Too Good Not to Share If you really want to wow a special woman this giving season, let me suggest you check out the Sash Bag. I’ve been carrying a Sash, rather than a traditional purse, exclusively for a couple of years, and I’ll never go back to the purses I carried before -- in … Continue reading Sash Bag: No Purse Necessary
One of the blessings, I suppose, of living my adult life away from extended family has been the freedom to do things our own way. As the holiday time of year is again upon us, I am renewed in the sense of gratitude that we’re not tied to any particular traditions that will make or … Continue reading Freedom from Traditions
Quilt by Susan Isaacs and Eldora Fiscbach. Photo by Susan Isaacs. This installment of Revisited is my first ever piece of published writing. My poem, “What is Christmas?” appeared in our local weekly newspaper, The Faith Independent, on December 6, 1978. I was 13 years old and had written the poem in my bedroom at … Continue reading What is Christmas?
Too Good Not to Share* GRIP6 Anson Belt & Buckle For the guy or woman who has everything, how about getting them a low-profile, hole-less belt? There are two companies I’ve had experience with, having bought their belts for my husband, and they are both quality products. The companies are: GRIP6 and Anson Belt & … Continue reading Low-profile, Hole-less Belts
I'm sharing this again, although I first posted it about five years ago and originally wrote it almost 25 years ago. Today is Dean's and my 34th wedding anniversary. Our story has grown in a myriad unexpected ways that have only made us a better couple through the years, but I will never tire of … Continue reading Wedded Bliss: 34 Years Later
Too Good Not to Share* image from monkmanual.com For the next several weeks TGNtS will take a turn toward holiday gift-giving ideas, and we’ll start today with Monk Manual. This is a new discovery for me in just the last six weeks or so, and it’s been the rare healthy habit that I’m actually following … Continue reading Monk Manual: A System for Being + Doing
*Part 2 of 2 Outside the Tomb of Christ, Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Photo by Susan Fischbach Isaacs I met with a friend recently who, in years past, has so adamantly put herself last that I have left our time together with an uneasy feeling about our friendship. She seemed often to be focused … Continue reading Being: Waking Up to Who We Are*
Too Good Not to Share* One of my all time favorite travel products, and one I’ve been using for a few years is a set of folding travel hangers. When sharing a hotel room, whether with my husband or a girlfriend on a weekend getaway, there are never enough hangers in the hotel closet. This … Continue reading Folding Travel Hangers
I’m noticing a trend in the last several weeks where I’m waking up naturally at about 7:00 AM. So far, for the most part, I’ve been rolling over to sleep more -- just on principle. 7:00 just sounds so early. The truth is, though, I’ve been trying to get myself to bed earlier, at about 10:00 PM. I read until I fall asleep, but that’s almost always
This week's Revisited is part 2 of 2, the first of which appeared here last week. Between writing the two reflections, as part of a spiritual formation workshop on prayer I participated in in 2004, we took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and discussed the implications of our scores. Of the Extorvert/Introvert pair, I am an Introvert; between Sensing and Intuition, I prefer Intuition; of Thinking and Feeling, I am Feeling; and between Judging and Perceiving, I tend slightly toward Judging.
Too Good Not to Share* In the last couple of weeks I’ve inadvertently started a travel theme in Too Good Not to Share, but as we are coming up on the busiest travel time of the year, it seems like a good idea to roll with it. If you've missed the previous TGNtS travel items, … Continue reading Trtl Travel Pillow
Photo by Susan Fischbach Isaacs We’re thinking about selling our piano, so of course, now I think I’d like to play it. Never-mind that we’ve had a piano in the house for about twenty years, and never in all that time have I mastered a song at the intermediate level. I can read music, I … Continue reading Ideal or Reality?
This week's Revisited is Part 1 of 2 (which appears here). I wrote this in June of 2004 at the beginning of a prayer styles workshop, which was part of spiritual formation during my studies at Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology. Photo by Susan Fischbach Isaacs My prayer style is so casual that … Continue reading My Personal Prayer Style and Preferences
Too Good Not to Share* In the last few years I've discovered sleep masks and found the complete darkness they provide to be quite helpful -- especially in hotel rooms that don't quite get dark, but even on mornings at home during the time of year when the sun gets up before I want to. … Continue reading Nite Hood
Apologies to my blog followers who were notified of a new post last night called, “Nite Hood.” I had posted an incomplete piece in error and took it down as quickly as I could after that; but not before you were all sent a now defunct link. Look for the full post tomorrow on Too … Continue reading Rookie Mistake
Photo by Susan Fischbach Isaacs A few days ago I completed an exercise where I wrote a list of what’s real in my life. It wasn’t until I re-read it a few hours later that I discovered my list is written almost entirely from a positive, or at least non-judgemental, perspective. This comes as a … Continue reading Writing Real
Today's Revisited appeared in Prairie Winds Anthology, published by the Prairie Winds Project in 1983. I didn't know it at the time, but it's an acrostic.
Too Good Not to Share* If you’re someone who spends time traveling for work or pleasure, this week’s Too Good Not to Share is for you. Overnight accommodations on the road can vary widely in their functionality when it comes to charging our electronic devices. Newer hotels often have a USB port on or near … Continue reading Desktop Power Strip with USB Ports
Photo by Susan Fischbach Isaacs Less than 24 hours ago I received the horrific news that another of my sons’ childhood playmates is dead from heroin addiction. I feel helpless as the parents of these young men wail in untenable agony, their own helplessness now embodied in the corpses of their sons. Imagining their pain … Continue reading Helpless
This week's Revisited I wrote just for fun sometime in the late 1990's. My husband and I had been driving on the Interstate in his old truck a day or so before. This poem has not previously been published.
Too Good Not to Share Photo by Susan Fischbach Isaacs These I discovered completely by accident. The first little scraper I got was most likely an impulse buy in a cute gift shop somewhere, as kitchen gadgets rarely on my shopping list. But the first one was the gateway. A mini scraper makes it so … Continue reading Mini Kitchen Tools
Space Needle, photo by Susan Fischbach Isaacs Sometimes it’s not as important to put your best foot forward as it is to put a foot forward. Take the next step and let it be what it is, even if you wish it were better. Often when we’ve made a new commitment or we’re trying to … Continue reading Just Put a Foot Forward
Today's Revisited first appeared in "The Review," 1995, by Indiana University Southeast Student Affairs Committee. "For Her" was awarded First Place by Indiana Collegiate Press Association, April 12, 1996, in the category of Best Short Story. It's 4:30 in the morning and he can't sleep anymore. The pin in his knee becomes too painful if … Continue reading For Her
Too Good Not to Share* Whether scrolling online with my phone on the table or carrying an armload of things into the house from the car, the FourPlusOne Multi Band is the ideal solution in both situations. The Multi Band has three separate positions that create a loop which both lets the user carry the … Continue reading Cell Phone Grip/Kickstand
Photo by Susan Isaacs, taken on the Iowa City Literary Walk, Iowa. Well, that lasted about as long as I expected it would. I’m barely a month into my new commitment to this blog, and I’ve already missed two consecutive Saturday posts -- Saturday being the day I post my most reflective writing of the … Continue reading Putting This Out There
Today's Revisisted first appeared in Independence magazine, official publication of The Independent Pilots Association, Anniversary Issue, 1999. Though originally intended for a very particular audience, I believe the message fits a variety of marriages. It's 20 years later, and I'm still married to the same pilot. My husband got his first professional flying job just … Continue reading Communication on the Home-front
Too Good Not to Share* Today’s TGNtS is one of my husband’s discoveries, and I don’t know that he could tell you where he found the first one. I’m pretty sure, though, that when he saw it the first time he bought at least three. He definitely hasn’t been without one since, and he’s given … Continue reading Bison D-Ring Bottle Bandit
Today's Revisited originally appeared in Prairie Winds Anthology, 1983, a publication of the Prairie Winds Project. How can such a small, simple word like lovebe so much harder to say than cinnamon? Susan FischbachGrade 12Faith High School
Too Good Not to Share* Deodorant marks are the pits, -- the slashes across the front of your shirt from pulling it over your head, the dashes at the neckline when you’re reaching in with a stick because you forgot to put deodorant on before you got dressed. You dab it, not necessarily successfully, with … Continue reading The Original Gal Pal Garment Deodorant Remover
Photo by Susan Fischbach Isaacs For about the last ten years we’ve owned a fifth-wheel camper, and it still surprises folks who know me to find out I enjoy camping. Let’s say it’s pretty clear to even casual friends that I’m the opposite of outdoorsy and active. It surprises me a little bit that camping … Continue reading Unplugging and Reconnecting
This Revisited was written in the Fall of 1999 as part of the BA degree I would receive the following Spring. It has been edited for clarity. "A Sense of Home" was also an award-winner in the creative non-fiction category in the IUS Writing Contest in 2000 and was previously published in the IUS Review, … Continue reading A Sense of Home
Too Good Not to Share* Ember mug showed up on my radar through an online ad sometime before Christmas last year, and I immediately thought it could improve my morning coffee routine. With my coffee on a table beside my chair in the morning, I tend to become distracted catching up with email accounts, checking … Continue reading Ember Temperature Control Smart Mug
Ahhh...space in which to create. Photo by Susan Fischbach Isaacs The home office I’ve maintained in my recent years as a student had slowly become over-taken by piles of paper waiting for the shredder, over-filled files of class notes I’ll never look at again, and within the last year, a tall stack of storage totes … Continue reading Creating Creative Space
This week's Revisited is a poem from 1992. My two little boys were playing in a friend's basement with her three boys, and they had all gone upstairs for something. A few seconds later there was the stampede of little feet coming back down. It reminded me of running downstairs to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings when I was a kid.
Too Good Not to Share* Seriously, not sexy unless you’re into safety. We’ve been using Rain-X for probably 20 years, and I’m always shocked that it’s not a standard car care item for every car on the road. Based on personal experience alone, it feels much safer to drive a car with a Rain-X treated … Continue reading Rain-X Original Glass Water Repellent
“Say what you mean, mean what you say, and don’t say it mean.” I learned this phrase in an anonymous group, although it may have come from their local tradition. Whatever its origins, it’s been a powerful message in my life. It functions as both a way to check myself and a way to clarify … Continue reading Say What You Mean
For the inaugural Revisited we’re going almost all the way back to the beginning. This little ditty appeared in Prairie Winds Anthology, 1981, a statewide publication which celebrated the creative endeavors of South Dakota high school students.
Too Good Not to Share*, Inaugural edition I did a 30-day booze free experiment a little over five years ago and since then have been on the hunt for something that drinks like an adult beverage but without the alcohol. Through the scary magic of Facebook advertising Curious Elixirs came into my world. This is … Continue reading Curious Elixirs
Fall is my favorite time of year, and I have always associated that sentiment with my birthday in October; but this morning, in early September more than two weeks before the official start of the season, I realized for the first time another reason to love Fall -- and perhaps the real reason I do. … Continue reading Good Morning, Fall
This Labor Day weekend has me pondering, as someone who doesn’t bring home a regular paycheck, what is the work that I do? How do I -- or am I -- contribute(ing) to the good of society? Most importantly, am I contributing for the good of God’s kingdom? It’s timely that the homily I heard … Continue reading Am I Doing God’s Work?
Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska. Photo by Susan Fischbach Isaacs Part of the joy that lingers in my soul after visiting Glacier Bay National Park on the coast of Alaska is the fact that there were 2000 of us—just on the same ship as I—who stopped our lives, our conversations, everything to watch a … Continue reading The Peace of Unknowing
Written on the North Pacific Ocean, somewhere along Vancouver Island, July 14, 2019.
Recently in dialog with a young man about the age of my sons, he suggested the metaphor of a cave for the darkness, loneliness, and isolation he sometimes feels -- a cave where he feels stuck and that no one else knows it exists. Though painful, he says that he also finds treasure there that … Continue reading Treasure in the Cave of Isolation and Darkness
I'm sorry to see it's been so long since I've been here. Several things have kept me away, not the least of which is you -- or should I say my fear of you -- the reader. At this point I realize that most of my readers know and (I'll go out on a limb … Continue reading Ground Rules for Family & Friends
My husband and I were married 29 years ago today. I had no idea at the time that the willing selflessness Dean showed on that day would be a model for his life as a husband and a father. It still amazes me -- his continuing and patient willingness to give everything he has and … Continue reading Wedded Bliss: After All These Years
For the past couple of years, I’ve been working on minding my own business, and what an eye-opener that has been. Several factors converged and convinced me to take a look at how critical I can be. Now, there is constructive criticism, to be sure, and I can be good at that. If someone asks … Continue reading Biting My Tongue and Finding My Voice
Most examples that a person can give about love in regard to popular culture are such clichés that one is hesitant to bother calling these things to mind. In modern usage and thought, love is supposed to be easy. It is a feeling that either is or is not – of its own volition and … Continue reading A Similitude of Eternal Beauty
I received a divine birthday gift, given to me on my actual birth day that I might spend my life giving it away; and instead I found it, just this week, buried in the back of the closet. The sad thing is I hadn’t even realized it had been misplaced. It got set down for … Continue reading The Divine Present
I wrote poem below several years ago about my faith journey at the time. Not only is it still relevant to my faith journey, but to many other aspects of my life’s journey, as well. Specifically, right now, this poem speaks to my journey as a parent of young adults who are finding their own … Continue reading The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same
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