Author Alexandra Retana blogs about her book, medicine, kids, life, and whatever else comes to mind
This weekend, my family and I took a mini-vacation to New Hampshire. It's not our usual bag; we tend to go more for the ocean/beach type and less for the hike/mountain type, but we'd already been down the Cape once this summer, and with activities limited due to The Plague COVID, all we've been doing is going to the beach by our house every weekend, so we felt like a change of scenery was in order.
I'm starting to think maybe I'm allergic to the hospital. Every time I go there, weird shit starts happening to my body, and before anyone says it, no, it's not COVID. But, like, I start feeling pains everywhere; I can't seem to get enough rest; my frequency of headaches goes up exponentially. Monday was just … Continue reading The book is published!
I have always been wordy, and writing in a diary has proved therapeutic, educational, and extremely useful. As such, I have decided to share a modified excerpt from the book on how I got started writing, and please don't thank me. Hint: It wasn't to make money.
"Will you promise me something?" I said to my daughter. "When you're big, will you remember this moment?" We were lying on the couch on the porch, as part of our whole "blissful afternoon" enterprise. My husband was putzing around the grill, my son was drawing something and humming to himself, and my daughter and … Continue reading Eau de Baby Feels
'Tis the season. The season to assert my Jewishness, like, hard. Christmas season. Okay, let me correct that. I don't actually need to assert my Jewishness per se because I am Jewish AF as far as ethnic identities go, but it's my kids. Take the Catholic spouse and add to that NOT living in Brookline, MA where … Continue reading Tis the season for identity crisis: the Elf dilemma
Have I ever told you how I rescued a bird in my driveway, thereby sacrificing a gorgeous beach day with my family? We get all packed up, and roll the car out to the driveway to put the kayaks on the roof. And suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I see a moving … Continue reading I rescue a bird: how to become a true good samaritan
When I was seven, I decided I didn’t feel like going to school and wanted to get a little bit sick, so in the dead of winter, I went outside on our balcony in my night clothes and barefoot, and ate some snow. It was kind of a thing among the kids that if you … Continue reading The sort of truth about what causes viruses
I've been notably absent for weeks from here, but that's because I've been in the throes of creative agony. I have been writing a book. It's very ambitious of me, I know; in fact, I don't even know what the fuck I'm playing at, if I'm honest. Every time I read a good book, I … Continue reading
I'd like to make an entry to the Men are from Mars and Women and from Venus log book. I don't actually know if one exists, but if it doesn't, it should. Last week, my parents, fed up with life's little curveballs--like a FIRE in the apartment upstairs from them causing their living room to … Continue reading My dad tries to help my mom while she has the gastro… hilarious hijinks ensue
...The weirdest thing happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I had to give CPR to a stranger. I was at my daughter's gymnastics class, and all of a sudden, in the periphery of my selective hearing, I became aware of a woman's crying voice: "Somebody please call 911!" I looked over, and saw … Continue reading CPR on a stranger
And Why Not! 