This weird-ass Covid summer is simultaneously dragging ass and flying by. I couldn’t believe that the last post I wrote was back in May. So much has happened since then that it seems almost a lifetime ago. Granted, 2020 seems to have created a bizarre warp in the fabric of spacetime, but still! Covid stay-at-home orders, the punch-drunk economy, and the protests against police brutality have conspired to keep me in my condo. There had been interested buyers but no one has pulled the trigger yet. Initially I was very anxious to get this place sold and get the hell out of Dodge but the more I th ..read more

Ok, I will immediately know if my readers are Harry Potter fans with that headline. My divorce was finalized a few days ago. The weeks of me doing the work of an attorney and listening to my ex-husband complain about every damn detail of the process are finally over. Even though it was sad to realize that after fifteen years married and over twenty-two years together that we were no longer officially a couple, my overwhelming emotion was just relief. I had come across old journals from earlier in our relationship and saw the stark pattern of his relapses into his addiction behaviors. I saw the ..read more

Between dealing with my impending divorce, work, the chores needed to untangle my life from my soon-to-be-ex’s, getting the condo ready to put on the market, a busy work load, and the stay-at-home order I’ve been living under for the past month and a half – let’s just say I’ve got a lot going on. The burden of the divorce and anything condo-related has fallen on my shoulders. My soon-to-be-ex is a selfish narcissist with addiction issues. And that means that the only things he will concentrate on, devote energy to, are those that he decides are important. So his addiction behaviors, “work” and ..read more

With the implosion of my marriage and the ongoing pandemic ravaging the world right now, I think I can be forgiven for feeling rage, sadness, fear, and anxiety. But right now while I’m trying to deal with an impending divorce, concern for the health of my friends and family, the significant fear of the unknown of what my life is going to be like in a few months, and the incredible isolation that I’ve been living for the last month – all I’m feeling today is numbness. I’m purposely listening to sad songs to make me cry. I’m purposely listening to angry songs to make me rage. I’m purposely li ..read more

These are very strange times we’re living in. The Covid-19 virus is burning through the globe, prompting governments to declare that their citizens must self-quarantine, shelter in place, or otherwise restrict their movements to prevent the spread of the contagion. I have been working from home for over a year now. Open plan offices are not conducive for me to concentrate and being an introvert, I’ve discovered that I am much more balanced at the end of the day when I’m not confronted for 8+ hours with extroversion on a massive scale. So I am already comfortable being alone during the work ..read more

This year is not turning out the way any of us wanted. The Covid-19 pandemic has turned the world upside down. There is the very human loss of life, which is agonizing for the families and friends of the thousands who died. There is the loss of personal freedom of movement as millions are under strict restrictions that prohibit gathering with friends and loved ones, even for such milestones as weddings and funerals. There is the loss of financial stability for millions who can no longer earn their livelihood in these uncertain times. So what I’m saying is that I realize that I’m fortunate ..read more

After our way-too-early drop off at the Leonardo DiVinci Airport in Rome, we flew from Rome to Brussels on Brussels Airways. Despite the plane being a quarter-full, our row ended up with me, my husband, and some rando dude all squished into one row, and somehow I ended up in the middle seat. I politely asked the flight attendant if I could move to one of the myriad empty row before takeoff and she quickly agreed. I hopped up one row and had poorman’s business class – an economy row all to myself. That is until the kid behind my husband kept kicking his seat and snagged the aisle seat in my onc ..read more

After we dropped off our rental car at the Leonardo DiVinci Airport, we hopped on a train to reach our lodging in Rome. Because my hubby was the one booking the accommodation, I wasn’t the one responsible for getting us from the train station to the front door. So naturally, we ended up walking in a massive circle dragging our suitcases behind us because my husband apparently made us walk the driving directions instead of the much shorter walking directions. Ahem… I was crabby because not only was I hungry and feeling the first symptoms of the head cold he so graciously shared with me, but ..read more

After spending an afternoon checking out Siena, we hopped into the rental car and headed south on SR2. The road cuts through the increasingly rugged terrain. Whereas northern Tuscany is gently rolling hills, southern Tuscany gets more wild. After about 45 minutes on SR2, we took a few roundabout exits underneath the hilltop town of Montalcino, eventually ending up on SP55. I will say this right now, if you’re prone to carsickness and you’re not driving, you may want to take a dramamine. Even though we were in our underpowered Fiat 500, the road twisted so much that my husband had to drive like ..read more

After our stay in Florence, it was time to check out some more bucolic Italian environs. We slogged our way through driving rain back to the tram and rode to the Florence airport to pick up our rental car. As usual, we finally got into our car only to discover that although we paid for “in-car WiFi”, the car rental agency was like, “we don’t offer that”. In exchange, they gave us a GPS unit that was only Italian-language and I was mystified on how to actually program it for our destination rather than the car rental offices in Rome. Finally I gave up and just used Google Maps on my phone ..read more