My Life With Joe
By Maureen Gil
issues
My Life With Joe - Hibernating Alligators Are The Best Kind
So I went to the Sunshine State to meet up with some of my good writer friends. These three other people have encouraged me these past few years as I go through my Master's degree in writing. We've read each other's stuff, we talked shop, and we've written. L…
My Life With Joe - You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Sleepy
I got sent a present from Twitter. That's right, the social media company. That's because this newsletter platform (Revue) is owned by Twitter, and I write a newsletter on Revue. I don't think they gave every newsletter author a present (although, I wouldn't …
My Life With Joe - The Adventures of Chris Mouse
'Twas the night before Christmas, When all through the house,Not a creature was stirring, Not even a mouse.
My Life With Joe - The Taylor Swift Teeny Bopper Club
I was going to write about my car accident over the weekend. (And yes, you read that correctly. We were in another car accident.) But OMG WTF SMH LOL GTFO LMAO #HappyBirthdayTaylorSwift!!!!! *cue the sound of millions of young women screaming in the pure ecst…
My Life With Joe - Thanksgiving Smells
For the Thanksgiving holiday, my daughter went to her grandparents' house with her father. The Kid asked her father to stop at Burger King and buy her some French fries. She was in "the mood" for them. At any rate, her father refused to stop, which made The K…
My Life With Joe - Surviving Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of year where people sit around their dining room tables that never get used except on Thanksgiving. We talk, we laugh, we not-so-subtly yell political slurs at each other, and then it becomes a huge mess because inevitably, s…
My Life With Joe - Mrs. Scrooge 's Solution To The National Supply Shortage
I do not like Christmas, mostly because I think the holiday has gotten over-the-top. Everyone seems to want to keep up with the Joneses,* comparing the latest things they received. Or listening to Christmas music two months early, or seeing your neighbors dec…
My Life With Joe - Important House Guests
The last few weeks since my daughter had her car accident has been a whirlwind of activity, such as doctor's appointments, house guests, and various delivery people dropping off flowers.* These house guests, other than the contractor who is putting a small ad…
My Life With Joe - Changing My Perspective
Last Wednesday started like any other day: I woke up. I normally wake up at 6:30 in the morning, and my husband and I have coffee together. On this day, though, he didn't wake me up because I had surgery* the previous day. And surgeries kind of hurt because t…
My Life With Joe - What Were You Doing?
I had another email written for today because today is my 10th wedding anniversary, but then I realized that tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of 9/11. And, well, everything else kinda pales in comparison. It's the day that we lost almost 3,000 people at groun…
My Life With Joe - Important Vacation Plans
A few weeks ago, my husband and I had a very important conversation that all older couples should have once their children reach a certain age. Yes, you guessed it. The topic was whether we should take a vacation without our children.** And more importantly, …
My Life With Joe - The War on Poison Ivy
Today, I want to talk about the evil little bastards known as poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) and, by extension, its evil cousin, poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix). Not everyone in the world is susceptible to these plants, but I can say with all scienti…
My Life With Joe - Let It Go
After about six months, we finally bid on a house. And someone liked us enough to want to sell us a house.* So we moved (which is why I've been late on all of my writing, including this newsletter). So first off, my apologies, dear reader. Second, I've learne…
My Life With Joe - Vacation Plans
This past weekend, my husband and I took a vacation. And by “vacation,” I mean that we drove about an hour away to stay in a hotel room overnight. That’s because one now spends the weekend away from the house. In the meantime, your house will magically be sol…
My Life With Joe - Leggo My Legos
Apparently, Legos are the super loot for thieves. That’s because the little plastic building blocks are worth a lot, enough to probably have a Lego black market. This is perhaps not new news, but it’s news to me, mostly because I actively avoid anything newsw…
Pandemic Moratorium
At long last, I received the email that I have been dreading for the past year: our inevitable return to work. This means that we are required to (probably) be in the office twice per week because the state government just can’t help themselves in making stup…
"You've Got To Be Kidding Me!"
The other day, I went to Panera Bread, who has an unlimited coffee subscription for $8.99 per month (with the first three months for free).* I noticed this humongous SUV that was taking up several parking spots. The driver parked this way so that the car was …
"Not Everyone Is As Lucky As You"
Like a gazillion other students, my stepdaughter graduated from college recently. FYI, graduations during COVID are super stinky stink, like a full trash can of used doggy bags kind of stinky. Her college, where I won't say the name but it might happen to be …
Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder or Forgetful? 13 Reasons Why I Am Forgetful.
My husband went on an annual golfing trip to South Carolina, sans me, which means that I am all by myself for the week.* J.M. Barrie (who created Peter Pan), coined the phrase "Absence makes the heart grow fonder ... or forgetful." After a two days of being b…
My Life With Joe - What Does Return To Normalcy Mean?
My mind recently has gone to Warren G. Harding's "Return to Normalcy" campaign slogan. What does return to normalcy mean? In that case, it was caused by a widespread upheaval from World War I and also the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919. I've been struck by t…