My people (the Mariqueños – from a city called Marikina, which happens to be my beloved hometown) are notorious for their sweet tooth. We love and require desserts, add raisins to everything (done by Boomers and older, tolerated by GenX, revolted against by Millennials and younger), and we season with brown sugar. But an articleContinue reading “The Saga of the Cinnamon Rolls”
Author Archives: ivythissmalllife
Freeze Dried Craze
What strategies do you use to maintain your health and well-being? It’s not about maintenance right now. There’s a whole lot to improve. Even if my most recent tests showed that I was in okay health (my pee did say I could drink more water, and my cholesterol levels are on the higher side, butContinue reading “Freeze Dried Craze”
Bookish Destinations
What are your future travel plans? My husband had initially been talking about going to one of the best beaches in the world for our 20th wedding anniversary. While I can roll with that, I’m not as keen on a beach holiday as I was when I was younger. It could be the hot flashes,Continue reading “Bookish Destinations”
A Little Bit of (Crawfish) Monica in My Life
What foods would you like to make? The thing about books and myself is that, from my tween years (back when “tween” wasn’t in anyone’s vocabulary) I’d formed a (possibly unhealthy) habit of partnering reading time with snack time. I read books every day, but nothing beat the joy of Friday afternoon reading. On Fridays,Continue reading “A Little Bit of (Crawfish) Monica in My Life”
Cat Lady Post: Mid-level Cat Lady with Some Seniority
Dogs or cats? It’s not that I don’t like dogs. In fact, I love them. I wouldn’t mind taking care of one or two. I want all the dogs in the world to be happy, taken good care of, and know that they’re safe and loved. Cats are different though. I’ve always wanted a catContinue reading “Cat Lady Post: Mid-level Cat Lady with Some Seniority”
In the Garden: Prickly Pear Predicament
I’m on the warpath because some beast or human broke my prickly pear cactus! I had grown it from a single pad that I had snapped off somebody’s plant (with her permission). I don’t usually actively acquire cacti and succulents unless they’re virtually free. I am fascinated by cacti, however. I think it started withContinue reading “In the Garden: Prickly Pear Predicament”
The DNF Option – Do You Take It?
There was a time when I suffered through boring storylines, repulsive characters, predictable twists, and cheesy, cliché writing for the sole reason that I had to see something I had started through to the end. I was young, healthy, and childless. It was nothing to waste an hour or two plodding through an inferior novelContinue reading “The DNF Option – Do You Take It?”
Little Hopes and Big Hopes
What are you most excited about for the future? When first accosted (because I somehow felt both affronted and burdened) by this query, my natural negative tendencies immediately took over. Concerns about autism, expenses, inflation, and even wars entered my mind. Being an instinctive worrywart and over-thinker, I suppose I do have a natural DebbieContinue reading “Little Hopes and Big Hopes”
Eclectic with a Large Dollop of Bangtan
What is your favorite genre of music? My taste in music has always been a mixed bag. As a child growing up in the ‘80s, I preferred the music of the ‘60s and the ‘70s. New Wave was okay, but I’ve always just had a hankering for nostalgia even when I was about knee-high toContinue reading “Eclectic with a Large Dollop of Bangtan”
What, Me Worry?
What are you most worried about for the future? Let’s hear it for the GenX folks who grew up on Mad Magazine? How did I get to read a lot of it when I wasn’t even allowed? Shout out to my uncles (my mom’s brothers who were only six and eleven years older than me)Continue reading “What, Me Worry?”
This Small Life 