What some people call “the most wonderful time of the year” can also be the most exhausting. With all the extra events, shopping, cleaning, cooking, traveling, hosting and more, it can make us want to crawl into the nearest stocking and take a long winter’s nap. When you need a brief escape from the holiday hustle and bustle, I have a strategy that works. It’ll involve some effort, but trust me, it’ll give you some much-needed time and space to hear yourself think. All you have to do is become a wrapper. I started wrapping in my teens. What began as a favor for my mom became an annual tradition. She said she wanted me to do it because I […]

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It started with a limp. What we’d hoped was just a muscle sprain in the dog’s hind leg lingered for two months, landing us in the office of a veterinary orthopedic surgeon for x-rays. Those black-and-white images brought bad news. Our 80-pound Goldendoodle, Mac, who never met a tennis ball he wouldn’t fetch or catch in mid-air, paid the price for his hobby when he tore his ACL. We paid the price, too, when we swallowed hard and handed over a credit card to cover the pricey surgery. But like most animal lovers, there was never a question of what we’d do for this dog. We’d donate a kidney if he needed it. We’d dive in front of a bullet. […]

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One of the things my dad taught me about the working world is that it’s always good to have “multiple revenue streams.” That way, if one stream dries up or slows to a trickle, you’ll have another one to keep you going. Dad worked as a tree trimmer and landscaper for more than 40 years in a small southern Arkansas town. During the summers, he worked six days a week from dawn until dark and came home covered in saw dust and smelling like fresh sod. He owned his own small company, and, during summers, there was usually more work than he had time to do. But late in the year, when the lawns settled in for their long winter’s […]

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More than 20 years ago, Tom gave me a gift certificate for an hour-long massage as an anniversary gift. I’d never had a professional massage before. (Women don’t count the one-handed massages men sometimes give while holding the remote with their other hand.) I was intrigued but didn’t know how to feel about it. A massage? The concept felt so far removed from my small-town upbringing. Who did I think I was? The Queen of Fancyland? One of the Real Housewives of Shallow County? If I got a massage, where would that kind of decadence lead? Peeled grapes and fur coats? Curious and nervous, I scheduled the massage. But when the day came, I wondered if I had the nerve […]

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On my desk, there are three essential things – my laptop, a computer mouse, and a no-frills, lined pad of paper. Without the computer and mouse, nothing could get done. But without that humble pad of paper where I scribble my to-do list, I wouldn’t remember what needed doing in the first place. Like millions of others, I’ve been a devoted fan of to-do lists for decades. When the glorious iPhone came along, I added a few digital bells and whistles to the system so I could have a mobile version of the list to take with me. It’s like a security blanket for my brain. For the most important items on the list, I also schedule alarms – which […]

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There should probably be a warning on this column because it’s graphic, and if your stomach is as weak as mine, perhaps you should turn back now and save yourself. If you’re still with me, let me tell you what happened last week and how a humble peanut butter sandwich saved the day. My 16-year-old daughter, Kate, called me from school, and I instantly knew something was wrong. Her: Mom, something happened. Mac ate a chicken leg. (Mac is her 80-pound Goldendoodle service dog who goes to school with her.) Me: What? How did Mac get a chicken leg? Her: He found it on the cafeteria floor. When he picked it up, I tried to take it from him, but […]

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It finally happened. After a stifling summer in the broiler, fall temperatures dipped to a crisp, cool 58 degrees. And that meant it was time for the annual changing of the closet. This won’t come as news to women or married men, but it may surprise some of you to know that a woman with access to multiple closets will have her clothes in at least two of them. Most of us divide what goes where by the current season. Spring and summer clothes live in this one. Fall and winter clothes live in that one. Some women even have a closet dedicated only to shoes, but I have yet to reach that level of luxury. Some men or minimalists […]

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October is about restraint. It’s about resisting the urge to buy those giant bags of candy until the day before trick-or-treaters show up to collect it. Years ago, I learned – the hard way – that if you buy the chocolate too early, your house will be haunted by the siren song of Snickers. It’ll call to you after dinner. Or during the mid-afternoon slump. Or after an exercise session when you think you’ve “earned it.” Or to celebrate when you notice that your electric bill went down. Or because it’s a random Tuesday. It might even lure you out of your warm bed to see if something sweet would help you fall asleep faster. In my experience, we don’t […]

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Dear Ragweed, So you’re back. Again. Back to bully me and 50 million other people all over the world. I’m familiar with your plan of attack because I’ve been battling it every fall for decades. You’re an ugly adversary with hairy leaves masquerading as a harmless fern. You’re no fern, you faker. You’re a seasonal allergy assassin. Even your so-called “blooms” are nothing more than yellowish bumpy spikes designed to spray pollen like a machine gun. A solitary ragweed plant can send a billion pollen grains into the air like millions of misery-inducing missiles. Researchers say those nasty little pollen grains have been found as far as 400 miles out to sea and two miles up into the atmosphere. If […]

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BEFORE I had lime Jello for breakfast today. Guess what I’m having for lunch? Lime Jello. And dinner? You guessed it. Lime Jello is on repeat today unless I get crazy and have a little chicken broth before the Jello. I’m also drinking water, white grape juice, Sprite, and tea. If you recognize this odd diet, you’ve probably realized I’m 50. And when you turn 50, you don’t get your driver’s license, vote in your first election, or order your first fancy cocktail. You get your first colonoscopy. Tomorrow is the big event, and I’m a little terrified. I started the mandatory “clear liquids diet” last night, and I’m continuing it today. Even though my stomach has had its share […]

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