Single Woman's Guides

When I got divorced after nearly 20 years of marriage, I was amazed by some of the seemingly simple things I'd never gotten around to learning how to do on my own. For one thing, I'd all-too-often deferred to my now-ex in matters of traditionally male gender roles, but for another, I'd simply been too busy - and broke! - raising five little kids to venture very often or far outside my usual routine.

Things are pretty different now. My kids are older - and they're with my ex half the time, leaving me with wide swaths of time to try new activities on my own. But you know what else is different? I'm older now, too, and I just don't worry as much about all the "what ifs" that go into trying new activities. So what if I mess up and make the wrong purchase? So what if I try to hang a picture on the wall and it's crooked? Life goes on if I screw something up, but if I don't try I'll never know what I'm capable of.

That said, I know how intimidating it can be to try something new for the first time, particularly if you feel like you "should" already have the skills, talents, or knowledge needed for the task. This series of Single Women's Guides will focus on skills and purchases you maybe haven't gotten around to acquiring yet. Many of them will be things I've finally been able to try, so you get the benefit of learning from my successes and mistakes. Sometimes I'll bring in experts to fill in vital information, but for the most part, you'll be hearing from my perspective as a definite non-expert in anything besides "being me."