My family and I spent Christmas week at an all inclusive resort in Rivera Maya, Mexico, a beautiful location. Part of the fun at an all inclusive resort is that all alcohol is included in the price of the hotel. The first day at the beach my family and I had a blast trying all of the frozen concoctions. From the Blue Hawaiian to the Iceberg, we tas …
The lead article in the Times this morning is about loosening restrictions in New York for the sale of marijuana for medicinal purposes. That is a long time coming. About twenty states allow its limited sale. Some states, such as New Jersey, have very restrictive laws. You can only be prescribed pot if you show that you have exhausted all conv …
I awoke yesterday morning at about 7:15AM to a blanket of white and the sounds of snow throwers...another suburban moment. I threw on jeans, T-shirt, heavy socks, a hoodie, ski jacket and boots. Got my gloves and trundled down into the garage to fire up my snow thrower and join the fun. After trying to start it by hand a couple of times I plugged …
Today is my Father's birthday and 18 years after his passing I am just starting to miss him. Why am I just starting to miss him? He was a "Damon Runyon" ("Guys and Dolls") character, emphasis on character, to the outside world. Although he was a tough SOB and especially hard on his first born son he is finally starting to get through to me. In th …
What would you do if you had nothing to do ? I pondered the thought earlier today - New Year's Day - after friends with whom we were to spend the day had to change their plans because of a family emergency. I had been thinking about “unstructured” time as something to aspire to in the new year. Although not something that would be attract …
I wanted to wish everyone a happy new year. The last several years have brought numerous challenges to many, including myself. I am anxiously looking forward to this upcoming year with optimism and anticipation. I look at the upcoming year this way, not because I have a reason to expect success. The first 18 years of my life consisted of great …
One component of the Affordable Care Act in the news these days is a requirement that vending machines display the calorie count for each of the items available for sale. The idea is that knowledgeable consumers will consume fewer calories, curbing an epidemic of obesity in our country and resulting in lower healthcare costs. The vending machine in …
Anyone who knows me knows that I love to read. My husband will tell you that I can easily go through, at least, one book per week. I also used to love going to the library and bookstores. There were certain bookstores, especially small used bookstores, where I used to be able to spend hours. Last year, my husband gave me a Kindle. My love of …
One of my favorite movies as a child is on TV every year around this time, Babes in Toyland, or as it is also titled The March of the Wooden Soldiers. It was just on again the other day. In this Laurel and Hardy film from the 1930's the hapless Stan figures out that they can use the 6 foot tall wooden soldiers to fight the evil Silas Barnabas and …
Hovercraft have been around for decades but they've always looked like they were bathtubs or those small kiddie pools with a big fan. Well, here comes Mercier-Jones from Chicago with a really cool looking vehicle. This will give new meaning to "blowing into town." Imagine jumping in, whirring it up and floating down the highway. Now I won't have …
When I was a young lawyer I suffered badly from holiday blues. As I've matured such year end blues have ebbed. I cannot explain why I had them or how and why they have eroded. What I do know is that 2013 was a challenging, successful and happy year and that 2014 portends as well.I want to wish all of my readers (and my numerous loyal commenters) an …
Rocking chairs belong in baby nurseries. I hadn't given this much thought until last weekend when we were baby-sitting for our grandson Jackson and he needed to take a nap. It wouldn't have happened without the rocking chair in his room. As I sat holding Jackson and rocked, I was soothed with memories of rocking my children in the rocking chai …
It is something I've never experienced before. I am a problem solver. When something bothers me, I obsess on it. I devour it like a starved lion until it is resolved. But I have never experienced grieving before. It has now been 5 days since my father's funeral and not only have I not solved this, but I don't even know the problem. I am l …
Instead of calling the police, an Ohio coffee shop held a food drive for a man who stole from the tip jar. A few weeks ago, a man came into the coffee shop, helped himself to the tips and promptly ran out the door. The staff of the coffee shop was moved by the plight of the thief. So, rather than turn him in, in the holiday spirit they started a f …
Every year, at the end of the year, most magazines and newspapers start publishing lists. These lists have included the top earners for the year, the most googled people for the year, top news stories of the year, best movies of the year, etc. One list that caught my eye this year was a list published by Google entitled, "The Top Ten Recip …
