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A Doctor’s Question

I was a little nervous when my doctor’s office called to schedule an appointment to go over the results of the bone density scan I had done last week. I figured that anytime this has to be done in person, rather than with a phone call, the news can’t be good. Happily, I was wrong, and the doctor said my bones were even stronger than they were in my last scan two years ago. The news made me think of a newspaper column I wrote [...]

By |March 12th, 2021|Accountability, Columns, Health and Well-being|Comments Off on A Doctor’s Question

Feeling like a fish out of water

Plenty of movies over the years have utilized the “fish out of water” concept, pulling the main characters out of their comfortable, familiar world and putting them – either comically or dangerously – in an environment that’s totally foreign to them. Time-travel movies like Back to the Future are good examples. So are movies that transplant characters from big, bustling cities to small, laid-back rural areas. Or vice versa. Crocodile Dundee manages to do both, between New York City and the Australian Outback. The reason [...]

By |March 6th, 2021|Accountability, Columns, Family, Health and Well-being|Comments Off on Feeling like a fish out of water

Feeling Great, First Thing in the Morning

Every so often, I come across a “prayer” that makes me chuckle. Like one that says, “Dear God, please grant me patience. And I need it now!” Then there’s one that goes, “Heavenly Father, thank you that my day’s going pretty well so far. I haven’t experienced any major conflicts or catastrophes, and  I haven’t lost my temper or made any stupid mistakes. But very soon, I’m going to have to get out of bed, and then I’m really going to need your help.” I [...]

By |February 26th, 2021|Columns, Health and Well-being|Comments Off on Feeling Great, First Thing in the Morning

A Second Shot of Safety

I got my second COVID vaccine shot yesterday, and I came home with a mixed bag of feelings – some that I expected, and a few I didn’t. One feeling I anticipated – and experienced – was a sense of both relief and protection. Not entirely, since I know there’s a span of a few weeks before immunity is at full strength. Also, there are still a lot of unknowns with regard to how long it lasts, how effective it is against newly emerging variants, [...]

By |February 20th, 2021|Columns, Health and Well-being|Comments Off on A Second Shot of Safety

A Failure to Communicate

It was a comedy of errors, except there was nothing funny about it. It all started days ago, when I suddenly stopped receiving any email at my main email address, although messages were still coming through at an email address I rarely use. I spent the better part of a day going through every Help and Troubleshooting site I could find, with no luck. The next day, I called the Geek Squad, spent part of the morning on hold, and the rest on the phone [...]

By |February 13th, 2021|Columns|Comments Off on A Failure to Communicate

With all due respect

“Unity” is a word I’ve been hearing on the news a lot lately, ever since President Biden, in his inaugural address, called for unity between political parties. So far, however, it hasn’t been working out too well. Before we can achieve unity, or agreements of any kind, I think there are a few other words we need to put into practice – as individuals and groups, as well as communities and governments. I also think we need – if I may paraphrase a line from [...]

By |February 5th, 2021|Columns, Quotes and Sayings, Respect, Values|Comments Off on With all due respect

Promises to Keep

You’re hearing it here first, folks. And it’s going to be a lot of fun – I promise. “Promise” is the operative word, at least for this month, and it has to do with the kick-off of a new program from Georgia Writers Museum. It has to do with writing, too, of course, but it’s just for fun. And it’s for everyone. I serve on the Board and the Education and Program committees of GWM, and one of the goals of the Museum is to [...]

By |January 29th, 2021|Columns, Writing|2 Comments

A shot of hope

I got shot yesterday. That is, I received a shot – the COVID vaccine. There was already a long line of cars when my husband and I arrived half an hour early for our 9:30 appointment. The line moved swiftly, however, and we reached the tent where they were doing the vaccinations just a few minutes after our scheduled time. I have to admit that after all the news about the problems they were having with distribution, and the discrepancies between how much vaccine was [...]

By |January 23rd, 2021|Accountability, Columns, Health and Well-being|Comments Off on A shot of hope

An exciting day to come

Have you ever planned a special occasion event – like a once-in-a-lifetime vacation or a major anniversary party – that was originally so far in the future that it felt like it would never get here? It sometimes felt as though the planning would go on forever, and then, when the event finally took place, it felt almost surreal. And afterwards, it felt a bit strange to get back to “normal” without having the event to look forward to, or more tasks and chores to [...]

By |January 15th, 2021|Columns, Family, Health and Well-being, Travel|Comments Off on An exciting day to come

Lost in a Dream

It was the kind of dream that woke me up with a start, and left me sweating and with my heart pounding. I was still feeling shaky a little later when I started writing about it, although the more I thought about it, the sillier it seemed. Still, I found myself analyzing it in order to determine where it came from. Like many people, I’ve been glued to the television over the last few days, unable to turn away from the news of everything that’s [...]

By |January 9th, 2021|Accountability, Columns, Health and Well-being, Travel|Comments Off on Lost in a Dream