I hand it to all of you who venture out into the world on Black Friday. The day after Thanksgiving, I can barely rouse myself out of bed due to the turkey, stuffing and pie-induced coma I’m in. So to anyone who managed to get up early (or who camped out before the stores opened) to battle the throngs of bargain seekers, I salute you. For me, one of the best things about the holiday is that it marks the beginning of the Christmas season. Obviously, Black Friday shoppers feel the same way. The tree goes up that weekend, and I’ll watch every sappy Christmas movie ever made – twice – while I …

To me, Thanksgiving is the harbinger of the Christmas season, and I look forward to putting up the tree that weekend. For Matt, however, it marks his favorite day of the year because he loves turkey. He looks forward to the big dinner and all the leftover turkey sandwiches, turkey casseroles, turkey stir fry, you name it. He loves turkey more than Santa loves his elves. So one year, we were out and he wanted to stop in at one of those discount food stores. We don’t have one in our town and Matt likes to shop there whenever he can because second only to turkey, he loves bargains. When we got …

I know that Daylight Savings Time was implemented many years ago and for a reason. I, however, happen to be of the belief that one shouldn’t mess with Mother Nature. Remember those old “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature” commercials? Sadly, it doesn’t annoy me for altruistic reasons such as standing up for Mother Nature. No, no; it messes with my system and adds to my list of things I have to do. When it was started during World War I, people didn’t have clocks in almost every gadget in their houses. Heck, they didn’t have many gadgets at all. Today, we have coffee makers that we can set to…

As I said in last week's column, the pink ribbon stands for breast cancer; but for many businesses, it represents huge, huge profits. Sadly, some of the charities that purport to want a cure have lost their way and they, too, are making money hand over fist in the name of breast cancer. For example, I truly believe that the Susan G. Komen Foundation started out with the best of intentions. It’s also mine (and many other breast cancer patients/survivors) opinion, that they’ve lost their way. When the organization began, “for the cure” was its battle cry. To this day, they covet that phrase and…

I’ve always loved pink. But not just any pink; the Barbie pink that’s associated with breast cancer ribbons today. Little did I know that pink would one day symbolize more to me. Now, the pink ribbon is everywhere. I’m thankful that women wear them to support people like me. In fact, my daughter often wears one. That being said, I’m not annoyed with you if you don’t feel the need to sport one – even if it’s October. I also don’t get offended if you skip buying an expensive can of pink labeled soup and instead reach for the generic brand. Many of us are closely watching where every penny is …

Chemo was finally over; it was time to prepare for 32 rounds of radiation. Before then, there was a break during which I got my port taken out. It would be a few weeks before I started, and those weeks were some of the worst of my life. I’d been sick, and in so much pain, I was too busy to really look at myself. And when I did, my spirits crashed. I’d lost my hair, eyebrows and eyelashes. I had an indentation where a breast had been; the scar was over an inch wide due to the many surgeries. The other breast was smaller and misshapened. The long showers I used to enjoy had become a chore. I …

This is part three in Lucy’s story about her battle with breast cancer. You can read the first part here, and the second part, the mastectomy, here. I had finally beaten the MRSA, and it was time for chemotherapy. The doctors were nervous, though, because there’s a window of time following surgery that is considered “safe” to wait prior to beginning treatment. My window was quickly closing; they were anxious to get me started. I should backtrack a bit, however, and share that I had a port put in. Chemo is administered through an IV, and since it’s really just controlled poisoning, it can …

This is the second part of Lucy’s story about her battle with breast cancer. You can read the first part, her diagnosis, here. It’s funny how our perception of time changes according to the events we’re expecting; or dreading. The weeks prior to my mastectomy were filled with a battery of pre-op testing, but they went quickly. Even though time flew, silence became my enemy. If there was no noise, the silence would envelop me like a steel cloak, weighing heavily on my heart and mind. Even though I tried to be upbeat, those moments of solitude allowed the fear to creep into my mind. Cancer was …

Even though I enjoy summer, I’m a cold weather fan. By September, I’ve had about enough of high heat and humidity. When fall comes around, I usher it in with unmitigated glee. Of course, like everything in life, nothing is perfect. As I prepare my house for the winter months, little field mice are packing their bags as well, in search of their winter home. My house, apparently, has a neon “Holiday Inn” sign with a perpetual flashing vacancy sign, beckoning mice from all over the town. I know this is going to sound weird, but I’m torn about having them in my house. They carry diseases, get …

Matt and I have homeschooled our children for years. So when summer comes around, I don’t know who’s more excited – us or them. After the last test is graded, we throw on Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out for Summer” and then dance around like a bunch of drunken sailors. We’ve got a whole lot of nothing to do for a few months. I want to clarify; we don’t homeschool because we think teachers aren’t doing a good job. On the contrary, we think teachers have the hardest job out there these days. When I was younger, if your teacher looked at you cross-eyed, you were nervous; bullies were thrown out on …

Sometimes I’m amazed that my children can clothe themselves in the morning. I say that because half the time, they can’t find a matching pair of socks, and if they had wanted to wear a certain shirt, it’s gone missing. After searching for all of, oh, maybe one second, they begin to bellow, “Mom, where’s my other shoe/shirt/socks/brush/head?” In fact, my best friend, Michele told me the other day that nothing is ever truly lost until Mom can’t find it. No truer words were ever spoken. For example, up until a few years ago, we’d owned a restaurant. Matt’s a brilliant chef, and his specialty was…

No matter your weight, women get freaked out whenever it’s time to buy a bathing suit. I’ve always hated buying one, even when I was young and had no body issues. But, we’re getting ready to go on vacation, and the last time my current swimsuit was in style was the early 80s. First thing I did was to thumb through women’s magazines, looking for what’s fashionable right now. I came across article after article counseling that once I had figured out my body shape, they had tips for the best bathing suit for me. I saw straight-shaped, pear-shaped, inverted triangle-shaped, and several other body…

Cell phones are everywhere and it seems that everyone has them, from older adults down to 3 year olds. It’s only been 10 or 15 years since they became a universal commodity, yet it seems that none of us can live without them. Does anyone remember when a trip to the store armed with a list was all you had? No one could call and add to it; yet we lived and made do. Yikes! When did I turn into an old lady talking about the good old days? Of course, the kids wanted their very own cell phones. They began to show up on the top of both Christmas and birthday wish lists. Matt and I couldn’t figure …

Years ago, I hurt my back. I went to the doctor and he asked me how I did it. Strangely enough, I had no clue. I just woke up and could barely get out of bed. He determined that I must have pulled a muscle and suggested that I try Yoga. I made an appointment. I arrived at my first class and my senses were immediately assaulted by an overwhelming scent. I looked around and found the source - an incense burner. I quickly identified the smell as Patchouli. If you’ve never smelled Patchouli, I can’t begin to describe it. It’s one of those fragrances that you either love or hate. I happen to …

We’ve all seen them; children whose parents have the ability to tune out while their children are misbehaving. Honestly, misbehaving is a mild word for kids running through a restaurant, knocking over chairs and bumping into tables, sending plates flying. Yet their parents keep on eating as if nothing is going on. The funny thing is, if you point out their miscreants’ behavior, you’re nasty or hate kids. And why is it that they’re almost always out in restaurants or in movie theaters when we’re trying to have a nice evening? Years ago, Matt and I went to a theater and the family behind us had…

I’d written a little about nasturtiums before, but only scratched the surface of my lack of skill growing them from seed. Here, as Paul Harvey used to say, is the rest of the story. Years ago, Matt and I owned and operated a restaurant. As part of that business, we catered. Meat and cheese platters were always popular, but I always thought that the mounds of parsley most delis use for decorating the platters were excessive. It made me feel like grabbing a lawn mower or a pair of clippers. I went in search of other ways to dress them up and stumbled upon a humble flower called the nasturtium. …

I saw this on Facebook: A friend is someone who’ll raise bail money to get you out of jail. A best friend will be sitting next to you in the cell. From my experience, men can go for years without venturing from their homes for anything other than beer or a football game. If it can be brought into their homes via post, dropped from a helicopter or delivered on horseback, they’ll live happily in their caves. Women, on the other hand, need outside contact. More than that, we crave friends. But nothing in this world beats a best friend. A best friend knows you for all your charms and warts and …

“I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, As long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be.” Robert Munsch Mother’s Day is today, and I’d like to say a very sincere “Happy Mother’s Day” to all the moms out there. Our job is sometimes tough, yet rewarding. And as Munsch pointed out in his much loved book, “Love You Forever,” no matter how big they get, they’re always our babies. But sometimes, Mother’s Day isn’t about us entirely, it’s about the children that we’ve raised. For me, this Mother’s Day is a tribute to my children Aubrie, Elyse and Dakota and the three years that they’ve taken care…

It’s almost May, and if you happen to have a teen-aged girl, there’s a good chance she’s going to prom. Or thinking about prom. Or hoping to be asked to prom. Or planning for prom. For some reason, most teen girls are consumed by it in some form or another. Parents, on the other hand, would rather see the arrival of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The most important part of prom, for many, is the dress. It’s second only to a girl’s wedding dress. The search for it will more than likely take just as much time. Now, take the stress of prom, and add not one, but two girls, and you can see …

There’s nerds, dorks, and geeks. I’m all of them in one; I’m a Nerdorgeek. Actually, I’m the Queen of Nerdorgeeks. While many think that implies being technically savvy, it doesn’t always. It also means those who have absolutely no prowess when it comes to any type of grasp on the technological pulse. Still, that hasn’t stopped me from diving into the hi-tech pool head first without stopping to notice there’s no water. Some of my many faux pas have to do with learning the shorthand language of texting and emailing. And, like a lot my blunders, things usually start or have something to do with…