Mary Novaria

As seen on BuzzFeed...  Photo courtesy of NBC No matter how much we love our families, there can be such a thing as Too Much Family Togetherness. The holidays are just barely past, so you probably know what I’m talking about. It’s those quirky little expressions, mannerisms or habits—sometimes they were even endearing at first—that begin to drive us crazy. For the most part, I’ll be sorry to bid farewell to the Braverman clan when NBC’s Parenthood signs off this week after six seasons, but there a few things about them I’m not going to miss. 1. The way Zeek never called the kids by their names, always addressing them as “grandson” or “granddaughter.” It was cute at first, but then I began to worry that maybe Grandpa had dementia and truly couldn’t remember their names. Zeek, meet your grandchildren. Their names are Amber, Drew, Sydney, Victor, Jabbar, Aida, Norah, Max and Haddie. Speaking of which… where the heck is Haddie, the forgotten Braverman? Banished to col...

NYT best-selling author Laura Munson (This is Not the Story You Think it Is...) opens up her blog to alums of her Haven Writing Retreat in Whitefish, Montana. She asked us to submit pieces about what it took to get ourselves to the retreat, what our blocks were, and how the retreat has informed future decision making when it comes to creating possibilities for ourselves in the field of our dreams.  The theme is:  I Gave Myself the Gift of a Haven Retreat. So Now What? You can find other entries and learn more about Haven  here . Walking Lightly Ranch, home of Haven Writing Retreat I left my shoes on the porch and stepped into the lodge feeling like a fraud. When I arrived at Haven I’d lost confidence in my words and in myself. The past five years had been a morass of caregiving for an aging mother and teenage daughter, both incapacitated by maladies that my words, written or spoken, just couldn’t fix. Although there’d been scant time and even less ener...