It’s Time to Make Some Lemonade

One thing that life has taught me is that perspective can make you or break you. Perspective is about what we choose to focus on. It involves a very important point of reference, and a particular span of time over which the analysis occurs. A good perspective can fuel dreams and provide the necessary drive…

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With a Little Help from Myself

As much as I love the ending of the summer heat and the beginning of fall, this time of year always seems to feel a little crazy. I don’t know why, but from now until around February the tension and chaos gets progressively stronger. Maybe it is because I want to be outside more but…

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Snakes and Skunks

Snakes and Skunks For over a week I had been noticing strange things in the barn. Most mornings I would find one of the cat food bowls emptied out. Sometimes the bowl would be on its side. If you have ever owned a cat you would know that cats rarely will eat every piece of…

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It’s Finally Starting to Feel Like Fall

The first two weeks of November have been like no other year. The drama of the presidential election has made it almost impossible to think about anything else. With proponents from both parties spouting desperate reasons why the other candidate shouldn’t be elected, it was hard to find anything else to capture my attention. On…

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When Running Away is Not an Option

Everything in life seems to be coming at me extra fast these days. I think it is a combination of reasons that probably most people can identify with. You know what I am talking about. All the presidential campaigning, starting with the primaries, dragged on for what seemed like an eternity. There was so much…

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The Best Week I’ve Had in a Long Time

I started preparing for the Thanksgiving Day meal more than a week before Thanksgiving. I created the menu, and started picking up things at the store so that I had plenty of time to make sure I had everything I needed. In the past, I had to send my husband to the store on Thanksgiving…

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Sometimes the Only Way to Win is To Give Up Completely

At times, life is stressful. There are always things that happen in a way that we don’t expect. It’s kind of funny that when an unexpected good thing happens we are happy– carefree even. But when that unexpected thing is bad, the stress immediately begins. This time of year, especially, there can be a lot…

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Kittens and Christmas Trees

This past Sunday, we made the decision to get our Christmas tree. We like to get a real tree from the farmer’s market. We have been getting our tree there for the last several years; they are just the nicest trees we have found anywhere. We have a small space to put the tree, so…

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Celebrating More Than Academic Achievement

Five and a half years ago, I married the man of my dreams. Like me, he had a child living at home. His son was a couple of years older than my daughter, and had already started college. Of course, it took some time for us to get to know each other, and I admit…

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Trying to Make Spirits Bright This Christmas Eve

 Who could have foreseen that my stepson and his wife would be trying to move all their household belongings across the state on Christmas Eve? Tentative plans have changed so much that I was dizzy trying to keep up. If it weren’t for the fact that my daughter-in-law starts her new job on Tuesday, things…

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