What would you pay for a patch that promises to make you more energetic, confident, and beautiful? $50 a month? $100? More? I recently watched a segment on the Today show that I found quite fascinating. If you haven’t caught it, here’s the gist: A number of women were asked to take part in a clinical study. The ages of… Read More

Have you ever had an idea that you thought would set the world on fire with its brilliance only to discover it is smoldering at best? I have. My Capstone Project, a passion that is ongoing despite my graduation from college, involved interviewing women who have made a midlife career change into something more creative and soul feeding. There’s a… Read More

Can you still smell the scent wafting from a freshly opened can of Play-Doh? I can. Many of us grew up with that iconic product and artistic-ability tester. When I received a new set of Play-Doh at Christmas, I couldn’t wait to start my masterpieces. A four-can combo meant hours of mixing and matching, blending and shaping. Prying the lid… Read More

Move that body, make it strong, supple, and well behaved…at least from a “do what you want to do” standard. (And maybe MISbehaving is what you want to do once you feel great!) I recently received information about a Gyrotonic Method studio in Minneapolis and thought I’d pass along the information for those in the area interested in improving motion… Read More

I didn’t mean to put out a “hit” contract on the guinea hen. But I did. Such is life in the semi-rural, but too near big towns to really feel rural, place I live. It was a cold day with a wind that could only be described as cranky. My husband was still out of state; so dog-walking duties fell… Read More

The glare of oncoming traffic burned my eyes. It was 4 a.m. So early even the sun refused to wake up. I rubbed the tiredness beneath my eyelids just enough to make my mascara flake and leave black smudges. Beyond the windshield snow fell in diagonal generosity. As a result, slush-covered roads withheld their secrets. Gaping potholes, non-existent lines, and… Read More

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer had nothing on me a number of weeks ago. My head was stuffy. I took sniffling, sneezing, and nasal-speak to artistic levels. And yet, after weeks of over the counter antihistamines and denial, I was not improving. My husband convinced me I needed to see a doctor which, until he applied puppy-eyes, I was loathe to… Read More

The knock at the kitchen door startled me with its authoritativeness. I don’t usually invite kitchen door visitors, as I prefer guests use the front door. I know, I know, most people like the “informal feel” of kitchen door use, but not me. The kitchen is a place for family. You know, those blood relatives who don’t mind the user-friendly… Read More

A leg is missing. Shards of thread hang from the hole like tendons and muscles torn savagely from the appendage that once cheerfully invited a hug. The eyes, frozen in expression, have lost their glint. It lies on its side, near the wall, in dusty solitude. Who, or what, is this little beast of which I write? It’s a nameless… Read More

I hate when my car texts me. Well, sorta texts me. The bright dash screen flashed: Please shut of vehicle and check coolant levels. Oh oh. After I shut off my car I pondered my options: 1. Do nothing and act innocent when the car blows up. 2. Tell my husband the car told me to tell him to check… Read More

I was excited to see that Valerie Lis has not one, but two, YouTube videos on Emotional Freedom Techniques. I hope you will check them out because almost everyone I know who has practiced the techniques respond positively. I first met Valerie when I was a student in AnokaRamsey Community College’s Integrative Health and Healing program. Although I wasn’t fortunate… Read More

A hot flash here, a hot flash there, here a flash, there a flash, everywhere a flash, flash. So goes menopause. For sometime now I’ve been using bio-identical progesterone and estrogen to calm my menopausal symptoms with great success. The hormones are prescribed by my midwife/nurse practitioner and compounded by a pharmacy near the Twin Cities. My insurance company gave… Read More

Something happened to me en route to adulthood. I can remember being asked to be a flower girl for the homecoming court when I was in second grade. Was I nervous or shy about walking down a paper-covered aisle amongst a gymnasium full of people? Nuh-uh. I was happy and excited. My hair bounced with round fat curls held back… Read More

Minus forty degree wind chills described as “bracing.” Wave after wave of snowfall described as “just enough to freshen the landscape.” Icy roads that “keep our driving skills honed”. It’s becoming harder and harder to come up with euphemisms that uplift as winter wears on. And on. And on. If I hear one more, “Well, we are hardy Minnesotans after… Read More

Love and Hate. Intertwined, mysterious, ongoing. This past weekend I read a newspaper article about a young woman who blogs about the ongoing process of accepting her body as is. She is, by popular cultural standards, overweight. Over the years she has dealt with self-abusing thoughts, well intentioned but intentionally painful advice from loved ones, and out and out cruel… Read More

I have recently been asked to sit in on a panel of current and former students at Metropolitan State University. The theme is “Students Speak their Minds on Critical Thinking and How to Develop It.” Each of us will give a ten minute presentation on what we feel critical thinking means as a whole, but within the educational system in… Read More

I Lost A Friend This Week Not lost in the “where did I park my car” sense, but lost to cancer’s cruel give-and-take death grip. As my heart grieves her warmth, laughter, and open heart, I find a need to write down what she means to me. Not meant, means. Dianne Aigaki came into my life unexpectedly, as so many gifts… Read More

The microphone screeched momentarily, just enough to induce winces and a few yelps from those in attendance, and then the boat captain’s deep voice came through. “Welcome to Ft. Lauderdale! On today’s tour we’ll be seeing how the rich live…” This past week my husband and I flew into Ft. Lauderdale to catch a four-day Princess cruise. At least once… Read More

Have you ever intentionally frozen a moment into your memory? I have. The why of it seems less important than the ability to conjure, at will, an image or scent or sound. For instance I clearly remember giving birth to my children. Not just the labor pains racking my body and tearing places I didn’t want torn, but the scratchiness… Read More

I ducked my head to avoid the sneeze guard and scooped out a robust serving of steamed cabbage and shrimp. Before I could replace the spoon, the female owner of the Chinese restaurant stopped by to chat. “Do you have your Christmas shopping done yet?” she said. I tilted my overflowing plate to keep the cucumbers from skydiving to the… Read More

It’s been a crazy week, but then what is a normal week? I don’t remember. When time is short and inspiration even in shorter supply take a look at the following slide show put together by the Women’s Professional Group. Listening to our inner-wisdom, taking chances, and believing that __________(fill in blank) is possible launches us to our higher selves…. Read More

Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, Whispering ‘it will be happier’…” ― Alfred Tennyson In the newly released film, Catching Fire, Donald Sutherland’s character, President Snow, hisses all hope must be dashed. He contends the only way to keep the Districts slavishly supplying the Capitol is to keep the people in ignorance and fear. It turns… Read More

Growth Recently my sister and I were going through Dad’s closets. After his passing we both dreaded the chore, and welcomed the memories, various articles of clothing offered. She swung open a door and pulled out a fleece jacket my husband and I had bought Dad while in Norway. He wore it often, and it still had his scent embedded… Read More

“Mom, Dean’s picking on me!” While most mothers have heard the whiney plea of a child demanding retribution for sins of a brother, this claim was being made by a fifty-something year old. “Dean!” said the mom (now in her 80’s). Dean, age 63, briefly protests his innocence, but then one stink-eye from Mom means quietness ensues. The amusing part… Read More

…but I’m happy to announce that I’ve partnered with Fine Art America. On the “Home” page you will see a new link for shopping. Or, wait! Look at the bar right above this post…a little further up and to the right…there it is. “Shop.” You know you are curious, and you know you love to shop. Win-win! My photographs are… Read More

Muttering as I attempted to put the grass catcher on the back of our riding lawnmower, I realized time takes its toll on everything. Over the years my husband has “fixed” parts of the grass catcher, and although well meaning, his efforts make taking the thing on and off… troublesome. There are now cats-in-the-cradle type bungee cord webs holding the… Read More

Sometimes I feel like I’m waiting to be born.  Floating in an amniotic dream, I’m healthy and happy and yet, I want to arrive!  As time ushers me from phase to phase of my life—childhood, teenager, adult, wife (twice), motherhood (twice), middle-aged student—I find my womanly maturity needs ever-increasing creative expression. There are days I feel as though I’m spinning,… Read More

Ghosts, and witches, and zombies, oh my!  Driving to and fro as chores beckon, I can’t help but notice the decorations honoring autumn and celebrating Halloween.  It makes me smile and sigh at the same time.  Just thinking about the energy required to festoon a house with little skeleton lights a month before the Christmas lights go up makes me… Read More

The open barn door both invited and repelled. I had not been inside for more years than I can recall.  Despite the dust and decay, my memories of how it used to look were intact. Did I want to disturb the dream? The reason I had returned to my childhood home was to help my siblings write thank you notes… Read More

My father died Saturday night.  I knew it was coming.  In some far-off distant “it’s not going to happen to me” way we all know death is coming, but I believed there was more time for him.  For us.  My heart said he would beat the doctor’s prognosis because my dad was strong.  In fact in my mind he was… Read More