RIDING THE RAILS - UNDERCOVER

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RIDING THE RAILS - UNDERCOVER

As I stepped onto Car 631, I smiled.  There are so few opportunities in life to completely let go, and I was ready to be invisible (except to a bunch of strangers also trying to get off the grid).  Goodbye office; hello majestic mountains, colorful buttes, and whitewater rivers.  The rhythm of my life was about to be gauged only by meals.  And none of them would be at my desk...

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HOW TO SURVIVE AN ALCOHOLIC MOTHER (WITHOUT HIDING UNDER THE BED)

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HOW TO SURVIVE AN ALCOHOLIC MOTHER (WITHOUT HIDING UNDER THE BED)

They say your childhood has to last a lifetime.  If that's true, I'm in a world of hurt. My mom was an alcoholic.  Not the kind who gets sleepy, funny, philosophical, weepy, or syrupy (we all know that last type: "I love you, man!").  My mom just got mean.  Evil mean.  So mean that she actually flunked out of the acclaimed Hazelden 30-day inpatient alcohol rehab program and bragged about it.  The counselors were probably scared of her.  Everyone else was.  Even the dog.

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