Having fostered more than 40 dogs and puppies and taken a course in canine behavior, I’ve learned a lot about how to acclimate and bond with pets joining a household. So when my bestie called to tell me that she would be adopting a one-year-old rescued Dachshund and wanted advice, I decided I should write […]
Author Archives: Weeks
May
16
Fresh Start
posted by Weeks
“What gluten-free flour do you use?” “Please share your hot cross bun recipe!” “I need to up my soup game. Any ideas?” “I’m not having luck with gluten-free baking. Am I using the wrong flour?” I wrote this blog totally unrelated to my day job for several years until I got too busy with work. […]
January
28
Baby, Baby
posted by Weeks
A lovely, single friend of ours finalized the adoption of a little boy last week. Another young couple we know filed their application to adopt today. At a party on Saturday, I exchanged adoption stories with a stranger who heard me mention that we had adopted our daughter. Like we, they will have a great […]
September
26
Pillars
posted by Weeks
In 1999 when we were setting up our business, we sought out the help of a local father and son accounting firm. On the staff of the firm was a young man named Paul who was the “tech guy” for the firm. Paul set up the Quickbooks file for our business and almost 20 years […]
June
10
True Hospitality
posted by Weeks
“Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter-faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn. To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living. Vegetarians are the enemy of everything good and decent in the human spirit, an affront to […]
May
02
The Reboot
posted by Weeks
After 15 years, countless doctors and hospitalizations as well as major surgery, last September doctors at National Jewish in Denver finally figured out why I was having persistent respiratory infections. New diagnoses, protocols and medications and doing every single thing the doctors tell me to do have given me nine solid months of stable health […]
April
23
It happened
posted by Weeks
“It’s going to happen. It’s just statistics. If you foster long enough, you’re going to lose one and it won’t be your fault. And you can’t beat yourself up about it. Kittens are fragile and so tiny that we can’t see heart defects, congenital abnormalities or even viruses. Sometimes even with 24 hr/day vet care, […]
January
27
Celine
posted by Weeks
Last fall at National Jewish, doctors discovered that the raspiness and occasional breaks in my voice that had developed over the past few years as a result of stomach problems were treatable. So they sent me to speech pathologist named Steve who specializes in voice disorders. From the moment I walked in the office I […]
December
03
Old Year’s Resolutions
posted by Weeks
I’m not gonna lie to you. This has been a really tough year for our country and for me personally. Although it’s been a great year for our business, and for that I’m very grateful, I had a lot of illness including two hospitalizations and three friends of mine died this year. A few years […]
November
26
The Growing Room
posted by Weeks
Our family spent a lot of the Thanksgiving long weekend working on our daughter’s bedroom. We moved to this house almost 6 years ago when she was in 5th grade. Her room hadn’t changed much since we moved although she has transformed into a 16 year old with a driver’s license. I feel strongly that […]
November
22
Got Calm?
posted by Weeks
If you only believe one thing I ever write, it should be to use the Calm app at least once a day. The Calm app gives you a 10-minute guided meditation that lowers your blood pressure, helps you refocus and is a basic reset button for stress. This life-changing app also offers bedtime stories for […]
September
21
National Jewish
posted by Weeks
My sewing machine is in Denver for the next week. I didn’t choose the dates for my visit to National Jewish in Denver which were booked long ago but they couldn’t be more perfect symbolically. That I am here to improve my health on the day in which Jews celebrate the New Year is not […]
September
14
The Gift of Slamming Doors
posted by Weeks
I began having shoulder pains out of the blue in March. I went to a nationally ranked orthopedics group in Chicago for medical advice. I failed physical therapy and was sent to a surgeon who is a team surgeon for several of Chicago’s professional athletic teams. The surgeon administered cortisone injections and said I needed […]
March
22
On the job
posted by Weeks
I often walk Kip (and our prior foster dogs) through a large park in our village where a handful of homeless people gather outside the public library when it’s warm. We’re training him so I always carry treats and a clicker on walks. Yesterday I saw a couple of people (whom I guessed to be […]
March
02
Kip joins the family
posted by Weeks
At the end of December our foster kittens were ready for adoption and we went to pick up foster #69, a 6-year-old Pomeranian named Wave who had been surrendered at Chicago Animal Care and Control for reasons we’ll never know. Wave had a virus of some sort and was awaiting his second negative swab after […]
February
12
The Cookie Box
posted by Weeks
A group of friends has been very busy this weekend preparing for the arrival of a refugee family. There have been countless Facebook posts within our group. There’s been a group who have spent all weekend cleaning an apartment that the landlord did not prepare sufficiently. Bill and I made quilts for the children in […]
February
05
I was wrong
posted by Weeks
Dear America, I was wrong and I will never make this mistake again. I grew up in the Civil Rights Era. I saw America change for the better. I watched my Virginia grade school classroom become desegregated. I saw women enter the work force. I saw Title IX. Our laws changed. I became the first […]
January
24
Chapter One
posted by Weeks
Today is a very happy anniversary of sorts for my cousin Marie and I. Marie and I had an emotional first meeting on this day a year ago in a hotel in California while I was teaching at Road to California. Marie is one of many descendants of a long relationship between my great, great […]
January
01
Fearless in 2017
posted by Weeks
My aspirational word for 2017 is Fearless. I say aspirational because I’m really pretty scared about what this year will bring. I’m nervous for my Muslim friends, my friends who rely on government assistance through no fault of their own, my LGBT friends, my friends with chronic health conditions who may lose their health insurance […]
December
20
Memo: Regarding my birthday
posted by Weeks
I’m reposting this post from a year ago because I need to remember a few of these right now and because I’ve had requests to repost it around this time annually. To: Those who celebrate my birth on December 25 From: Jesus Some of you seem kind of stressed out over the wrong things when […]
yes. it's my real name. 