With the holidays just around the corner, many of us are focused on shopping for gifts for family and friends. Decisions made on Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the other no-name shopping days are often driven by “wish lists”. Perhaps you’ve made a wish list to share with those who may be gifting you this year. Here’s a challenge for you. Make a list of gifts to give to yourself. Now, I don’t mean material gifts that can be purchased at the mall or online — not the latest iPhone, an Instapot, fuzzy house shoes, or a Ferrari. What I’m talking about are gifts that only you can give to yourself and which, in most cases, don’t cost much, if… [Read More]
“T” is for “Thankful”
Just for fun, see if you can find your thesaurus — that reference book that you had in high school or college that lists synonyms (words that mean the same) and antonyms (words that mean the opposite). By the way, the word “thesaurus” comes from a Latin word that means “storehouse of knowledge”. (That may be more information than you wanted, right?) Chances are, you may not have looked at your thesaurus in years, so if you can’t find it, try looking in that forgotten corner on the top shelf of your bookcase. If you prefer an electronic thesaurus, look for it on the top shelf of your tool bar under “Tools”. With either method, go to the listings under… [Read More]
Cheesy-Weezy
Our five-year-old grandson, Luke, and his friend Everett play a game called Cheesy-Weezy. When riding in the car, they’re on the hunt for yellow vehicles. The first person to spot one and yell ”Cheesy-Weezy” gets a point. The game continues until the destination is reached or until one of three things occurs. 1) The adult in the car becomes exasperated by the cries of “Cheesy-Weezy”, 2) intense arguing ensues over who yelled Cheesy-Weezy first, or 3) full-fledged warfare breaks out over who has accumulated the most points. If you’ve never played Cheesy-Weezy, I dare you to try it. You’ll be shocked at the number of yellow vehicles you’ll see. And once you start looking for yellow vehicles, you’ll see them… [Read More]
O.C. and O.P
A former neighbor had a dog named O.C. “So,” I asked my neighbor one day, “does O.C. stand for something?” “Yes,” he replied. “It stands for ‘Out-of-Control’”. In spite of multiple doggie etiquette schools and numerous canine behavior modification classes, O.C. did what O.C. wanted to do when O.C. wanted to do it. He was, indeed, appropriately named. When you think about, there are many things in life that are out of your control. The weather, wars, the stock market, the past, government, foreign policy, gasoline prices, inflation, airline delays, traffic…the list is long. But at the top of the list of things that you and i can’t control is Other People. We’d like to; we try to, but it… [Read More]
Best Laid Plans
You’ve no doubt heard the quote from the Scottish poet Robert Burns – “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft a-gley.” Translation: “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” You’ve heard it. And you’ve lived it, right? All of us have made plans that went “awry”, that didn’t work out the way we had hoped or intended – the rained-out picnic, the job that didn’t live up to expectations; the project that failed; the sale you thought was a sure thing; the relationship that soured; the investment that went south. And with those circumstances of crushed plans, hopes, and dreams come disappointment, frustration, sadness, anger, and sometimes a sense of personal failure. In spite of… [Read More]
