs’ bowls with food, walk them, walk myself for 2.43 miles, feed the tween (I like doing this), review his academic schedule from Google Classroom (Just make a list! But Mom. … Continue reading →

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