My self-imposed project for the weekend was to assemble our newly acquired grill. I went into the garage, pulled out all the pieces and stared blankly at the very un-grill like mess in front of me. I broke out the instructions and read slowly and loudly the first step while eyeing the bags of nuts,…

[Picture of Lynn in her element – holding court at a convention giving everyone the Lynn attitude of “Look…” (I’ll let Lynn fill in the rest of that very Lynn statement)- this picture captures the essence of Lynn.] … and on our first day in Vegas, we (Jay, Jeff, Kendra, Buddy & Lynn) crossed some…

I’m not sure when the tide turned for messengers – maybe someone once had a lot of bad news to deliver, was running a little low and had to call a moratorium, “hey, please stop shooting my guys, I’ve still got some more bad news to come and I’m sure as hell not going to…

Just a little more on the helicopter tour – I completely forgot to mention the music that was piped through our noise reducing headphones. As we taxied (as much as a helicopter can taxi) down the runway the first song scampered into our headsets – the theme to Top Gun. I shot Jay the “YAY!…

…on my Spring Vacation by Beth. Jay and I have been in Vegas the past few days, visiting with friends, seeing Cirque du Soleil’s “O”, taking a helicopter tour of the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon, oh yeah, and after 7 ½ years of dating we got married or more precisely “hitched” in keeping…

Pam, the talented author of the Writing, Work and Weasels blog, had a nice idea for Mother’s Day – write some of your favorite mom memories for Mother’s Day. Here are a couple of mine that I haven’t previously shared. A trait I inherited from my Mom is the ability to take a common word…

Last week we all got together at 6am to hock Mom’s things. My aunt and cousin had put in hundreds of hours to have what one dealer later called “one of the best estate sales I’ve ever been to” – with everything displayed and priced. The estate sale started at 7am, but by 6:30 cars…

I have an issue, one of many, about my looks and my age. See, from I don’t know when people have always thought I was older. From that time in 8th grade when someone mistook me for a substitute teacher, to the battles in high school to convince the cafeteria staff that I did not…

You know how random memories just spring up when you least expect them? Today’s had to do with a writing assignment my 4th grade class received. We looked at a mimeograph (remember those? I can almost smell the ink) of a man treed by a bear. Our teacher explained we were to write about what…

This past weekend my aunt and I went through more of Mom’s belongings to get ready for the “estate” sale. At least, I think that’s what you’d call it since it will encompass more than the garage. Still, I don’t really consider us “estate” people – we’re more “squatters” or “modest dwelling inhabit-ors” or “one…

There are days, at least in my world, where you wake up and say “today I’m staying home.” As Kati once said, “you have a vision problem – you just don’t see yourself at work.” This is one of those stories on one of those days (and I probably worked for Kati then). I woke…

As most of you know, I’m a big fan of NPR (I get that from my Dad) and in particular a segment called, This I Believe. Stealing directly from their website: This I Believe is a national media project engaging millions of people in writing, sharing, and discussing the core values and beliefs that guide…