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

This coming week marks the first of September which to me always signals the last hurrah of summer.  I know we’ll still have plenty of warm weather in September and we’re certainly not ready to close up the pool but there’s something about Labor Day weekend that is a rite of passage.  The garden is [...]

My dear friend, Robin, recently started working in downtown Springfield so it was a given that we had to meet for lunch.  I got a tour of her new digs – including her office which borders the sidewalk on McDaniel Street – and loved the original hardwood floors, high ceilings and light fixtures from the [...]

Life is so full of blessings and I try to remember to enjoy each of them as they happen and appreciate them – and roll with the punches when life doesn’t go according to the scripts I write in my head.  I always know that God is running the show but my controlling nature often [...]

We live 30 minutes from Branson but somehow we rarely think about going there for a dinner and show.  Fortunately our friends Les and Tana are ahead of us on the social scene and invited us to join them last night.  All of us are enjoying the offerings from the 417 Magazine Restaurant Month and [...]

It’s 417 Restaurant Month so Women of Substance chose Farmer’s Gastropub for our $20 3-course dinner tonight.  We had tried to have lunch there a few months ago but they are closed at noon on Mondays so we were really looking forward to our meal.  Unfortunately it fell under the “did not meet expectations” category!  [...]

I have a confession to make.  I am addicted to yarn.  And when it’s on sale, I’m truly powerless! Case in point – my dear friend and bad-influence gal pal Nancy called me late this afternoon to tell me about a super closeout on yarn at Hancock Fabrics.  An hour later I was home with [...]

This past Tuesday was primary election day in Missouri and there were several heated contests as well as a healthcare proposition to ponder at the voting booth.  The biggest race was the Republican race for 7th district congressman.  From a field of 7 candidates, one was the winner by a wide margin and will now [...]

Yesterday was the annual Tour de Cox bicycle ride and one I always look forward to riding – and especially this year.  First of all, I got to ride the whole ride with my buddies Ann and Norb who are training for a ride this fall from St. Augustine to San Diego – almost 3100 [...]