The holidays in my family are very diverse . Our custom is to celebrate Christmas every year as a religious observance, complete with Advent wreathes and Midnight Mass. Most of my in-laws observe Christmas purely as a secular holiday, with the focus...
Every year, I tell myself that I won't procrastinate in doing my holiday shopping. And, every year, I end up with a shopping list as long as your arm and about 24 hours to get it all done. Waiting until the last minute means that I have to brave the...
I just finished a huge project at work and I needed some down time. I decided to take a short vacation. I liked the idea of a long weekend out of town. My friend Sara offered to let me crash at her place in San Francisco, but I decided to stay at a h...
I had lunch today with my friend Sam. She recently quit her job with a large company to strike out on her own. She has always been an entrepreneur in small ways, but she decided to start her own business. The start- up she launched provided technolog...
I walked into the coffee room and saw that Brad was writing something on a piece of paper. When he saw me come in, he slipped the note out of sight. Trisha: Hey, what's up? Brad: Oh, nothing. Trisha: What were you writing? Brad: (Laugh) All right. Yo...
I went to the dentist to get a check-up and cleaning. I showed up at the dentist's office a few minutes before 10. I gave the receptionist my name and told her that I had a 10 a.m. appointment. She said that the doctor was running a little late and t...
I got my first part-time job when I was 15 working at a car wash in the summertime. A friend of mine, Rob, worked there and got me the job. I think it paid $2.90 an hour, which I considered a fortune . There were no allowances in my family, so most o...
I was getting into my car at the mall when I noticed a man standing nearby with a map. He looked confused and I asked him if I could help. He looked up and was clearly relieved. He was from Houston, Texas, he told me, and he was visiting his daughter...
A bunch of my old college friends came into town for a few days and we went out last night bar hopping until closing time. We started around 9 p.m. and were on our third bar when we closed it down. Some of us were starving and the rest of us were pec...
Last week, I was at a business luncheon and I met a woman named Dana Okri who was heading a new start up. I have been a sales rep for Eureka Corp. for three years now and our bread and butter is data management software . I told her briefly about our...