Blog - Page 21 of 35 - MJ Pullen, Author

Darkness and Light: The Suicide Blog

posted on 01/16/2013

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My mother, who died in 2001, would have been 65 years old this past Sunday. I say died because that’s what happened to her. She didn’t ‘pass away’ as people are so fond of saying, as when an elderly person drifts off to peaceful sleep and simply doesn’t awaken. Most people in my life know […]

November Lessons

posted on 12/03/2012

November was a wild month at M.J.’s playhouse, and I’m still playing catch-up, so this month’s lessons will be short and sweet: 1. When you’re faced with doing unpleasant ‘business’ involving close friends or family, sometimes the less said, the better. Stick to the facts and give everyone space to process emotionality elsewhere (maybe not […]

Do Me a Favor: If You See Me at the Playground, Treat Me Like a Man

posted on 11/14/2012

Last night the hubs and I cashed in a date night and went to the MJCCA book festival ‘parenting edition’ with Dan Zevin and two of the four Sh*tty Moms. It was a fun evening, commiserating about the challenges of parenting young children in funny and irreverent ways. With two children in a Jewish preschool, […]

My Preschooler vs. The Costco Happiness Mandate

posted on 10/29/2012

Once a month or so, I go with my family to that Mecca of Consumerist Culture, Costco. It’s probably not cool to say so, but I love this ritual. Usually we’re stocking up on staples like paper towels, milk and diapers; but it’s also a specific type of quality family time. While we’re getting our […]

Fat Girl’s Halloween Oath

posted on 10/29/2012

My Little Pumpkins: So delicious they’re a little concerned Mommy will eat them. I love Halloween. It’s an enchanted time, when people temporarily cast aside social propriety, modest clothing and resistance to the supernatural. It’s a time to embrace one’s inner witch or warlock, feline familiar, or slutty cab driver. Time to go nuts with […]

Pirate Talk, My Dad’s Birthday and How I’m Not Special

posted on 09/19/2012

Aaargh! Thanks for droppin’ anchor at me swashbucklin’ blog, matie! Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day! I always thought it was funny that International Talk Like a Pirate Day fell on my father’s birthday. He never saw the humor in it, but if you knew my Dad, you know that overt silliness wasn’t really his […]

Mom, There’s a Hooker in My Room (Things I Learned in August)

posted on 09/02/2012

Here’s my top 5 from the month of August: 1. A couple of weeks ago, Monkey came running downstairs. “Mom there’s a hooker in my room!” After a sidelong glance at his father, and a little investigation, we figured out he was talking about a clothes hanger on the floor. Bill Crosby was right, kids […]

Monday’s Blog and a Couple of Birthday Pictures

posted on 08/27/2012

Happy Monday, friends! First and foremost, as always, I want to send out big thanks to everyone for helping make all the recent promotions such a huge success. I am also incredibly appreciative for all the Facebook posts, emails and other messages letting me know how much you guys are enjoying Regrets Only (and for […]

My Freakout, Your Free Reads

posted on 08/13/2012

So, here’s the deal. After a restful week of visiting friends, working around the house and doing my best to piss off the literati establishment, it’s back-to-school time here in lovely Marietta, Georgia. Since we also just voted to have Sunday alcohol sales (in the afternoon only – no drinking in church), parents in these […]

5 Things I Learned in July 2012

posted on 08/01/2012

Whoever said you learn something new every day obviously already knew a good bit more than I did to begin with. I’m finding the older I get, I realize the less I know, and I learn an average of about 400 things a day, usually in some comically painful manner. Some of these things are […]