Lisa Smith Molinari grew up in a small town in the rolling hills of Western Pennsylvania, where life is more about high school football and hunting season than corporate takeovers and cultural events. Being somewhat chunky and insecure, Lisa thrived in the manageable environment of her little hometown, attaining some social status in high school as evidenced by her election to the position of Class Clown in 1984.
Although Lisa intended to shake the dust of her small town off her shoes and go off to college, she ended up at Miami University in Oxford, OH, an even smaller town. Four years later, she discovered that her hard-earned bachelor’s degree in Speech Communications really only qualified her for entry-level sales positions (a plumbing supply company offered her a job selling urinal screens and tank bulbs.) So, she did the only reasonable thing: she decided to go to law school.
Working her way through law school in Lansing, Michigan, Lisa earned a coveted spot on the Law Review and graduated cum laude in 1991. A few months later, she was on top of the world….well, on top of a hill in Pittsburgh anyway, working as a young associate attorney in a thriving litigation firm.
Lisa envisioned a future that included promotions, partnership, opening her own practice someday, and of course marriage and children. She thought she would have it all as long as she stayed the course. What she didn’t know was that she would marry a military man, move all over the world every few years, have a bunch of kids, and neglect her legal career to manage their family life.
Nineteen years later, Lisa is still attempting to manage her family. She does manage, however, to take time to observe the journey of life and to see the humor in it.
[Lisa's humor column, "The Meat and Potatoes of Life," appears weekly in newspapers and on "Stripes Military Moms," a website associated with Stars and Stripes newspaper. She also writes a monthly column for Military Spouse magazine. Lisa's work has also been published in The Washington Post, The Indiana Gazette, Houston Woman Magazine, Arizona Parenting Magazine, The Citizen, Northwest Kids Magazine, The Village Connector, along with other print and online publications. Lisa's writing made WordPress' "Freshly Pressed" List three times, and Lisa's blog was voted a Top Military Family Blog, Top Parents of Teens Blog, and Top Military Mom Blog on Circle of Mom's website. Lisa is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the Erma Bombeck Writer's Group. She and her family are currently stationed at Naval Station Mayport, Florida. You can contact Lisa at meatandpotatoesoflife@gmail.com.]
I love your blog! I’m glad you were Freshly Pressed so I could discover you; you have a new follower in me!
Thanks, and being Freshly Pressed has also introduced me to some great bloggers like you too!
Hi Lisa, I stumbled across your blog looking for some support in the military spouse lifestyle, when I saw you were from Western Pa. I am attending school at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, graduating with my teaching degree in December of this year. Currently, I teach at Indiana Junior High. I often read the Indiana Gazette, and saw that is one of the publications your writing has been offered in. I just thought, “What a small world!” I love your blog, thanks for sharing.
Jackie
Hi Jackie — Indiana Jr. High! My old alma mater! Yes, my column was published weekly in the Indiana Gazette for almost two years. It was fun and I have lots of readers there, but the Gazette would never agree to pay even a small amount for my work, so I had to find other places for publication. Glad you found my blog!
Hello! You’re “It” in a game of blog tag – if you’d like to participate, please click here:
http://grandmalin.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/blog-tag-wanna-play/
Hi Lisa, I got tagged today and now I am tagging you! Check out http://pleunblog.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/tag-youre-it/ for the rules
I was always one of the last picked in gym, so this is very unnatural for me!
I know, it is a lot of work, just see it as my token of appreciation for what you do. I really like reading your blog!
Why thank you, Pleun!
Lisa, did you fall off the counter?
No comment….
This was from a get-together with my writer’s group when we lived in Germany. We all decided that we needed new mugshots and other photos for our blogs, columns, whatever. We must’ve taken 10,000 pictures, and NONE of them were good. If they didn’t make us look fat or sick, they were blurry. At one point, I dressed up in the 60′s housewife get up and we were going to get some silly kitchen shots that would go with the “Meat and Potatoes” theme, but every pose was more ridiculous than the next. In this shot, I had truly given up and someone started laughing, and the rest is history. This was the only shot that I liked because I was truly cracking up!
Lisa…find a swarm of bees my honey cause here comes the “smoke”!
I love, love, love the photo and the bio!!
I can see that exact photo on the jacket of your first book!
You look like a serious humorist.
Thanks Maz — I just hope I don’t get “stung” with all the bees in this business!
I stumbled upon your blog through Freshly Pressed, and because I loved your first post so much, I ended up reading just about all of your articles! They were so interesting and funny. You are a very unique person, and that reflects on your work. I look forward to reading your material!
http://indiraadams.wordpress.com
I love your stuff. funny, original, and smart. I love when WordPress helps me find great writers to read. Thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting.
Simon, thanks to you too. Your blog is great, by the way – witty, relatable, and well-written. Good stuff.
Lisa, I just awarded you my very own made up status symbol… the LOL award, because I consistently laugh out loud when I read your blog. To check out the details, go to:
http://twyste.com/2012/02/07/ha-ha-ha-no-really-theyre-that-funny/
Hi Lisa,
Congratulations on your “win” at circleofmoms.com. It’s an honor to be among such great women on the list. We are a unique group and have a lot to offer to one another and to the community. Keep up the great writing. (My sister and her husband graduated from Miami/Ohio, too!)
Anyway, I just wanted to reach out to you. I’ll keep reading your blog. This has been motivation for me to write more. I also have a parenting blog at beentheredonethatmom.com, but right now I find that writing deploymentdiatribes is much more therapeutic, for obvious reasons.
All the best,
Erin Henderschedt
Great blog..happy cruising..ELiza Keating
Love your story about trip to Italy!
ciao da Roma,
Karin
Lisa, hello not too sure if you remember me.I saw we were friends with some of the same people on facebook and i just wanted you to say hi and that i love your articles! expecially the facebook one! how very true you are and soo funny! I too maried a military man o so long ago! on #2 now!! i would love to catch up however after reading your aricle ill let you befriend me if you want to! take care! Patty Weaver Warren p.s. love your profile picture!
Hey Patty — Of course I remember you! Glad you like the blog, and I will definitely “friend” you on FB!