Try Weensy Little Micro Goals For Big Results

A man in athletic clothing doing pushups while holding hand weights.

I’m a fan of setting micro goals to make big things happen. Let me explain. Many of us struggle to set realistic New Year’s resolutions and accomplish all of our hopes and plans. Instead, I’m a fan of making tiny little micro goals I might actually achieve.  For instance, if I’m procrastinating on a project … Read more

Weekend Challenge – Tackle a Hot Spot

Tackle a Hot Spot

Most of us have a “catch all” place (or two) in our homes where things get dumped. For our family, it’s a small kitchen counter that seems to attract papers, mail, magazines, and other odds and ends. Readers have written about tables, desks, closets and spare rooms that are stuffed with stuff. Your challenge, if … Read more

Chocolate Peanut Butter and Pretzels Bites

Chocolate covered pretzel peanut butter balls

Dear friends, You are going to love these creamy, crunchy, crunchy, chocolatey Chocolate Peanut Butter and Pretzel Bites! Buckeyes are one of my favorite holiday treats. The only downside of these chocolate-dipped peanut butter-powdered sugar confections is that they’re very, very rich. In an effort to figure out how to eat more Buckeyes in a … Read more

Leftovers and Long Goodbyes

Thanksgiving turkey

Dear friends, It was Thanksgiving evening, and my son and I were in our coats. We’d been trying to leave for 20 minutes. I was hot, I’d eaten way too much, and I was starting to feel anxious.   Now our sweet Mama wanted me to take the turkey carcass. “Let me just wrap it up … Read more

7 Good Things – Autumn Edition

Autumn leaves

Dear friends, Does it feel like fall has arrived in your part of the world? Here in Colorado, the cooler evenings and subtle shifts of light signal that summer is giving way to autumn. After a long, hot dry spell, I’m ready for flannel shirts, cozy meals, and heck, even raking leaves! As we transition … Read more

Lame History Classes, Meeting O.J. and My Reckoning with Racism

magnifying glass

Dear friends, Spiritual teacher Eckhardt Tolle said in a recent interview, “Civilization doesn’t always move in a straight line toward enlightenment.” Back in April, if someone had told you that this summer would be the time when Americans would finally get serious about taking on the old, old problem of racism, would you have been … Read more

7 Good Things – Springtime Edition

spring blossoms

Dear friends,

How are you doing this week? May is officially here (happy May Day!), and these are 7 happy things I’ve discovered recently that might brighten your world. 

1.  Home Alone – These unusual times have given us a peek inside some celebrities’ personal spaces and lives. What fun it is to watch Stanley Tucci mixing a Negroni cocktail, Thomas Keller whisking salad dressing and Joanna Gaines making a French Silk pie. The Rolling Stones Zooming You Can’t Always Get What You Want is destined to become a quarantine classic, and don’t miss the lovely, from-home performance of Don’t Dream It’s Over by Crowded House.

Read more

33 Ways to Improve Your Life From Home

Working from home during the coronavirus

 

Dear friends,

Over the weekend, I learned that a guest at an event I had attended tested positive for coronavirus. In an abundance of caution, as they say, we were asked to self-quarantine through this Saturday. So I am homebound, content to be hunkered down with family and pets.

As we ride out this pandemic, we’ll no doubt discover

Read more

How to Retire Early and Travel the World: An Interview with Pat Kelly

Pat Kelly

Dear friends, Today I’m excited to share an interview with my adventurous friend Pat Kelly, who is currently living and volunteering in Zanzibar, Tanzania. For the past 12 years, Pat has been traveling around the world andsharing her remarkable adventures. She agreed to answer some questions about her unique path, and how she’s been able … Read more