Women Who Eat Chocolate

This Monday morning washes over me like a warm, fuzzy blanket. I’m curled up in my chair, coffee steaming beside me, while I contemplate my life and craziness it has been lately. Soccer season, for us and our senior son, is over. We went on a deep tournament run that ended one game shy of that elusive state berth. What a wonderful season it was, but as with anything that keeps us busy and happy--what happens once it’s over?  It’s hard to look ahead and see what might be on the horizon because it’s easy to stay in the now. Now was easy--work, attend games, cook supper when I could, repeat. I didn’t really look ahead because I was enjoying all that was around me. After we came home Saturday night, mentally tired from the game, I sat on the couch and let the tears fall. Another milestone done, my baby the senior is done. I have watched my last soccer game as a parent. He will graduate in the spring and we will officially be empty nesters. Saying that it hit me hard wouldn’t quite get ...

You can find this article of mine on The Holmes County Bargain Hunter . There’s been lots of talk lately in our small town about a dollar store that will soon be making its appearance. I’ve heard both sides of the story and from what I’ve gathered it’s split down the middle about 50/50 for approval. Sounds like a political divide, doesn’t it? That being said, the question people are asking is this: “Why does Berlin need a dollar store? It will make us look tacky!” This is not my opinion. If you want my opinion, I love dollar stores and everything about them. Value, convenience, not walking 12 miles to get what I need in a giant store, and did I mention value? They have everything you need in a bigger store but packed into a tighter space. They also accept coupons -- what could be wrong with this scenario? The argument is that our town will be tainted by the presence of a dollar store. That Berlin is too high end for one and that it will ruin what our town is. These feelings I have ...

It hasn’t seemed much like fall lately, although the leaves are littering my yard in that lazy way that they do. The weather has been warm – downright hot – and when I get hot in October I start to get angry. Not at anyone in particular, just myself. I want to walk outside and feel a crisp breeze with just the right nip in the air. I want to clean my flower beds without breaking a sweat, and so far, I haven’t been able to do that. Come January, when the snow and winds are howling, you won’t hear me complain about the cold because I LOVE winter and everything it brings – snow, wind, blizzards – everything.  Fall means crockpot time – soups, stews and cuts of meat braised for hours until fork tender. I haven’t much felt like using my crockpot because it hasn’t been cold enough. I know, I know – you can use a crockpot year-round and believe me I do. Maybe it’s just cooking in general. Ever get that feeling that your family may never eat a good meal again? That you might just set u...

You can catch this post on my column at The Holmes County Bargain Hunter   Blinders, that’s what we need - like horses trotting down the street so things to the left and right of us don’t distract or upset us. So we can travel through this world blindly, untouched, unmoved by people and things around us. So our world stays sterile and unruffled. That’s what we need, blinders. Our world, the one spinning on its axis as we speak, as it hurtles us round and round so fast that we stand still, has lots of different people in it. There are people that we love, the ones that we gather close enough to count the hairs on their head. They are the ones who exasperate us to the point of exhaustion, but our love and the commitment of life we have given to them keeps us in the game. It keeps us close to that burning fire of love we have, even though it sometimes dims to a flicker. We must fan that flame so it burns bright enough for us to see it even through the dim, shadowy places ...