I was not the only woman tonight spending a good portion of her Saturday evening at the laundromat on Olden Avenue, alternating between staring at the dryer, hoping for the buzzer to go off, and watching animal videos on her phone. There were quite a few of us.

Beyonce in a leotard, dancing and singing “All the Single Ladies,” was nowhere to be found.

Later on, I went to Target in West Windsor.

Life doesn’t get much better than this. Heh.

A former classmate of one of the Turpin children, the 12 California children who are alleged to have been tied to their beds and starved by their parents for years, recounted how years ago, he and other children used to tease one of the older Turpin girls when she attended school for having filthy hair and clothes and smelling badly (it has been revealed that the parents allowed their children to bathe just one time a year and punished them if they washed their hands above the wrist). In a Facebook post, he expresses such regret about being a child and being unkind to this young girl, and his words are heartfelt and kind.

We often do things as kids that we later regret, and there was no way to know that the girl he was calling “Cootie Kid” had an abusive home. In the years since school, he had looked her up on social media, hoping he would see evidence that her life had gone well,

There are many touching quotes by the man, who is now in medical school, including the following:  “The resounding lesson here is a simple one, something that we’re taught from the very beginning: be nice. Teach your children to be nice. If you see someone that’s isolated, befriend them. If you see someone that’s marginalized, befriend them. If you see someone that’s different, befriend them. We can never completely put ourselves in others’ shoes nor can we complete understand the circumstances that one is brought up in, but a simple act of kindness and acceptance may be the ray of hope that that person needs.”

The link follows:

Classmate feels overwhelming guilt about teasing Turpin girl years ago

…of semi-frozen Coca-Cola from a liter bottle that was in the back of your car. Four days after cancer surgery and you’ve been so good and eaten all these antioxidants and foods that are good for you.

Those first chugs, they are so gratifying.

Others of us do not.

…isn’t with the program and thinks she is taking blood pressure medication, but is actually taking stool softener and doesn’t realize for weeks. Follow the link to listen to my rambling tale of this incident.

Source: Bloodpressure

…is ground coffee, creamer, alcohol, and a whole smoked whitefish (vacuum-packed, head and tail included), and your daughter is visiting, it’s a wise idea to go food shopping.

Fearing ugly crowds and lines pre-holiday, we intentionally looked for a supermarket in a heavily Jewish neighborhood. The Stop-‘N-Shop in Monroe with the 20-foot-high menorah across from the parking lot was just the place. Easy to get through aisles and in and out of store, and we weren’t even in the express line.

We have produce and pasta now, among other nutritious items.

Thank you to my people, the Jews, for an easy shopping trip. Merry Christmas to all.

#chosenpeoplesupermarket #smokedwhitefish #Christmaseve