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

We awoke to snow falling this morning – and it hasn’t stopped all day – but knowing that in 24 hours we can be sipping a margarita poolside at our B&B in Tlaquepaque allows us to thumb our noses at this white stuff. We head out in the morning with a group from my Rotary [...]

A “Happy 13th Anniversary” shout-out to Tammy and Steve who are technically celebrating # 3.25 since they married on Leap Day.  But no matter what the day their love and friendship is cause for celebration.  Our family is blessed with 3 wonderful sons and a daughter who married into our gang – and we are [...]

When I moved into our house 7 years ago, I knew it needed some TLC.  Wallpaper and paint from 1992 were only going to cut it for so long with me but I had that pesky day job that kept getting in the way plus I had no clue what I wanted (still don’t).  My [...]

I read a quote from Groucho Marx today.  He said “I find television very educational.  Every time someone switches it on, I go into another room and read a good book.” Amen. Ralph and Blair have indoctrinated Julia since a young age.  When asked the question “What does TV do”, Julia answers “Fries brain.” Amen [...]

Women of Substance are back!  Our February dinner was delayed a couple of weeks but we managed to meet tonight for dinner and as always, had a fabulous time.  We had intended to have dinner at d’Arpino’s but they had  a lounge singer this evening and we would have been seated directly in front of [...]

Many teen-agers don’t know the meaning of a written thank-you note – much less how to pick up the phone and say the words or (horrors!) send an email thanks. But it’s obvious friend Vickie is doing one – of many – things right in raising her daughter, Hannah.  One night last week, friend Robin [...]

We’re coming down the home stretch of finishing my sewing/craft room and I’m so ready to be done!  Thanks to friend Kirsten, we went to CBS Cabinets in Nixa on Wednesday and scored the perfect pair of cabinets.  They were in the back in the remnant pile but were just what I wanted and Burl [...]

I just had to share this great cartoon from one of my favorite comic strips.  Since I’m still a newbie to Facebook I had no idea how quickly my list of friends would multiply.  That list  includes a couple of people who Tammy and I agree are quite annoying but it’s hard not to accept [...]

The Starter Husband was NOT handy around the house – what an understatement!  His mother could – and would – try to fix anything and she taught me how to use some tools, paint, refinish furniture and do some minor plumbing.  Once I was single, I was at the mercy of kind neighbors or whatever help [...]

The Des Moines Register has a daily column called “Your 2 Cents’ Worth” which I always find quite thought-provoking.  Basically is “editorial light” because readers send in their comments in a few concise sentences instead of writing an essay about their feelings. One of the entries today really caught my eye and sums up quite [...]