Vicki McKenna

Hangin' in There: Keeping connections from afar and beyond

Updated Dec 12, 2019

My grandmother died in 1994, but I touched base with her last weekend.

Hangin' in There: Thriving within my wonderful, chaotic life

Nov 29, 2019

Like I didn’t have enough going on in my life, what with moving my mom into an assisted living residence, but this past weekend, we also adopted a puppy.

Hangin' in There: First jobs are a lot like first loves

Nov 7, 2019

Well, I can finally boast that all my kids are now employed. Haley started her new job as a hostess at Melo’s Pizza last week, and she is thrilled!

Hangin' in There: Still rockin’ after all these years

Oct 24, 2019

You may find this hard to believe, but I was quite a rocker in my youth.

Hangin' in There: Here come the holidays

Oct 10, 2019

It began innocently. A few miniature houses would adorn my fireplace mantel at Christmas time, and then get packed up and put away until the next year. But then along came Michael’s, with their line of Lemax “Christmas Village” pieces.

Hangin' in There: When things begin to change

Sep 19, 2019

It began a few years ago – I was chatting with my mom, who was 75 years old at the time, on the phone, and the subject of how much mail she was receiving every day came up.

Hangin' in There: Maybe home really is where the heart is

Sep 5, 2019

So I’m freaking out a little bit. My oldest daughter, Kaelin, is getting married next May. Yay! Her boyfriend, Matt, is a perfect match for her, and their kids will be adorable. Yes, I am still holding out hope that I’ll be a grandmother who can still chase the little munchkins up the stairs…

Hangin' in There: Navigating the milestones

Aug 15, 2019

Well, it finally arrived: the first of the lasts. Last week, I registered my fifth and final child at Deer Valley High School. It didn’t hit me until we pulled into the parking lot that I would never do this again. Checkbook in hand, we walked to the gym, saying hello to many parents I have …

Hangin' in There: My happy place is gone

Jul 25, 2019

I want to know whose bright idea it was it to completely turn my neighborhood Target upside down! What was once my sanctuary, my “happy place,” is now my nightmare in hell! It began with a subtle warning outside Target announcing that “big changes” were coming. Yeah, big changes and a big he…

Hangin' in There: My real-life Stranger Things adventure

Jul 11, 2019

Bizarre things always seem to occur when Maury is out of town. Water heaters blow, large appliances break down, the electricity goes out for hours, etc.

Hangin' in There: Supporting the military is now a personal, family thing

Jun 27, 2019

While many families are taking trips to Disneyland and Santa Cruz, accompanying their kids on exhilarating roller coaster rides, we took a ride on an emotional rollercoaster yesterday with Haley.

Hangin' in There: Karma is real and so are debit card hackers

May 2, 2019

I took my daughter and her fiance’ to lunch the other day – nothing fancy, just sandwiches at the Boudin Bakery in Walnut Creek.

Hangin' in There: Life’s big events are never easy

May 2, 2019

In our life, it never fails. Big events come in clusters. We can never just focus on a prom or a Christmas party or a wedding. Typically, they will all fall on the same day.

When life events collide

Apr 22, 2019

In our life, it never fails. Big events come in clusters. We can never just focus on a prom or a Christmas party or a wedding. Typically, they will all fall on the same day.

Spring cleaning and surviving a remodel

Apr 11, 2019

What is it about spring that makes you want to clean? I don’t necessarily like to clean, but come April 1st, I glance around my house and hate everything — from the color of the walls to the style of my furniture. I am suddenly acutely aware of all the dust and clutter, and start moaning to …

Facing up to not facing your fears

Mar 21, 2019

You often hear people say, “You have to face your fears.”

Furniture assembly can break a family’s spirit

Mar 7, 2019

There are many words that can send a shiver down your spine. Head lice, stomach flu, root canal. But last week, my son Ryan and I decided that the two most daunting words in the world are “assembly required.”

The curse of the dinnertime robocall

Feb 21, 2019

There is nothing more irritating than sitting down to dinner and being harassed by a robo-call. You know, those annoying sales calls that are pre-recorded and don’t even have a human at the other end of the phone. At first, you think you are talking to a person until you try to interrupt the…

Hangin' in There: Taking a risk on a new haircut

Feb 7, 2019

Last week I woke up and decided I was going to cut my hair.

Hangin' in There: Too much holiday madness can trigger a panic attack

Jan 10, 2019

If you are like me, you are now wearing stretchy pants and whipping up kale shakes in your new Ninja smoothie machine.

Hangin' in There: Speeding tickets change with age

Dec 27, 2018

Gone are the days when I could smile my way out of a speeding ticket.

Another Thanksgiving on the books

Nov 29, 2018

Well, the last load of dirty dishes from Thanksgiving is finally done.

Vicki McKenna: The thrill of a good ghost story, good scare

Nov 15, 2018

Halloween is long gone and the only trace of it are a few miniature Snickers bars sitting at the bottom of an orange plastic bowl on my dining room table, but my kids and I are still getting spooked.

The perils of finding your happy place

Oct 18, 2018

Where is your ‘happy place’ – you know, the place you go that gives you the sense that all is well with the world?

Hangin' in There: Managing stress in a stress-filled world

Sep 27, 2018

I have a lot on my plate over here, although probably no more than you.

Sixteen candles and one sweet birthday piercing

Sep 5, 2018

We celebrated a sweet sixteen recently.

Preparing for the worst – and flies

Aug 9, 2018

Are you prepared for an emergency?

The danger of selfies and other mom things

Jul 3, 2018

I am a worrier.

Surviving our last teen driver

Jun 20, 2018

Ahhh, the dog days of summer – no school, binge watching “Westworld” and sleeping in till 11 a.m.

The embarrassing pain of purchasing Preparation H

Jun 6, 2018

I do a lot of shopping – it’s a big part of my day, much to the annoyance of my husband, but someone has to make sure there is toilet paper in the house.

Running from the DMV

May 23, 2018

If you have ever wondered what hell is like, just visit the Pittsburg DMV.

Legalization of marijuana should go up in smoke

May 3, 2018

In my humble opinion, there are some poor decisions being made in Sacramento regarding our state, and I am not happy.

Shoplifters are weighing me down

Apr 18, 2018

Nothing gets me more steamed up than shoplifting.

The tale of the steak-cooking ghost

Apr 5, 2018

Do you believe in ghosts?

Antioch is like nowhere else on earth

Mar 7, 2018

If you visit Chili’s in Antioch, maybe you have noticed the large sign above the hostess desk that reads “Antioch … Like No Place Else.”

Dreaming of Olympic glory

Feb 15, 2018

Our family enjoys watching the Winter Olympics.

Saying goodbye to a beloved couch

Feb 1, 2018

Our big brown couch was a behemoth of a thing that filled up most of our family room.

Hangin' in there: How I got burned shopping for toasters

Jan 11, 2018

There is just something about packing up all the Christmas decorations that puts me in the mood to redecorate my home, which is inconvenient because I am broke.