P Squared Books

houses

You Can't Go Upstairs

Every now and then you get home from work, get into your comfortable clothes, and melt into the couch, excited by the fact you're finally home. One day I was doing this, and my husband came in and sat in the chair across from me.  We stared at our phones

horror

The Prayer Room

In my early twenties, I lived in an adobe house. It had been built in the late 1800's, and was one of those houses where they'd never really installed a heating system. Instead, they had some sort of allegedly functional heater in the basement, and then they'd cut holes in

nature

The Timing Of Motivation

Just out of college I worked for an at-risk-youth wilderness therapy outfit. We took kids into the backcountry for seven to thirteen weeks while their parents decided if they would come back home or go to a residential boarding school. In the backcountry we did group therapy with the kids,

horror

There are Two Types of People...

...Those who feel color, and those who do not. My husband is one of those people who doesn't feel color. In fact, I know, without him reading the previous sentence, that such a statement makes no sense to him. But me. I feel color. Colors have the ability to make

houses

15,000 Pounds

My husband and I moved into an old farmhouse. The house itself was full of weird stuff, like SEVENTEEN different types of flooring, and we decided we would, one day at a time, remodel it. Which is something that was only possible because my husband has skills. I am mostly

travel

Phoenix Invades

One year for my birthday, my husband booked us a cabin on a little guest ranch outside of Prescott, Arizona. The ranch lay off a twisting of Forest Service roads in the Pinon/Juniper forest, and in the dead of winter we were some of the only guests. The ranch

writing

Context is More Important Than Spelling

Recently, I saw a friend I used to work with. I asked her how things were going in my old alma mater of a workplace. She looked at me for a few moments, then described the following email, which was sent to the entire staff. Subject: MANDATORY ANAL TRAINING Hello

food

The Process of Pears

When we moved into our house, we were told the pear tree in our front yard was just going to make wormy pears. We were told we should learn to make cider. Which, when we moved in in the middle of winter, seemed like a fine autumn activity. Of course

food

They Lie To Your Face

I have two cats. One is grey and one is a calico. The grey one is sweet and not super smart. The calico can be sweet, but she is too smart to be sweet when it's not to her advantage. The grey one got pancreatitis. The vet said he needed

food

Bro... Just... Don't

I don't do great with bros. I don't know if it's a life time of always being one of the few, if not the only, woman in a room, but as I slide into middle age, I just... My tolerance for the broham life is low. To back up though,

travel

Animal Behavior...

This is a story about more sharks. There I was. Enjoying the beach. Crystal clear waters. And then, a shadow... And another shadow. The water was filled with sharks. Which was pretty neat. I'd been coming to this beach for over twenty years and in that time I'd only seen

nature

I Don't Think That Happens

A mentor of mine and I were playing phone tag. I needed advice. I was at the cusp of possibly of getting a big break into the industry of my dreams, and then the entire industry came grinding to a halt. Not that I was surprised. I mean, the 2020's

cats

He's Probably Fine...

One day, back when I lived in Foo, I was out of town, and my friend called me. "Hey, is your husband alright?" Obviously, this caused me some alarm. She elaborated. "I was getting off work last night around midnight, and he was standing on your porch in his underwear,

desert

Bad Gas

We don't have a wood stove. But it is important you understand that my husband loves wood stoves. He wants to put one in our house. We've lived places with wood stoves before, but this not-so-new house in which we currently live doesn't have one. But he has dreams. So

desert

Vegas, Baby

I went to Las Vegas recently. I've got friends who live there, and on Saturday afternoon we went to a park. While in the park, I took a photo of the lake and sent it to a friend. #Vegas, I said. To which he responded, That can't be Vegas. There's

travel

Overheard in Escalante

I went "glamping" in Escalante. I'm not usually a glamper, but I was invited, and it actually was pretty fun. It was hot, probably close to 100 out, and this glamping situation had a pool. There were three other women at the pool with us, two fifty somethings and a

summer

Hair that Transcends Time

It was a hot summer's afternoon. The temps were in the low hundreds, and the small town in which I was in was sleepy with Sunday energy. Two of my friends were passing through and we went out to find lunch. We ended up at a brewery, sitting on the

desert

It's Hard To Be So Famous

My entire life, I've wanted to see a book I wrote on store shelves. This dream has yet to come true, but I hope that one day it does. My husband has never had such a dream. He's not a writer, and that's great. His creativity manifests in different ways.

desert

Water is Always Relaxing

One spring, I could feel the hot weather coming, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little stressed by the on-coming heat. The months of triple digit days, and the lack of access to any sort of pool or river had lodged themselves in my dreams.

summer

The Longest Mile

I love swimming laps. But what happens is I get out of the habit, and it's hard for me to rally to get to the pool. Recently, I decided it was time to start swimming again. I saddled up, made it to the community center, and got to choose between

desert

Desert Stuff

It is hot. Like, July hot. It isn't the hottest summer ever, but I'd say the temperature is probably over a hundred at seven p.m. I'm in my kitchen, and I look out my back door. I see something. Big. Flesh colored. Wait, it can't be flesh colored. It

summer

A Heavy 65 Pounds

A couple of years ago, my husband and I met a friend of ours to go camping. She brought her dog, who we will call Esther. Esther is a very pretty pit bull, who weighs what her guardians describe as a heavy sixty-five pounds. My husband, my friend, and Esther

rural life

What is the real problem?

Once, I moved to a new place. The house was on what initially seemed like a quiet rural road. Then I realized that while the road didn't have a ton of traffic, the traffic it had was really fast and really loud. And while sometimes it was just a speeding

desert

Overheard in a Trendy Town

Standing in line at a sandwich place, a woman wearing bright red lipstick and an ankle-length, denim coat with a faux fur collar, a wide brimmed hat, and white snakeskin boots smokes angrily. She's yelling at a man who looks like he's woken up as a rock band groupie on

horror

Just Nope

I got invited to pitch a horror movie once. Which was cool, but a little outside of my wheelhouse. First, I didn't know how to pitch, so learning how to do it was a big deal, but more frighteningly, I had to watch a bunch of horror movies to prepare