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  • An uphill battle

    Tuesday, August 15, 2017 9:34 AM
    It seemed like such a good idea, as most bad ideas do initially. My motives were sound and intentions genuine. I’d help the environment while whipping myself into shape. I’d save on wear and tear to my car. And I’d set a good example for my children by walking the walk and talking the talk or pedaling the pedal as the case may be.
    I was surprised I hadn’t thought of the grand plan before. 
    It was a 
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  • Celebration of friends

    Tuesday, August 8, 2017 8:56 AM
    “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.”

    National Friendship Day was Aug. 6, but in my opinion, every day should be a day to celebrate friends and the different types of friendships we have in our lives. From best friends all the way to acquaintances, I know I value mine. 
    Let’s start with 
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  • Our lady Venus

    Tuesday, August 1, 2017 9:02 AM
    They sat unassumingly on a shelf in the gardening department. I was on the hunt for fertilizer, but these little potted beauties caught my eye and caused me to pause. Even though I’d never seen anything like them before in real life, I identified them immediately. I figured my boys would be more than interested in the care and feeding of the delicate sprouts.
    We had to have one.
    When I got home, I set my purchase on the kitchen table and waited. It wasn’t long before
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  • Growing like a weed

    Tuesday, July 25, 2017 9:58 AM
    He is growing like a weed. But it’s a weed we cultivate, a weed we help grow. We will never pull him up by the roots or attempt to eradicate his existence. He is growing like a weed and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
    Although he’s the little brother, he’s always measured taller than the other two were at the same age on our makeshift growth chart in the kitchen behind the basement door, where dozens of pencil lines are marked with names and dates, growing higher on the wall as the years have passed. It won’t be long before he surpasses the heights of his brothers, who have probably stopped growing.
    He is 
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  • Club or pole?

    Tuesday, July 18, 2017 10:03 AM
    Summer brings out two vastly diverse species of sports persons wielding sticks, and I’m not referring to hockey and lacrosse. I’m talking about fishing poles and golf clubs.
    While not impossible, it is a rarity to find a golfer who enjoys the rigors of fishing and vice versa. If you happen to do both, good for you. But by and large, “fisherpersons” fish and golfers golf. That is the way the world was created. 
    Logistics demand it. Both sports require 
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  • I am an introvert

    Tuesday, July 11, 2017 10:59 AM
    My husband and I recently made a happily anticipated purchase of a new summer water toy. We’d been looking forward to it for a long time and I was thrilled. I really was. 
    When we went to pick up our vessel, the nice salesman asked me a number of times if I was excited. I answered in the affirmative, but after about the third query from him, I realized I wasn’t demonstrating my
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  • July Fourth is No. 1

    Monday, July 3, 2017 11:57 AM
    It’s the best holiday of the year — my favorite. And not just because you get to eat ice cream at lunch and roasted marshmallows after dark (although that clearly has something to do with it). Christmas and birthday fans might think the Fourth of July is an unusual choice for a preferred holiday, but I have my reasons. Six of them, in fact.
    Reason No. 6: Freedom to
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  • The joy of worrying

    Tuesday, June 27, 2017 12:15 PM
    I used to live a carefree life. I didn’t worry about the future or wars or the economy. I drove on sketchy roads up mountains and even climbed those mountains on occasion. I spent too much money on impractical shoes. I ordered my chili extra spicy and wore white after Labor Day. I rode a bike without a helmet and drove a car without a seat belt. I ate fast food and drank sloe gin. I held snakes, dined on sushi and rode roller coasters with both hands in the air. And then, everything changed.
    I had children; four of them to be exact.
    Oh sure, children bring 
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  • Three boys on a beach

    Tuesday, June 20, 2017 10:38 AM
    They were splashing in the waist-high water of the lake, boisterous and loud. Three boys on either side of about 10 years old, if my estimate was accurate. I sat on the dock, observing from a distance. 
    The sun shone from behind a splattering of light cloud cover in the otherwise blue sky. The wind blew steadily, stronger than usual, cooling the warm summer air, causing
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  • Hitting the sauce

    Tuesday, June 13, 2017 12:15 PM
    I’ve always been a saucy type. It probably started with ketchup, my first encounter with sauce when I was just a tiny “Tater Tot” of a girl. Almost everyone has some sort of experience with ketchup. Many of us have a long-term ongoing relationship and find it hard to imagine life without ketchup. My husband is a spreader. I am a dipper.
    What started with ketchup grew and expanded to various flavors and varieties of thickened liquids called by different names – condiments, gravies, dips, salsas, dressings, syrups, pestos and Alfredos – but at their essence each one a sauce of some sort.
    Savory or sweet, thick or thin, white or red, cheesy or creamy, hot or cold, I 
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  • Pulling weeds

    Tuesday, June 6, 2017 12:04 PM
    I pull the dandelions out of the garden, without consciousness or appreciation of their sunny yellow dispositions. They are weeds, after all. Gardeners think nothing of pulling weeds in order to make room for the non-weedy, desirable plants.
    But who decides which is which?
    It’s in the eye of the beholder. That, and location, location, location.
    Weeds are
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  • Bad and good days

    Tuesday, May 30, 2017 11:49 AM
    It was a day like all others and a day like no other. As was the day before, and the day after. As are all days. Just days, but often so much more.
    A friend mentioned it was her wedding anniversary. She was in a celebratory mood, and rightly so. I asked her the date, because I wasn’t sure, and when she told me I realized it was an anniversary for me as well. Except mine was a sorrowful milestone.
    I felt a cloud descend and a pit grow in my stomach. I’d forgotten, or at the least failed to 
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  • Glove-free gardening

    Tuesday, May 23, 2017 12:24 PM
    Lately, my hands have taken a beating and I’ve got no one to blame but myself. It happens around this time each year. Spring has sprung and all that jazz. With spring comes gardening and gardening comes with a cost to my poor bare hands.
    Simply put, gardening involves dirt and dirt is, well, dirty. It gets under your fingernails, and sneaks into crooks and crevices you didn’t even know existed. I scrub with 
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  • The definition of mom

    Tuesday, May 16, 2017 11:02 AM
    It’s something we all have in common. Mothers have touched our lives. Each of us came into the world courtesy of a mother. But the concept doesn’t stop there. Mothers are everywhere. They live next door or across the country. They are teachers, coaches, counselors, protectors, enforcers, disciplinarians and friends.
    They are 
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  • ‘Emojimania’

    Tuesday, May 9, 2017 11:57 AM
    You could say it started with the simple round smiling yellow face back in the historic happy hippy days of the 1960s. It’s when Yellow Smiley was first created. Love, peace, smiles and all that jazz.
    For decades, Smiley was just Smiley — the iconic symbol that
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  • Right of way

    Tuesday, May 2, 2017 11:34 AM
    I’ve never claimed to be a great driver. Good, perhaps. Careful, for sure. My family would tell you I am cautious, sometimes to the point of being jumpy at the wheel.
    By jumpy I mean on the lookout for surprises, aka accidents waiting to happen. Pedestrians who come out of nowhere. Squirrels darting across the street. Dogs without leashes. And cars, mostly other cars. I have 
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  • Where is your toaster?

    Tuesday, April 25, 2017 11:29 AM
    We keep our toaster in the cupboard. Early in our marriage, this was a point of contention. My husband grew up in a home where the toaster sat on the counter. My family housed the breakfast appliance in the cupboard. As newlyweds, each of us was comfortable and happy with our own location of origin. But we couldn’t have 
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  • The purge

    Tuesday, April 18, 2017 2:46 PM
    My husband and I recently took on the task of refinishing the wood floors in three rooms that constitute our downstairs living areas — family room, dining room and miscellaneous room. (We’re not sure what to call it. Some days it’s the sunroom, other days the napping room. Right now, if I am being honest, it is the gaming room.)
    I digress. Aside from being
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  • Grilling revisited

    Tuesday, April 11, 2017 11:54 AM
    We never mastered the barbecue grill. Oh we tried, of course, in the early years of our marriage.
    We charred countless chicken breasts and burned a multitude of steaks. Shrimp on the barbie was never as it was supposed to be. No amount of barbecue sauce could salvage our calamities. Our collective lack of grilling ability was so expansive we even managed to light our patio on fire once.
    We didn’t want to be
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  • Squirrel!

    Tuesday, April 4, 2017 11:00 AM
    My husband says I am a squirrel. Don’t take it the wrong way. It’s a term of endearment as well as a fairly accurate descriptor (if I am being honest). It’s become a nickname of sorts. It all started at the superstore.
    About a month ago, we
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  • Not to be negative...

    Tuesday, March 28, 2017 12:04 PM
    Most of us like to think of ourselves as glass-half-full types of people. Positive and optimistic and all that. I try to be positive. Except in one key area where I have no choice or voice.
    I blame my parents for my
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  • Brothers and battles

    Tuesday, March 21, 2017 1:20 PM
    Last week my husband and I splurged on a little out-of-town getaway. We were only gone for one night. We figured the kids could handle that without setting the kitchen on fire or flooding the bathroom. We didn’t expect any miracles, like the time one of them actually filled and ran the dishwasher. (True story.)
    They assured us they
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  • Twelve minutes

    Tuesday, March 14, 2017 2:57 PM
    Each day it takes 12 minutes of my time — five days a week, Monday through Friday. Six minutes in the morning, six minutes in the afternoon, for a total of an hour each week.
    A person could 
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  • We kept having babies

    Tuesday, March 7, 2017 12:06 PM
    I don’t expect everyone to understand; don’t even expect approval or a nod. Most smart, logical and commonsense-driven people stop somewhere around 2.5 children. We did not.
    I remember being afraid to tell my parents or friends about the last one. When we finally did tell, some people told me we were making too many or that I was too old. Or even more daring — and this happened more than once — they asked if 
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  • You should never . . .

    Tuesday, February 28, 2017 3:34 PM
    There are certain things in life that prudent, forward-thinking people avoid. Like putting their tongue on a frozen metal fence, or being outnumbered by their kids. Certain actions just aren’t wise and some can even get you into trouble. These are things, that
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  • It is hard

    Tuesday, February 21, 2017 3:33 PM
    It is hard waiting for them to get here because waiting is never easy. And this bout of waiting is the longest 10 months of your life, even though everyone claims it’s only nine. Once you’ve been there and done the math, you know the truth and the truth is often hard.
    It is hard when they
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  • Secret shopper stalking

    Tuesday, February 14, 2017 3:38 PM
    It was an unassuming Sunday afternoon. I had to venture to the store for a few items. It was a leisurely excursion. Unlike most days, I wasn’t in a hurry and indulged in the luxury of
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  • The Table

    Tuesday, February 7, 2017 4:07 PM
    The Table has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.
    When I was a child, it was my fortress; I crawled under it, learning every crack and crevice from the
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  • Taking a sick day

    Wednesday, February 1, 2017 9:06 AM
    I hardly ever get sick. I guess I’m lucky that way. Besides, I’m a mom. Despite what the commercial says, we don’t get sick days. It’s easier to take care of others when you don’t need anyone to take care of you. So it’s convenient to be in good health — robust and well, with a constant and never-ending supply of aceta­min­o­phen and throat lozenges to dispense 
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  • Being a hero

    Wednesday, January 25, 2017 9:53 AM
    Things I learned today: Some of the most unexpected actions might make you a hero. Others do not.
    If you are a parent, this pretty much goes with the territory. For me, it’s been this way since the diaper years.
    When you change a diaper on time,
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