Off The Hook

The day began with an outpatient hospital procedure for Walt. His wife, Lynn, was waiting for his discharge when a group gathered at the window and then, quickly, went outside to the parking lot. She ...

Cookies are a universally wonderful thing. You say cookie to a child, even a toddler, and their eyes light up and you can see the excitement of knowing there will be true enjoyment in something really...

This week the Democrats did it in Philadelphia, but last week the Republicans kicked off their nominating events in Cleveland. Both are part of the process in the presidential election of 2016. State ...

I remember when I was a little girl, I would occasionally stay with my grandmother. She would tuck me in at night saying, “Sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite.” I didn’t know what those were, ...

At First English Lutheran Church we have a new pastor, the Rev. Tonya Brittain. She and her husband, Gene, have recently moved here from North Carolina, where they have lived all their lives. It’s qui...

According to some experts, “A cockroach will live nine days without its head before it starves to death.” I know that is really disgusting! Before we continue with that thought, I want to review my hi...

Almost every day we hear of a new fraudulent scheme on the telephone or the computer. I have personally experienced the IRS phone call, about four times. In case you haven’t received this, it’s what w...

I recently ran across these things called “life hacks.” The word, hack, has been defined as - to cut or chop, a worn out horse, a basketball foul, a cab for hire, or a writer whose services are for hi...

Road rage is a crazy thing. I believe, sometimes people are really angry about something else and when a little thing goes wrong while they’re driving, they take it out on others. Occasionally, it has...

Colorado Springs, Colorado, is a beautiful place and we just spent the last few days there. Its elevation is a little over 6,000 feet and that alone is something to get used to. When I first went out ...

In the past, I have talked about crazy things my friends do. Most recently Jill has been the subject of escapades gone wacky. Now my friend Susan, usually a sane person, has entered the arena. To begi...

Her name is Ginger. She is cute, blonde and everyone loved her. She lives at the home of Mike and Jenn, Cole and Margie. A mix of Bison and Yorkie, Ginger is 10 years old. By all accounts she has been...

Not long ago, I wrote about what I perceived as rude cell phone use. I called that my pet peeve of the moment. I also admitted my biggest shortcoming is being impatient with the world and those people...

Mother (muhth-er) - One person who does the work of 20, for free. Mother’s Day is almost here. Whether your mother is still with you or just a great memory, there’s lots to be said about our mothers. ...

It would be safe to say that I am not the most patient person in the world. In fact, I’ll bet anyone who knows me would say that’s my biggest shortcoming. Now that I’ve admitted that I’m not at all pe...

When she joined the Leadership Institute, a monthly, year-long series of classes, she knew it would be interesting and bring a deeper appreciation for how our community works. Roberta Behrens was one ...

He’s only a freshman in college and is already an entrepreneur. He is learning business through Young Entrepreneurs Across America (YEAA). Caleb Rausch is a 2015 graduate of Maryville High School and ...

In the past, I have written several times about crazy things my friends do. My friend Jill is rich fodder for this. She has so many good qualities, and in addition, she really makes me laugh with the ...

It’s tax return time now, so it’s all coming back to them - the experience with their state and federal tax return last year. My friend Sharon is glad it’s over, but there were anxious times in the be...

“Your sense of humor is one of the most powerful tools you have to make certain that your daily mood and emotional state support good health” - Paul E. McGee PhD. Along with a good sense of humor come...

Recently, I came across some expressions like, shot of whiskey, buying the farm, passing the buck and cobweb, that we use in our everyday life and I wondered where they came from. A shot of whiskey: B...

Following my tradition of wanting to learn something new every day, I came across these facts. You just never know when all this knowledge will come in handy, especially in a trivia quiz. Here’s the f...

Daily, we come across a lot of facts distributed through the Internet, some of which I have discovered are just not true. I’ll bet you’re not surprised about that. The latest ones were so interesting ...

Sometimes we use crazy expressions like riff raff, showboat and barge in without knowing where or how they originated. Recently I came across some definitions and some explanations for their origin. I...

Valentine’s Day will be here in a few days and of course it means the celebration of love. There are lots of different kinds of love - romantic love, love for your children and certainly love for your...

Users of iPads are lucky people. It’s a great device and they think they are free of interruptions like viruses. My friend recently had an interesting experience with her iPad. It seems someone may ha...

All of us work hard for our money and try to guard it in all the appropriate ways. We have passwords for everything from bank accounts to computers to cell phones. But sometimes thieves can be smarter...

Last week I talked about customer service, some good and some bad. That led me to think of many more situations and I also heard from some of my friends about their experiences. A few weeks ago we ent...

It seems nearly every day in some sort of situation we are on the phone asking for some help with something, and the person offering help is from another country. I know because I ask them where they ...

Recently a friend and I were talking about how we really can’t survive anymore in a world of all these germs. Mostly because it is pointed out to us every day how unclean our surroundings are and ever...