...It isn't the problems along the way that make us or break us. It's how we learn to stand and face them that makes the difference.

I'll tell you something about tough things. They just about kill you, but if you decide to keep working at them, you'll find the way through. On the Food Network they have these shows where cooks have to put a meal together with all these weird ingredients. That's a lot like my life-dealing with things you wouldn't think ever go together. But a good cook can make the best meal out of the craziest combinations.

...motherhood should be like driving a car -- you should have to pass a test before you can do it legally.

Mountains draw you to a deeper place in yourself

Toys "R" Us. Zack put on a wool cap and sunglasses. "You look like a bank robber," I observed. "No toy is safe.

It was February sixth: eight days until Valentine's Day. I was dateless, as usual, deep in the vice grip of unrequited love. It was bad enough not having a boyfriend for New Year's Eve. Now I had to cope with Valentine datelessness, feeling consummate social pressure from every retailer in America who stuck hearts and cupids in their windows by January second to rub it in.

The choices we make can have lasting consequences.