Daily calls to insurer are bad for my health

I'm on hold -- again. Over the past few days I have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to convince Aetna, my insurance carrier, to pay for doctor-prescribed physical therapy. This has meant phoning the member-service number to coax along an appeal, an almost daily ritual as unpleasant but necessary as prepping for a colonoscopy.

Doesn't take an Einstein to raise kids

As a mother, I would do almost anything to give my children a leg up in life. This is true, I think, for most conscientious parents. Call it biological imperative, if you will.

That's not clutter, it's patriotism

As a journalist, I own a front-row seat to historic events. I witness moments that become reference points for our lives. And it is my professional opinion that one occasion destined to become as noteworthy as, say, Arbor Day is National Declutter Day.

Price of fame could be sky high

What would you do for fame? Would you allow cameras to follow you around? Would you blog about the most intimate moments of your life? Would you recruit your reluctant spouse to face the unforgiving limelight? Would you drag your children along?

Sometimes good enough is just right

I've often joked that children are the most stressful factor in a marriage, especially for those of us who juggle work and family. Rushed, conflicted and usually overwhelmed, mothers who toil outside the home feel there aren't enough hours in the day to keep up with parenting obligations, job duties and household chores. Life turns into a never-ending to-do list, a blaring alarm that's can't be quieted.

Tweeter misfired on miscarriage

Imagine this tweet popping up on your Blackberry: I'm in a board meeting. Having a miscarriage. Thank goodness, because there's a f - - - ed up 3-week hoop-jump to have an abortion in Wisconsin.

Even in Miami, there's no place like home

About once a week, over dinner or before collapsing into bed, I declare to no one in particular: I can't stand the traffic anymore. We need to move. This charade has been going on for at least five years, with the same results.

Doors soon to close on open house

I just attended my second to last open house at my youngest son's high school, an event that would have been unremarkable if not for a certain word popping into my head in English class. The entire evening, as I dutifully jotted course requirements and teacher's e-mail addresses, I thought: This is my penultimate visit to math . . . to history . . . to Spanish.

If you have a friend, you have it all

Ispent a most restorative hour on the telephone last weekend. After a few months' hiatus, I spoke to my best friend from childhood, a woman whose life has turned out so much different than mine, a fellow geek who knows me as the bookworm from middle school and not the wife, mother and journalist I have become.

Even Palin's detractors don't stoop this low

Levi Johnston, remember him? Or should I ask, How can we forget the dude? He's the 19-year-old high-school dropout whose claim to fame was becoming the baby daddy to the grandson of the then-governor of Alaska. Ah, that roils the memory, doesn't it? Johnston, the former future son-in-law of Sarah Palin. Johnston, the airhead who has repeatedly tried to stretch his 15 minutes of fame like Silly Putty.

It's grand to be a grand

Without fanfare or warning, I've become the kind of woman who divides the world into those who know all about Dora and Swiper and Boots and those who don't. On a regular basis and with missionary zeal, I scour entertainment ads for Backyardigans shows and check newspaper listings for toy recalls.

Boomers hit a new low by getting high

We were dubbed the baby boomers, but after decades of influencing everything from music to public policy, the Peter Pan Generation might be more like it. Some of us simply refuse to grow up.

AGING

Social networking comes of (older) age

Marilyn Carroll used to watch her 28-year-old daughter and her friends spend hours on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. So she decided to join the social networking scene, too -- but on a site geared exclusively to her interests.