­

Make It Fun, and It Will Get Done

We’re a full week into the new year, and my New Year’s Resolution is still alive and well. In fact, it’s taken on a life of its own. The basic plan was to declutter one room or area a month, and to get rid of at least one item every day, so that 30 or more items will be donated or thrown out by the time I move on to my next target. I decided to start with the master bedroom closet. Each morning I [...]

By |January 9th, 2024|Accountability, Columns, Holidays, Organizing|Comments Off on Make It Fun, and It Will Get Done

A Valuable Lesson

I saw a news clip recently about a woman who bought a vase at a Goodwill store for $3.99, and ended up selling it for over a hundred thousand dollars after discovering it was a rare and valuable piece by a famous Italian designer. That’s one of the reasons I have a hard time getting rid of things. Because you never know. Then there’s the fact that I may discover I desperately need something as soon as I give it away or throw it away. [...]

By |January 1st, 2024|Accountability, Columns, Holidays, Organizing|Comments Off on A Valuable Lesson

Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a very Blessed and Merry Christmas, a Happy and Healthy New Year, and success and satisfaction during the rest of the holiday season and throughout 2024. December 22, 2023 ©Betty Liedtke, 2023 I welcome your comments, but please be aware that all comments will be moderated and approved before appearing on this blog. This is to protect all of us from unwanted spam.

By |December 22nd, 2023|Columns, Holidays|Comments Off on Merry Christmas!

Dream On!

I had a dream last night in which I was standing in my kitchen, holding a ticket for a Christmas concert I was to attend that night at a school in a town some distance from where I live. I had a last-minute question for the friend I was going with, and who was planning to drive. But when I called her, I found out she had forgotten about it, and hadn’t bought her ticket. We realized that since it was the day of the [...]

By |December 15th, 2023|Columns, Holidays|Comments Off on Dream On!

The Last Two Traditions

“The last two holiday traditions I’ll ever give up,” I told my son, “are cooking a turkey dinner for Thanksgiving, and baking Christmas cookies.” I made the comment as my son and I were talking on the phone, a few days before Thanksgiving, about our holiday plans. I had mentioned that we knew a lot of people who, instead of cooking a traditional turkey dinner, had “alternate plans.” Some were still going with a turkey dinner, but were purchasing either a ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat-up option [...]

By |November 27th, 2023|Columns, Family, Holidays, Values|Comments Off on The Last Two Traditions

September Speed

Okay, raise your hand if you’ve already said – or if someone has said to you – “September?! I can’t believe it’s September already!” Full disclosure: My hand is raised, too. The older we get, the more quickly time seems to fly. Still, there’s something about the month of September that really drives this home. I don’t know if it’s because school starting up again is such a stark milestone – even if we don’t have school-age children anymore, and even if school now starts [...]

By |September 3rd, 2023|Columns, Holidays, Quotes and Sayings, Values|Comments Off on September Speed

It fits to a T

I try not to write about the same thing twice in a row, but the blog about t-shirt messages warranted a follow-up. And since both posts were a bit heavy-handed, touching on censorship, violence, and discrimination, I thought I would give the topic one more shot, but on a lighter note. So I’m sharing some of my favorite t-shirt messages. One that always makes me laugh said, “If you can remember the 60s, you weren’t really there.” I was in high school in the late [...]

By |August 25th, 2023|Columns, Holidays, Quotes and Sayings|Comments Off on It fits to a T

Weather or Not

We were just south of Chattanooga when we stopped at a rest stop for a quick break. We had been watching dark clouds forming around us, and saw several thick, jagged lightning bolts in the distance. It started to drizzle just as we were walking into the rest stop, and in a few minutes the drizzle had grown to a torrential downpour, with wind to match. The staff at the rest stop locked the door, and herded us all to a sheltered hallway, then pulled [...]

By |July 17th, 2023|Columns, Family, Holidays, Travel|Comments Off on Weather or Not

An Exercise in Freedom

Every so often, I look back through my past columns and blog posts—for inspiration, and to keep from repeating myself, especially on holidays. But some of them bear repeating, particularly when something I wrote long ago is as relevant today as when I first wrote it—and sometimes even more so. Below is a column I wrote on July 1, 2004. I hope you find it worth reading now, almost 20 years later. And I hope you have a safe and happy 4th of July weekend. [...]

By |July 1st, 2023|Columns, Holidays, Quotes and Sayings|Comments Off on An Exercise in Freedom

It’s Past Time

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the importance of looking ahead toward tomorrow, rather than back at yesterday. But now I’m reminded of how pleasant it can be to look back, too. On Saturday, my husband and I attended the 2023 Putnam County Dairy Festival. It’s a big-deal annual event in the town where we live, although this is the first time in the six years we’ve lived here that we’ve gone. In our defense, we’ve been out of town during some of the [...]

By |June 7th, 2023|Columns, Holidays, Values|Comments Off on It’s Past Time