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- 2026
- Aunt Tee falls and I become her power of attorney. Rehome her to assisted living and slowly cleaning out her house to put on the market. Jimmy in school play, Prince Charming’s Steward #2! Visited DC with family.
- 2025
- Jim accompanies to a speaking engagement and sells books in the back of the room, just like his grandpop wanted to do. Aunt Helen passes. My father’s siblings are all dead. Work on Jimmy’s Science Fair project about jet fins. Visited Mohican Castle near Cleveland for a wedding. Gettysburg. Jimmy accompanies me to NYC and we appear on the NASDAQ jumbotron on Times Square. Ed revamps our bedroom, purple walls make me happy. Camp NAC FARM for Jim. Rod Stewart concert for me. Fight Wastewater Treatment Plant (and win). Pittsburg for a family wedding. Jim Thorpe with the boys. Toured coal mines and a company town and got a feel for how my father’s father lived and died. San Genaro Festival, finally (but left Jed with Lisa at home) Pat Benetar and Bryan Adams. Mom admitted to hospital. Heart failure. But she continues to continue on. Had an amazing Christmas party. Brought in Carolers to serenade us. Santa came and gave out presents to the kids and coal to the adults. I made sure that we had coal for Cousin David. He sat on Santa’s lap and beamed. 2 weeks later he dropped dead at 59. Got Jim voice lessons so he could get a part in the school play.
- 2024
- Ed celebrates his birthday on live TV at the Today Show for a segment on Leap Year babies. Jed officially diagnosed autistic, officially ADHD, and mild ID. The ID is what breaks my heart. Fight Chick Fil A (and win). Meghan gives birth to Connor, making Eddie and I grandparents. Sat outside to watch the eclipse. Ed sends Lisa and I to Cape May where we spend an entire day at a bar waiting for and rewinding after the Kentucky Derby. Jim spends a year on a New Hampshire State school project. I take Mom to her student’s 50th High School reunion. Tour Valley Forge. Cousin Sharon’s husband Rob, passes. Visit but also tour Cleveland and Chicago. Couple days in Wildwood. I turn 50, holy shit. Stevie Nicks concert. Speaking engagements in Scottsdale and Miami.
- 2023
- Speaking engagement in Florida and took the family with me. Disney World. Pirate ship dinner and play. NASA space center. Cocoa Beach. Jed did some Natural Language Acquisition speech therapy. We have the backyard patio replaced with paving stones and a gazebo/pergola. Reminder to future self, don’t hire drug addicted contractors. Ed’s family descends for a huge family reunion. Family baseball game in the backyard. Somehow Jim’s baseball team comes in first. Ed visits Sharon and Rob at the end of his 6 week sabbatical. We then go to Mexico for my professional soccer player cousin’s wedding. Short trip to Ocean City, MD. Another short trip just Ed and I to St Michael’s Inn at Perry’s Cabin. October, Ed heads to Vegas to say goodbye to his dying brother. He comes home and our marriage is back on track.
- 2022
- Put Jed into special education, life skills. Pediatrician put him on Adderall. Language finally started to appear. Ed renovates the basement in record time, just in time to have a birthday party for mom and Aunt Helen. Lisa’s chin, Rocco dies in his sleep. She immediately gets Fernando. A few weeks later, I acquire his litter mate, brother we name Max. Stuff becomes dicey, especially to the end of the year, culminating in a Christmas Eve, that I have since made peace with.
- 2021
- Back in Bucks County. New home. New neighbors. Kept Jed home. Prayed he would start behaving more normal. Prayed he would start talking.
- 2020
- Things started out pretty good. I had a bunch of speaking engagements lined up. The second edition of my book was published. And then in March… BAM! Covid. We hunkered down. Eventually, when it became clear that most politicians were going out and getting haircuts and seeing their loved ones, we decided to loosen our restrictions. The whole extended family went to our beach rental and we realized that we needed to be closer to mom. In August we started looking… and suddenly our house was sold and in October we moved back to PA.
- 2019
- Concentrated on Jed. Horseback riding therapy. Paraprofessional, speech, OT, developmental preschool. Still waiting and trying not to go insane. Spoke at GSK, NBCUniversal, and Wharton. Visited Alexandria, VA with Ed. Took boys to Jim Thorpe, Lancaster, Hershey, Strasburg. Worked on second edition of For Dummies book. Invested in GetUWired assistance. Photoshoot and new speaking website. Got a therapist. Walking almost every day, trainer twice a week.
- 2018
- So far… Raised rates. Took mom to LA, spoke at NBCUniversal, met Andy and Edra. Getting Jed help in adopting speech faster. Boys in preschool/daycare full time. Trying to expand mind, goals, dreams, vision. Hired personal trainer, getting physically fit.
- 2017
- Mom diagnosed with breast cancer. Vacationed at Key West with Eddie. Befriended neighbors down the street. Toured LinkedIn’s HQ. Spoke at Columbia University. Took boys to Disney World.
- 2016
- Mother of two little boys. Wrote a For Dummies book. 20-year college reunion.
- 2015
- Decided to have another baby. Got Jimmy a nanny so I could work full time but still keep him near me.
- 2014
- Sleep deprived. Sold condo. Bought home. Sold Eddie’s place. Got back to work. Business growing and expanding. Enjoying the transition to wife and mother. Watching Jimmy grow.
- 2013
- Met Eddie through eHarmony. Fell in love. Got pregnant. Became engaged. Moved to New Jersey. Got married. Became a stepmom. Gave birth to Jimmy. Became a mom. Published 2nd edition.
- 2012
- Adjusting to life without Dad. Angry at Rob. Dating douche bags. Business growing! Money flooding in. Finally decided it was time to turn things around personally. Toured Europe with Mom, Lisa, and Aunt Helen.
- 2011
- Marriage proposed, ring given, but it wasn’t right. Ring taken back. Dad died. Dumped. Life re-prioritized. 15-year Rosemont reunion. Published book.
- 2010
- Started own business. Began public speaking.
- 2009
- Displaced, searching, reorienting, stretching self, decided to go after dream, also joined LA Fitness and began exercising almost regularly.
- 2008
- Making money but stressed, overworked, tired.
- 2007
- Selling. Stressed. Overworked. Tired. Cocoa put to sleep.
- 2006
- End of tenure with CCC. Displaced. Decided to reinvent myself as true sales professional. Met Robert. Fell in love.
- 2005
- Still traveling but then stopped. Not sure what was going to happen. Change clearly in the air. Bobo acquired.
- 2004
- Traveling to Chicago every week for work. Bought home. Realized independence.
- 2003
- Lily dies. More rejection on eHarmony. Key West trip with Lisa. With 30 rapidly approaching, realization struck that I had to move out of my parents’ house. Started clearing out Nanny and Pop Pop’s house.
- 2002
- Searching for love on Match.com and finding nothing but rejection.
- 2001
- The Heiko fantasy finally ended. Thank goodness. Started Donnaville. Then 9/11 happened.
- 2000
- Worked from Baltimore. Ate tons of crab and shrimp. Hung on.
- 1999
- Started working directly for CCC. Y2K. Told people the sky was falling. Almost started to believe it. Began to blog.
- 1998
- Worked with Dad. Dreamt of Heiko. Was visited by Heiko.
- 1997
- Ran a pretty good business with my Dad. Lots of learning. Went to Germany with the Berlin Bridge Exchange. Met Heiko. Nanny died. Lily came to live with us. Started my first website.
- 1996
- Graduation. Thought I wanted to work in film/television. Attempted to break in. Woke up and decided to work for my Dad. Not as mad as I thought.
- 1995
- Junior year at Rosemont. Met Audra. Began acting. Got online for the first time.
- 1994
- Sophomore at Rosemont. Got my first laptop. Decided to major in Humanities with a concentration in Women’s Studies and an interdisciplinary minor in German Literature. Clearly mad.
- 1993
- Freshman at Rosemont. Away from family for first time. Behaved self and concentrated on my studies. Met Catherine the Red and Suzette.
- 1992
- Went to prom against all odds. High school graduation. Decided to go to Rosemont. Pop Pop died. Sue Ball died.
- 1991
- Eleventh grade. High school. Went to Germany on my own. Mom brought Kiwi home.
- 1990
- Tenth grade. Met Erin. Craziness ensued.
- 1989
- Ninth grade, new school, Boehm. Joined track and chose shot put and discus.
- 1988
- Eighth grade. Did okay. Started to figure out good grades were tied more to attitude and kissing ass than anything else. Started doing better.
- 1987
- Had little circle of friends. Got Cocoa. Granny died.
- 1986
- Sixth grade. Started a new school, Pennwood. Met Vickie, my new best friend. Found the Monkees. My cat Whiskers died.
- 1985
- Fifth grade. My nerd and outsider status totally solidified this year. Started karate. Flew in a plane for the first time to California.
- 1984
- Fourth grade with Mrs. Vierverker. Met Usha, my new best friend. Actually felt okay this year. Except my father had all my hair cut off. Now I totally fit the role of misfit.
- 1983
- Third grade with Mrs. Eberhart. Told me I should hold the snowflake in the class singing performance. Dana decided she didn’t want to be my friend anymore. I began to realize that I was totally right about my uselessness.
- 1982
- Second grade with Mrs. Rion. Loved her but really began to have doubts as to my self-worth. I don’t know where this stemmed from.
- 1981
- First grade with Mrs. Coleman. Dana was in class with me.
- 1980
- Kindergarten with Mrs. Semmel, the bitch. Dressed as Wonder Woman for Halloween that year. Never felt prettier or more powerful.
- 1979
- Met my first best friend Dana and traveled with her to Gym Jam in her mother’s light blue station wagon and every day we sang The Little Drummer Boy on the way there and home.
- 1978
- Loved dancing the YMCA by the Village People.
- 1977
- New house in Yardley. Finally figured out how to stand on my head. Swimming and bouncing at the YMCA’s Gym Jam. Eating cold chicken from Pathmark on the ride home.
- 1976
- My sister was born. I remember the day she was born. I remember watching her sleep. Had my eye operated on. No longer cross-eyed. Brought home Whiskers with Nanny, tempting her step by step with pieces of cheese. Immediately I was hers and she mine.
- 1975
- Living in Levittown, loved mirrors and hats and wigs and toilet seats and anything else I could put on my head. I loved the end of the Mary Tyler Moore show when the kitten would say, “Meow!” My dad was big and tall and my mom was soft and warm.
- 1974
- On September 1, 1974 a large bolt of lightning struck the ground outside of my parents’ bedroom. Hiding in my mother’s tummy, heard the bolt and decided to start pushing my way out. I was born the next day which was Labor Day: September 2, 1974.
