Category: Blog
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The Nickname Game
Choosing Your Own Nickname is Harder Than You Think. We are planning a big trip with four generations of family. In addition to making memories of a lifetime, this trip provides great opportunity to embarrass the children. I’m talking family sing-alongs, group pictures at every restaurant, and matching T-shirts in neon colors. With family nicknames…
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A New Approach to New Year’s Resolutions
Reality never matches the ambition of New Year’s resolutions. Each January 1st I channel my inner optimist and set goals for improving myself in the coming year. In reality, my New Year’s resolutions become a To Do list for the month of January. Like my favorite football team, my new routines and healthier habits barely…
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The Recipe Rebel
There are two types of people in the world: those who read the directions, and those who should have. I am usually a rule follower. I don’t drink milk beyond its sell-by date. I launder my whites and darks separately. I always fasten my seatbelt. But when I flip open a cookbook to create…
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The Handbook of Christmas Traditions
For my tradition-loving family, Christmas is our favorite time of year. We love every aspect of the Christmas holiday. Our family has traditions for everything from worship services to decorations to food and entertainment. You might say we are wrapped in tradition. In fact, we could publish a handbook of standard operating procedures for our…
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Becoming A Celebrity Canine Agent
Dog’s Stage Debut Makes Him a Canine Celebrity Our daughter’s dog Flame just made his stage debut in the fall musical at her college. At her request I brought him to the auditions, where he impressed the director and won the part. Since Flame lives at home while his mama resides in the dorm, it…
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Too Old to be Outdated
You are as old and as young as the words you speak. I try not to be lured into clicking those outrageous headlines in my browser’s sidebar. But as a slightly compulsive wordsmith, once in a while a great grammatical hook has me taking the bait. Recently, the article that caught my eye was “Outdated…
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The Dog Spoon
Don’t judge me by the utensils I use. The first time I met my prospective in-laws I really wanted to make a good impression. Instead, I scandalized them by using the wrong spoon. It wasn’t a breach of etiquette. I’m not some ditzy debutante who can’t navigate a formal place setting. I was helping prepare…
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It’s Not Easy Going Green
Kermit the Frog was more right than we knew Throughout my childhood, Kermit the Frog lamented that it’s not easy being green. But while Kermit eventually figured it out (he does have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame after all), I’m still struggling to reach that verdant state. In fact, going green in…
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Personality Quiz Uncovers the Me I Never Knew
How well do I know myself? Apparently not well enough. When I was a kid, the cool girls shared personality quizzes from Tiger Beat magazine on the school bus. Sadly, my uncool self never scored high enough to break into the ranks of potential celebrity girlfriends. (Your loss, David Cassidy.) As we grew up,…
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Cat in a Dog Suit
Some dogs are cats in disguise There are definite differences between big dogs and little dogs. I have big dogs. They act like dogs. My sister has a small dog, Roxie, whom we met for the first time on a recent visit. She doesn’t act anything like my pooches. In fact, her personality is…