The Glass is Half-Full

It's been awhile since I've blogged about Wally - our little black havoc wreaker shown above wreaking havoc on the deck after the first snow storm. I was reminded of this yesterday when I went to get all of my hairs cut. Stacey has been my stylist for about eight years and while I love the styles she gives I love our conversations even more! Stacey lost her dog Phoebe a few weeks ago and as anyone that has read this blog knows, I can relate all to well after losing our Sandy in August. So, while getting my new style we talked about Phoebe and what a wonderful dog she was and how sad it was at the end when she couldn't even go up and down the stairs. And then, Stacey commented that she didn't think she'd get another dog because of all the posts about Wally and the challenges I've encountered with raising a puppy. I guess Wally wreaked even more havoc and he wasn't even there! So, this is for Stacey - more reasons not to get a puppy. Wally gets into ever

The Saugatuck Football Team had a dream season - the post-season was nearly as long as the regular season. The team had their fair share of injuries(if injuries to high school boys can be called fair?). But thankfully none to Matthew - who played in some injury-prone positions including center, tackle (or was it guard?) linebacker and other line positions where they are front and center to the other team's line and in constant danger of getting splayed. But no - Matthew did not sustain any injuries in football season. No, he waited until off-season baseball practice in the gym to sustain an injury worthy of a visit to the ER. And it wasn't caused by some bruiser lineman or even another player or bat - it's cause was a baseball to the face. As John said when he came into the ER, "Next time use your mitt!" One CT scan, four stitches, two vicodin and a shot or two of lidocaine and we were on our way. And then just a couple days ago, Matthew shared with me the st

Technology, especially the computer and Internet, have greatly improved my life. It has become so much a part of my day-to-day that I don't really even think about how much my life is enhanced and improved by the Internet. I believe this is likely true for all of you out there in cyberworld as well. There is a downside I've been thinking a lot about recently. Distraction. I am like a school kid with ADD when I come to my computer in the morning. I want to stay on task, I really do but the Internet is ripe with tempting diversions. This morning for instance, I went online to check my email and Facebook. I went to Facebook where a friend posted a funny video that leads me to You Tube where I get lost amongst similar gems. After several minutes - maybe 20 or 30 - I remember to check my email and log onto my home page where OOOO look, look over here on my home page there is a link to the NPR story I only got a chance to hear the end of yesterday, now I can listen to the whole

If you have read my blog in the past or know me at all, you know that sports in general and football in particular are not one of my favorite things to watch. Unless of course, one of my sons is playing - then get out of my way as I cheer them on! It is with a lot of frustration that I have seen more televised football games in recent weeks than there are hairs on my head. Okay that might be a slight exaggeration - but only slight . So if you're like me, you have seen the plethora of commercials from the Foundation for a Better Life. They are wonderful, heartfelt little life snippets - and they all end with the tag line, "Values, pass it on." Some of the most memorable are: The girl with Downs syndrome that is crowned prom queen. The skater 'dude' that is seen running through the alleys and streets with a woman's purse in his hands until he gets to the city bus where he gives the purse to a woman that is disembarking. He says, "You left this on the b

this was written by me five weeks ago and never published to the blog - it seems even more fitting after the Tuscon shootings. I am a bit of a political/news junkie - though the fixes can be few and far between these days since I'm weary of the depth of discord. So, for several months now I have remained silent - I've written not one word of political observation or belief since many weeks before the election. However, I feel the need to break that silence with the recent political 'debate'. I use that term - 'debate'- loosely since there does not seem to be a whole lot of debate in the truest sense of the word. There is no intelligent banter - instead it seems there is a whole lot of yelling, positioning and close-mindedness. While it's not a new phenomenon - it does seem to be escalating since the Presidential campaigns of 2008. The silence-breaker for me is the complete and total discord on both sides of the aisle for the recent 'compromise'

The recent shooting in Tuscon has the nation asking the question - has the political dialogue gone too far?  Unless you've been completely isolated from the media and Internet, then you know the answer is a resounding YES! As a nation we seem to have lost the ability to tolerate divergent opinions. There is an attitude of "you're either with me or against me" - it appears to be all black and white. The party politics in Washington has been like a rapidly spreading virus leaving the Beltway and coming to cities and towns all across the nation. In the not so distant past, we could tolerate people that were more liberal or conservative than us. We might have intelligent conversations or even slightly heated debates. On the airwaves, we saw or heard news stories related to politics and on that rare occasion we would hear opinions. Remember the 60 Minutes segment where two individuals (I believe it was always the same man and woman) would each give their opinion on a par