Shifting Gears   Baby Boomer…Member Life 2.0…Wife, Mother, Grammie…Bicyclist…GoldWinger…Mensan…Girl Scout…Reader…Knitter…Rotarian

Our social calendar rarely includes anything too fancy – much less Black Tie apparel – but last weekend afforded a couple of opportuntities to break out of my jeans and sweater mold during away-from-work time and actually dress up!  Friday night was the annual Chamber of Commerce dinner at University Plaza where Ken Meyer was [...]

There’s big difference between not having electricity and being powerless and it’s not just semantics either.  During the last 2 weeks the burning question on everyone’s lips has been “do you have power?” – it didn’t take me long to realize that even when we were living in the dark (literally, not figuratively) we still had [...]

The Oscar nominations were announced yesterday – some were expected, others were surprises good and bad.  We’ve seen only a handful of the movies but several will be showing at The Moxie in the near future so Springfieldians can enjoy an alternative to the mainstream offerings at our other theatres.  If you haven’t been to The [...]

I mentioned to my dearest (and longest-time – NOT oldest!) friend this week that things were getting back to “normal” to which she replied that normal was a setting on the dryer!  Reminded me of the t-shirt my daughters gave me when I got divorced that said “My Next Husband Will Be Normal” – then [...]

The ice storm starting last Friday evening in Springfield.  By 10:30 our lights were out for the first time and then when they came back on 45 minutes later we thought we had dodged the big bullet.  NOT!  We sailed through Saturday and into Sunday when BAM – Sunday morning around 11:00 we lost power [...]

Writing about my great-nephews yesterday made me think even more about my sister Susie who left us 11 years ago today.  Susie was 5 years older than me so I surpassed her time on earth a few years back – thus she remains in my mind wrinkle-free with no gray hairs, perpetually in a swim [...]

One of my daughters once reflected that her Nana taught her how to cook and cuss (and Nana was excellent at both) and her Grammie (my mother) taught her to pray before meals and write thank you notes.  Both of these women were fabulous influences in my life although I admit I excel more at [...]

My hubby is the BEST – not only has he cooked dinner twice this week but he loves me unconditionally and he LOVES a sale.  Never have I seen a guy who loves to shop like he does – especially if there’s a chance for a bargain.  He’s a real hunter – Bambi has been [...]

I found the perfect antidote to winter and cold weather – we just booked flights to Phoenix for the 3rd week of February.  We’ll visit family and hike the Grand Canyon – we’ve known we were going but just getting the travel arrangements made makes it seem more real.   As I sat here and shopped [...]

It’s not rocket science!  In order to lose weight, you take in fewer calories than you burn.  To maintain weight, calories in = caolories burned and to gain you eat like a pig as I did over the holidays – great food and drinks, plenty of parties to introduce me to lots of yummy stuff [...]