My week was rocked by a cataclysmic event. No, not a natural disaster, although I think we’re about the only state that hasn’t been hit by one. Yet. No, this event caused instantaneous nausea, wailing, gnashing of teeth and rending of garments. Would you like to guess what happened? The Chicago Bears lost? Of course, [...]
I recently returned from a road trip to my hometown in Illinois with my niece. It's about an 18-hour drive and other than western South Dakota and Nebraska, the scenery is less than breathtaking. (My apologies to crop landscape devotees. No offense intended.). Other than going west instead of north and not realizing it until [...]
Before I begin today’s column, I’d like to add a postscript to the column I wrote a couple months ago. The one about raising teenagers and the CVC’s CampFIRE youth leadership experience. If you read it, you’ll remember that I was fighting my 8th grader on going to camp. I knew all the pain would [...]
I like to think of myself as a voracious reader. Isn’t that a great word? Voracious. Rolls off the tongue. I probably would be a voracious reader if life didn’t get in the way. Work, family and friends tend to conspire to lure me away from my towering stack of books. I generally have anywhere [...]
Parenting a teenager is not for weenies. Those of you who have undertaken it know the struggle is real. Those of you who have only been teens should remember the awkwardness, the endless moments of humiliation, the fear of being noticed, the fear of being unnoticed. It's just brutal. The surging hormones mean teens are [...]
I love March. It means so many things. Daffodils (my all-time fave flower) from the American Cancer Society. The chance that spring (my all-time fave season) might actually arrive. March Madness, which pretty much annually features the Kansas Jayhawks (my all-time fave team). In addition and most importantly, it’s the month of my birthday! [...]
I’m back! Four pounds lighter, perhaps a few inches smaller and feeling very pleased with self for surviving the Whole30. Thanks for the votes of confidence! Today, I’m using my column for something other than what’s become a bit of my personal blog post. Instead, I’m going to share both my disappointment and my hope. [...]
Happy New Year! Yep, 2017 has entered at full throttle, complete with hideous cold and deeply unfortunate wind. We’ve all become complete wusses after the last few winters and as someone who has been a proud Wyoming resident for 24 years and 7 months (but who’s counting?), I don’t remember it being quite this cold [...]
It’s the Christmas season! Yippee! You know how I know this? Not because the decorations are up in stores. That happened in September. And not because the snow finally started flying, although that did help. Nope, the Christmas music has started on the radio stations. At least the radio has the decency to wait until [...]
I’m a big fan. Whether it’s pigs, chocolate, Chardonnay, Jane Austen novels or Chicago-style deep dish pizza, I am all in. No one can doubt my enthusiasm. In fact, for Halloween one year, I had a t-shirt emblazoned with “Go, Ceiling!” and had pom poms, a little skirt and made up pro-ceiling cheers. Get it? [...]
