Perhaps you’ll remember my last column - the civility and kindness-themed one where I illustrated the lack of both these qualities in my children and our nation’s current dialogue. I’m sure you either posted it on your fridge as a cautionary tale to your own children or you added it to the scrapbook you’ve made [...]
I’m a feline evangelist. I was a little late to the party, but now that I’m here, I think everyone should love cats as I do. Since I’ve welcomed cats into my life, I’m at a complete loss as to how I survived prior to kitties. Truly, my life was not nearly as full as [...]
Thanksgiving is almost upon us. It is a time to give thanks, gather friends and family together, watch football and, of course, eat oneself into a turkey coma. Mike and I have been hosting Turkey Day since way before we got married and it’s always been a blast. We take in all the orphans – [...]
My week was rocked by a cataclysmic event. No, not a natural disaster, although I think we’re about the only state that hasn’t been hit by one. Yet. No, this event caused instantaneous nausea, wailing, gnashing of teeth and rending of garments. Would you like to guess what happened? The Chicago Bears lost? Of course, [...]
I recently returned from a road trip to my hometown in Illinois with my niece. It's about an 18-hour drive and other than western South Dakota and Nebraska, the scenery is less than breathtaking. (My apologies to crop landscape devotees. No offense intended.). Other than going west instead of north and not realizing it until [...]
Before I begin today’s column, I’d like to add a postscript to the column I wrote a couple months ago. The one about raising teenagers and the CVC’s CampFIRE youth leadership experience. If you read it, you’ll remember that I was fighting my 8th grader on going to camp. I knew all the pain would [...]
I like to think of myself as a voracious reader. Isn’t that a great word? Voracious. Rolls off the tongue. I probably would be a voracious reader if life didn’t get in the way. Work, family and friends tend to conspire to lure me away from my towering stack of books. I generally have anywhere [...]
Parenting a teenager is not for weenies. Those of you who have undertaken it know the struggle is real. Those of you who have only been teens should remember the awkwardness, the endless moments of humiliation, the fear of being noticed, the fear of being unnoticed. It's just brutal. The surging hormones mean teens are [...]
I love March. It means so many things. Daffodils (my all-time fave flower) from the American Cancer Society. The chance that spring (my all-time fave season) might actually arrive. March Madness, which pretty much annually features the Kansas Jayhawks (my all-time fave team). In addition and most importantly, it’s the month of my birthday! [...]
I’m back! Four pounds lighter, perhaps a few inches smaller and feeling very pleased with self for surviving the Whole30. Thanks for the votes of confidence! Today, I’m using my column for something other than what’s become a bit of my personal blog post. Instead, I’m going to share both my disappointment and my hope. [...]
