After leaving the hall bathroom Lisa and I casually said our goodbyes over the next several minutes. When I talked to Jose, he smirked and laughed, “It’s like riding a bike.” When Lisa and I entered my rental car, we made out like two horned-up high school kids. Our hands began to roam over each other's bodies when I finally told her, “Let's go to your place.” Ten minutes later we entered her house where she led me straig...

“All I’m saying is that I’m nervous to meet your family,” Olivia said as she checked her makeup in the visor mirror again. “Your parents sound like such prudes. I can’t believe they won’t let us sleep in the same room!” John sighed as he switched on his turn signal. “Baby,” he said, “Thanksgiving is a big holiday for my family. Just be grateful you’re being welcomed at all. I’m an only child, and I’ve never brought anyone...

I was dreading the trip back to my hometown to visit my family. It was the first holiday season as a divorced man, and I was sure I’d be peppered with under-the-breath questions from various family members. In years past, when I was married, my ex and I would alternate Thanksgiving and Christmas between her family in Dallas and my family in Oak Valley. Traveling with three young kids from San Diego was a big ordeal and ex...

Fast forward six weeks and it was now about a week and a half before Halloween. One of my best friends, Jeff, and his wife Jenna have a Halloween party every year, so I asked Milan if she’d like to attend with me. She agreed on one condition: she picked our costumes. Milan said our costumes would be a secret until we got ready to go to the party on Saturday night. I was curious, of course, but figured she’d pick something...

“Back in the day, we had paper registers – massive logbooks – and that’s how we kept track of revenue and expenses for the house, how many parties each girl had during their stays, their net payout, and so forth. I’m talking financial statements with the mortgage and licensing fees, liquor fees, water, electrical, and cable-Internet invoices … everything was kept on paper. The whole shebang. And it was a jumbled mess. “Bu...

Amber smiled as she heard her son’s girlfriend and his friend both bust out into laughter again, while her son groaned. They were enjoying all his childhood pictures, even if Caleb wasn’t. It was a time-honored tradition in the family. She’d experienced it herself, and her mother had explained that it was how she got through all the times when Amber was being rotten as a child. She knew that one day she’d have the delight...

The weeks from the Columbus Day weekend to Thanksgiving flew by with Marina and I seeing each other every other week in Palo Alto and Seattle. During this time, we both put out soft feelers about jobs in San Diego and I also investigated the peninsula. My company did not have any openings, but I did reach out to a headhunter who had contacted me a few months earlier. The week before Thanksgiving Marina did talk to her bos...

"They said, 'Yes!'" I told Tom as we tossed our helmets and pads into lockers and walked to the shower room. To my amazement, my parents had given me the green light to fly to Los Angeles and stay with Tom's family for Thanksgiving. The only hitch, I had to take college admissions tours of UCLA and USC while I was in California. "No problem," Tom told me. "I'll drive you to East LA and Westwood on Saturday morning. We'll...

When my car broke down and I was told it wasn't fixable, I just wanted to scream. I was far too broke to even think of buying a new one, even a used one. I had no choice, other than to start taking the bus to work. I hated the idea, but I wasn't about to ask my parents for help. They would somehow attach strings to it, I didn't need the hassle. I’m twenty one, I can handle this on my own. It’s been three weeks of taking t...