Author Archives: rkpaulus

About rkpaulus

Writer. Mom. Wife. Basketball coach. Lover or all things chocolate. Winner of bubble gum jar! Grace is my oxygen.

Living: An Extreme Sport

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A Room with a View…
Two years ago, hubby and I ventured over to Catalina Island in mid February. Just the two of us.
 
On the one hour boat ride over to Catalina, we enjoy the wind blowing through our hair and the words, “It never rains in Southern California” seem ominously untrue with the dark clouds looming above. But it doesn’t actually rain. Much. By the time the boat pulls into the docks, the sun is beaming and we are on our way to four days of Operation Anniversary Adventure, Take 12. In three months, we’ll be married twelve years. We are celebrating a little early this year. 
 
After we check into our spacious villa that overlooks the ocean, we venture down to the waterfront in our golf cart [hubby’s first time driving one] for a late lunch/early dinner and some grocery shopping. We figure we’ll cook some of our meals to offset the cost of the nicer accommodations, and when you’re only feeding two mouths—cheese, crackers, fruit and cold cuts count as a meal.  Continue reading →

My Rainbow-ish Cooking Show

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Step#1: Half oranges and juice them. 

When Sun and I first got married, and we invited some friends over for a meal, I would scour AllRecipes.com to find something new and yummy-sounding to try. Hubby would walk into the kitchen from his med school rotations and wearily ask, “Are you sure?”

To which I would optimistically beam, “Worse case scenario, we order a pizza.”

I never cooked much until I got married, and in many ways I had no choice but to learn how. We started our newlywed years on the island of Dominica. Where the restaurant choices at the time were limited, and the operating hours short and the variety…well, there was none. There was local food, which comprised of mostly chicken and plantains and there was the KFC an hour drive away. Not just a regular hour of car travel by the way, but a winding around mountains, nausea-inducing, bumpity bump hour later. By the time you arrived in downtown Rousseau, you had little desire to eat. Fresh air was far more important than finger-licking good munchies. 

Somewhere…Over the Rainbow…

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Tomorrow’s Post will be the HOW-TO of these Pretty Babies!

It’s been about a year since we had a DIY [Do It Yourself] Birthday party in our home. April marked the beginning of birthday season in the Paulus household, but we celebrated Princess #2 in Atlanta during Spring Break. Now that Princess #4 is old enough to know Birthday and Party go together, I know I can’t hoodwink my way through June with the “Family” party. Not when the invitations began rolling in for all her friends’ parties this year. Not that I’m the type of mom who plays the “have to keep up with the Jones'” game, but I do believe in social conformity for the sake of community participation and investing in relationships. I genuinely enjoy having people over at the house, but occasionally I get overwhelmed with the prep side of things. So I consciously decide to downsize the DIY event to two cool-ish desserts. Two I could handle. I’m pretty sure. 

Actually, I only plan to do one. The cake. But as I Google instructions on how to make a “rainbow cake,” a fun rainbow-colored appetizer pops up. I look over to my sixth grader who’s sitting next to me and ask, “Whadya think? Should we try it?”

“Definitely.” Thumbs up from the middle schooler so it’s a go. Jello slices, I think I can manage. And who doesn’t like jello? Continue reading →

Life Lessons From Under the Hood

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Fight for the things in life worth holding on to…

Left my bat cave [the basement where I write] Saturday evening when hubby asked for a little help on the car. He’s been outside fixing, replacing, and tuning up the car since the sun rose for Monday’s inspection, the sticker that is technically 11 days overdue. We’re crossing our fingers and hoping we can get through another inspection without any big surprises.

Remember last year? “Sure Mrs. Paulus, your car will pass, after we replace all four wheels, the axle, the brakes, the engine, and that tiny little fuse that can only be reached after taking the entire car apart.”

“How many hours are we talking? What kind of loan should I take out? Will a kidney suffice?”

“The entire job, if we do it right, requires at least 52 hours of labor and yes, we do accept high functioning organs. But to be on the safe side, I’d plan for two.”

“Two thousand?”

“Two kidneys.” Mechanic with grease smeared across his forehead does not flinch. Laugh. Or wink. “Just in case.”

“For that,” I have a bright idea. “Don’t do it right. Just fix it enough to pass. I’m not looking to drive to Alaska. I just need to buy a little time, say a year, before I buy a new car. Work with me here. I’m not a doctor, but I think the last guy on ER that gave up both kidneys…Yeah, I don’t think that’ll work.”

“Well then, we can’t pass your car.”

Wahhhhh! Continue reading →

Looking out from Under the Hood

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 I love the movie Cars. Especially the first one. But even the sequel impressed me. I still remember watching the first Cars movie in our local theater with my then three princesses, the oldest not even six years old at the time.

As the credits began to roll [we always stay for the credits. That’s when they play the best songs on the soundtrack,] my kindergarten graduate leans over to me and whispers, “Mommy, I’m the blue car, and Bryce is the red car.”

I smile and giggle. Then I lean over to share the news with hubby. Guess what? Our first born has a crush on someone. And his immediate response: “Well then, we’ll just have to take the blue car and put it in the garage. Lock the door. And store the key.” He might have said, ‘throw away the key,’ but I’m gonna give him the benefit of the doubt. I think he just worries that this little girl with a genetic disposition to being boy-crazy if she’s anything like her mama, might be getting ahead of her time. No dad wants to see their little girl grow up too fast. Of course. Continue reading →

My Hotty Under the Hood

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[In Honor of Father’s Day, this week I’m blogging about one of hubby’s favorite things in the world: Cars! … Enjoy!]

Remember when you went to Kmart with your mom and they had the blue light special. “Attention all shoppers! For the next five minutes, and five minutes only, all white sports socks in Aisle three are an additional 50% off.” Then your mother would race her cart like a Nascar Driver over to Aisle three to get her paws on several packs of socks before they ran out. Can’t say I miss those days. Do they even have Kmarts anymore?


Anyway, in these economic times, every one’s looking to save a buck. When you save two, even better. When you save ten, you throw a party, order pizza, throw in some soda and inevitably, you’ve blown a twenty. Darnit! Two steps forward. One step back.  


The thing is, *Mom, please don’t be mad, I don’t do coupons. Sorry Mom. I know you still mail me them every once in awhile. But I just can’t get the hang of them. I tend to forget I have them. They expire. And I’ve received so many dirty looks from shoppers in line behind me as I dig through my purse for those “I just know it’s in here somewhere” moments. I’m done. I wholeheartedly applaud all you coupon kings and queens out there that have your organizers and never miss the “must use by” deadlines. I gladly place the “Clippers by Night & Savers by Day” crowns on your heads. Doesn’t work for me. So for anyone out there who still wants to save but has given up on coupons,

Here are My Top Ten Ways to Save a Penny…”Less for Less” 
Continue reading →

My Masala-Marinated Agent

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Drag hubs into the city for dinner to meet up with Chip MacGregor, my Lit Agent, who’s here among the masses attending BEA 2012 at the Javits Center this week.

“Are you nervous?” Sun asks me as we begin our battle with NYC traffic into Manhattan. 

“Not really. Just want to look professional. Ask good questions. Pick his brain about the industry. And learn what else I can do on my part to become a better writer.”

“Okay. Sounds good. Did you call to make a reservation at the restaurant?”

“No.” It’s a weeknight. Surely the city that never sleeps doesn’t go out to eat on Wednesdays.

“You better call. Just in case.”  Continue reading →

Dress. Check. Shoes. Check. Cap and Gown…

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Three Years Ago…

So to condition my mental state in preparation for my new schedule for the summer with my girls home from school, I spent some time yesterday playing dolls with my almost five year old. She starts Kindergarten in September. Tomorrow’s her pre-school graduation and each time I think about it, I get a little teary. 

For the longest time, I used to whisper into each of my girls’ ears at night. “Don’t grow. Don’t grow. Stay little. For me.”

I have long stopped doing that. I’m not so resistant to time passing. The girls changing. Each finding their way. Discovering their gifts. One day at a time.  Continue reading →

But I Didn’t Win…

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To hear Sarah sing… 
My grandma, who we called Biji, loved buying lottery tickets. I kid you not. When a woman asks for lottery tickets instead of flowers for her funeral service, you know the love runs deep. So my mom handed out scratch-offs to each of us grand kids when we arrived back home after saying our farewells. I think one ticket out of twenty won $50. But the remainder of the $200 worth of tickets were duds.

According to my husband who did a little research for his Facing Fear Talk, a person is more likely to be hit by lightening than win the lottery. Hmmmm? So what makes a person walk into the convenience store, slap down his or her cash, and lose. But come again, day after day, and do it again.

I’m not talking about addiction today. I have no intention of commenting on the morality of gambling. I’m simply addressing the human innate desire to win. If we’re honest with ourselves, we all have it. We all like to win. Continue reading →