Medical experts report that supersizing the foods we eat is leading to the tremendous weight growth of our nation. I learned, personally, that those gigantic orders of French fries that accompany those super-big and calorie- and fat-filled burgers served at fast food establishments can add pounds, especially when they are washed down with never-ending gulps of sugar-filled soda. Okay! So supersizing can be bad when it comes to food (although it would be nice if the portion sizes of the foods served in those chi-chi restaurants that charge astronomical prices for their meals would be at least large enough to be nourishing), but increasing the size of other things would definitely be welcomed.

Continue reading "Supersizing May Be Bad, But Larger Can Be Good" »

Posted by Sandra Dalka-Prysby at 07:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Getting older has made me my own person. I no longer crave confirmation from others when making personal decisions. I don’t need people to agree with my beliefs, my opinions and my choices. I have the confidence that comes not only with age, but with a quiet acceptance of who I am and, in turn, an appreciation of the person I have become.

One of the symbols of my new-found freedom is my hair. I learned the hard way—I was miserable for years—that everyone had an opinion on my hair and—and this is what was so sad—I took their opinions to heart.

Continue reading "Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow" »

Posted by Sandra Dalka-Prysby at 07:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

It's not easy getting the most out of free time when you have a young family. When your kids are babies, there is usually a mad rush to sterilize bottles and eat something. But as your kids get older, naps get longer, and the household becomes easier to manage. Then the real challenge begins: what to do with significant blocks of time alone.

Continue reading "Getting the Most Out of Time Alone" »

Posted by Carrie Bickner-Zeldman at 07:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

My mother sewed many of our clothes, especially dresses, when my sisters and I were young. If she didn’t economize with hand-made garments, she did it by shopping in budget departments or at reasonably priced retail stores. What she selected for us was “sensible.” Sensible, however, was never fun!

Once we reached our teen years, if we wanted anything beyond her “sensible,” we had to buy it ourselves. In-style fashions were primarily our responsibility since mom thought fad-garb was ridiculously expensive and lacking in quality. (I think these were just her excuses to get out of buying us anything “cool.”) I learned the hard way—when classmates made fun of some of the things I wore—that I had to part with some of my babysitting money and “get with it.”

This lesson was well learned. One of my purchases was a plaid kilt from a very expensive clothing shop with shoes—plaid flats—to match. I had to babysit every weekend night for two months to pay for these totally popular, “in” wardrobe pieces. But it was worth it. The skirt and shoes made me feel special. They gave me a confidence I had never known before. In addition, wearing these treasures provided me with wonderful memories that last even to this day. They made me become a true believer in the adage that “clothes make a person.”

Continue reading "Some Wondrous Clothes…Some Lasting Memories!" »

Posted by Sandra Dalka-Prysby at 07:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Young people don’t have good manners! I can say this because I’m young (23) and I have learned that many of my peers may know, but don’t show good manners. And it’s not that I just have ill-mannered friends. Others, young and old, have complained about the disappearance of good manners in today’s younger generations.

Continue reading "How Rude!" »

Posted by Emily Prysby at 02:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Take it from me…you don’t want to learn the hard way that mindless eating during the holidays can cause damage to both body and spirit. (Gaining weight does lower your spirits…doesn’t it?) To help you, and to remind myself to think before eating all the decadent foods that abound this time of year, I am posting these proven tips.

Continue reading "Holiday Fitness Tips" »

Posted by Sandra Dalka-Prysby at 07:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

"All good things come in threes.” This saying may prove true for some things, but when in comes to roommates and friendships groups, I’ve learned the hard way that there’s no charm in threesomes. There always seems to be two against one or, equally bad, one has to take on the role of mediator.

One year during college, I had two roommates. One of the roommates was—to say the least—difficult and living with her was not fun. I, however, took the attitude that this was only a temporary arrangement and I could live with “Miss Nasty.” My other roommate wasn’t so generous. She complained to me often trying to get me on her side. Meanwhile, Miss Nasty complained to me just as much about our other roommate. My life that year was miserable. I hated being in the middle. Never again, I told myself, would I live in a three-person housing arrangement.

Continue reading "Odds Not Good" »

Posted by Emily Prysby at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I learned the hard way that trying to travel life’s highway alone doesn’t always work. With a little help from above, my life runs a whole lot smoother. God recently blessed me with one of those everyday miracles that are often mistaken as coincidences. This gift saved me a whole lot of time and aggravation.

I had been driving for nine hours returning to Michigan from a visit to see my daughter, her husband and my precious granddaughter in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. To pass the time, I was listening to a book on tape. As I was approaching Toledo, I decided to take a break from the book and listen to music. The minute I switched on the radio a breaking news announcement reported a road-closing accident ahead of me on I-75 with the warning to take an alternate route. Just then—that very minute—right ahead of me was the fork in the road that would take me to Ann Arbor and around the accident. If the announcement had been a minute later, it would have been too late. If I had continued with my book on tape, it would have been too late. If I hadn’t been in the left lane that permitted the driver to take either of the forks, it would have been too late.

Continue reading "Miracle On The Road" »

Posted by Sandra Dalka-Prysby at 07:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I have come to accept the fact that, now that I am a mom, I will never really get my shit together again. One of the most frequent examples of my untogetherness, and the one that's most entertaining to my colleagues, is my inability to select my home address when I shop online.

I have had a week’s worth of groceries delivered to my work address, and the Fresh Direct boxes are always dumped just outside my boss’s office door. Happily, my colleagues are fun people, who appreciate the opportunity to be smug. “Carrie, do you think that I could have a roll of toilet paper and a potato pancake?”

I keep my work address on file at Amazon and at my online grocer for office supplies and catering. So sometimes when I shop in a hurry, I click the wrong delivery address. This is precisely what happened a few weeks ago when I ordered a splendid, seven-foot, pre-lighted white Christmas tree.

Continue reading "The Tree and the Bicycle Rickshaw" »

Posted by Carrie Bickner-Zeldman at 07:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

When my mother wished upon me a child who was exactly like me—I was in the seventh grade when she said this in frustration—I never dreamed that her wish would come true. But I learned the hard way that history repeats itself.

I wasn’t really a bad kid, just spirited. I attended a Catholic grade school where makeup and perfume/cologne were taboo for female (and male, for that matter) students. But I got around these restrictions…sort of. For my scent I dabbed vanilla—the brown stuff for baking—behind my ears. I wasn’t wearing perfume or cologne! The nuns, however, considered my scent addition to be somewhat devious. My mother was called for still another visit to join me in the principal’s office. (What amazes me now is how revolutionary I was back then…I knew, long before today’s perfume manufacturers, that vanilla was an enticing scent!)

Continue reading "The Apple Doesn’t Fall…" »

Posted by Sandra Dalka-Prysby at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What began as a desire to pass time in a creative and productive way became the groundwork for learning some important life lessons. Knitting turned out to be more than a hobby. It is a skill that has made me more accepting of others.

My interest in knitting began as a young girl. I was mesmerized as I watched my mother’s fast-moving fingers, which held long pointed needles, turn a single strand of what she called “yarn” into exquisite garments and afghan blankets. She skillfully manipulated the needles with the accuracy of a well-tuned machine as constant little clicks filled the air.

Sometimes music from the radio accompanied her almost nightly ritual of knitting. Most often, however, it was noise from the gigantic television transmitting black and white moving pictures. No matter what was on television, it didn’t appeal to me as much as the transformation of a skinny strand of wool into something beautiful. To me, this was magical and something that I, too, wanted to do.

Continue reading "Knitting Life’s Lessons Into Purls Of Wisdom" »

Posted by Sandra Dalka-Prysby at 07:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Sunday-best attire was required. With overwhelming anticipation, my sister Sharon and I dressed for what was our favorite destination each holiday season. We would soon be boarding the bus with our mom for a journey to downtown Detroit to see Santa Claus!

Our excitement grew as the bus, loaded with holiday shoppers, arrived at our destination. Upon stepping down from the bus, we rushed to peer into the store windows, which offered a fantasyland that captured the imagination of children and adults alike. The windows set the mood for what was yet to come. After our fill of the sheer artistry of each animated scene, we squeezed through the doors of a large department store amidst hurried shoppers and joined the throng to the wooden escalators for our upward journey. Glorious twinkling, colored lights, decorated trees, hanging angels and a multitude of other holiday adornments decked the walls, the ceilings, the counters…every available space. From the escalator we transferred to an elevator. The uniformed elevator operator pulled first a gate and then golden doors before our ascension to the floor where Santa perched on a throne-like chair in an even-grander fantasyland to greet children and solicit their Christmas requests.

Continue reading "A “Rich” Tradition" »

Posted by Sandra Dalka-Prysby at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

“Be prepared” may be a Boy Scout motto, but it also works for me, especially because I am now working full time. I want to dress professionally for my job and this can be quite daunting if I wait until morning to select my attire. It’s best, I’ve learned, to prepare the night before.

Prior to starting “my big-girl job,” I was used to college attire, if that’s what you call jeans, sweats and my all-time favorite pj’s. Within weeks of starting college, I discovered that I could attend early morning classes in whatever I wore to bed the night before. Everybody did this. How easy it was for me to wake at 8:05 a.m., roll out of bed, maybe brush my teeth (maybe not), throw on a coat, and rush to my 8:30 class. I didn’t look any different than the other coeds in class. Besides, why did we need to go all-out with our looks? Flirting with a member of the opposite sex wasn’t even a consideration at 8:30 a.m.!

When I was offered my professional position a few months ago, I had two weeks to check my wardrobe and add pieces that would give me the “serious” look that I wanted to portray to my boss and coworkers. I did great creating a good first impression with the clothes I wore. For the first few weeks, I spent time before going to bed selecting an outfit, making sure the pieces matched and everything was in good repair. I polished my shoes, if need be, changed purses, and tried out different jewelry. I was totally put together.

Continue reading "Be Prepared" »

Posted by Emily Prysby at 07:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

With just two words from my daughter, life changed. “I’m engaged,” she proclaimed as she joyfully thrust out her left hand to show her dad and me the dazzling addition to her ring finger. Her fiancé beamed as his arm encircled his intended in a loving embrace. Smiles spread from them to us as we saw our baby girl, our sweet daughter, on the threshold of a new journey with her chosen life partner.

Continue reading "Something Old; Something New" »

Posted by Sandra Dalka-Prysby at 08:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)