Small world, small differences
At the risk of sounding like a Walt Disney musical, I’m pleased to report to you that it really is a small world after all. And it appears to be getting smaller all the time. This is a good thing, I reckon. A smaller global community with closer connections leads to intimacy (get your minds out of the gutter please) and intimacy leads to better understanding all the way around, right?
Way back in high school it was a huge deal when our school’s first ever international exchange …

Today we take a little trip down memory lane – and then come back to the future as it were. I told this story more than a year ago, I think. It bears repeating, though. And the update will make it more than worth your time…
More than a year ago, I moved into this house only to discover that the grass in the yard grew. A lot…
I’d called on my brother, back then. Brat that he is…
“Sure, you can borrow the mower,” he’d said. “Come on over.”
Which was when I’d …

To the outside world (and by outside world, I mean anyone who has never lived with me long enough to see behind the facade) I’m sure I appear to have my act together. My kids get to school on-time with matching clothes, combed hair and clean faces (usually). I cook dinner most…

I don’t mind telling you of the high expectations I had for our family reunion this weekend. I’d set out to discover I was a daughter of the Revolution on not one side, but two sides of the family as we headed to some place in Virginia. (The same place I’d referred to as being in West Virginia for more than a week… All these places just over the Kentucky border just blur into one.)
Not that I hadn’t been there before. Oh, I had. Two years prior. Which could be …

“On the news, a family dies…” That is an actual quote from my then 7-year-old son during a vacation in Arizona.   It’s one of my favorite quotes from my family’s vacation quote book.  Yep, we actually collect random and ridiculous vacation quotes taken completely out of  context,  just because we say so many dumb things  while traveling together.  Reading through them helps us remember fun times and makes us  laugh at ourselves.
Here’s the story of “On the news, a family dies…”
Two years ago we took our whole family (9 of …

Here’s the thing. If you read my weekly Palooza column (and if you like really strange holidays, you should), you already know how the Cancer Project plans to send hot dogs hiking.
But it seems they’ve gone to new heights. They are now suing Kraft (makers of Oscar Mayer dogs), Sara Lee, Nathan’s Famous, Sabrett, and Hebrew National, demanding they place wiener warning (WARNING: Ol’ Frank here causes CANCER) labels on packages sold in New Jersey.
Sure, the official warning label will probably be worded a bit differently, but you get …

Okay guys (and by guys, I don’t mean people in general, I actually mean guys, as in the gender laden with testosterone) this post is basically meant for you.  But if you fit within the estrogen half of the population, I think you might just want to read along for kicks.
Guys, do you believe in the vacation fairy?  You must, right?  What other explanation could there possibly be for magically getting from point A, where you pick your vacation destination, to point B, actually arriving at said vacation?
That’s all it …

Here’s the thing. My recent trip to a local super mart store seemed to culminate without instance. Until I saw my receipt.
Near the bottom of the print-out, a section marked “Healthy Living” or something to that end, caught my eyes, informing me that I’d made $2.34 worth of healthy purchases. The receipt went on to say that this intrusion would help me with identifying healthy deductions for other needs.
What?!?!
At first, I thought perhaps I’d purchased an item that could be considered tax-deductible or whatever where insurance was concerned. Since I’d …

RoadTrip Soundtrack

Once the weather starts to warm up and the sky is bright blue with big fluffy, Simpson’s-like clouds… that’s when I start to think about vacations. My favorite type of vacation is going anywhere near an ocean, but to me, the most fun part of vacationing is getting there.
The thing about roadtrips is that it doesn’t matter if you’re going to another part of your state or across the country. What makes a roadtrip a roadtrip, is who you’re with and THE MUSIC. The perfect music and the long …

Last night I made my annual trek down the road  to the Spanish Fork rodeo. I live in a city full of real honest-to-goodness authentic cowboys and once a year I get brave and pull out my cowboy attire and become a cowboy wannabe.
I’m pretty sure the “real” cowboys can spot a cowboy wannabe from miles away. Perhaps it’s because my cowboy hat came from Pac Sun in the mall. You know the ones… made to look bent and worn and well used.  Perhaps it’s because my …