Being In Total Control, Honey—Whether kicking butt is your style or manipulation sublime, let's look at what it takes to stay on top of your life.
Whether they come in the shape of controlling ex-husbands, interfering relatives, backbiting coworkers, or just our habitually critical friends, most of us have a pretty good idea of who the “vampires” in our lives are. The trouble is, almost none of us know the vampire rules. Here's an important one to remember.
I never planned to go to college until my senior year. That's when I realized if I didn't I would have to find a job, drive a car, and live in Los Angeles. Even then, I only applied to one: the University of California at Santa Barbara. UCLA was too close to home, and Berkeley too far away. Most private colleges wanted a higher GPA than I had and required courses I hadn't taken. I didn't think about money. Despite our complete lack of savings, I assumed I could go to any college that accepted me, that it made no difference whether its tuition was public school modest or private school gargantuan, or whether it was in California so I could get a Cal Grant, or out of state so I couldn't.
Barbara MacKellar hardly sleeps. Every night she can be found sitting on her porch, reading whatever novel her friend has lent her. It can be imagined that she awakes this time of night to enjoy the quiet of a house that has witnessed the rearing of six children and the birth of one worldwide company.