For the first time in a long time, I was able to spend Thanksgiving with my family in Wisconsin. The North Dakota State University men’s basketball team was playing in Green Bay that weekend, so an assistant coach’s wife and I loaded up all five of our kids in the minivan and headed to meet up with our husbands.
After a ... Read More
I think my husband is awfully handsome. He’s got a great smile, gorgeous eyes and the most unbelievable feet you’ve ever seen on a man.
Yep, I said it – feet.
I’ll be honest. I hadn’t really taken much notice of my husband’s feet until recently when I saw a poster advertising them.
That poster was enough to make me fall in love ... Read More
Have you ever had a really good idea? I’m talking about one of those ideas that you know could change the way people do business, reform the political process or create world peace?
Or maybe it was just a simple idea that could right a wrong.
Deanna Micheli had one of those ideas.
Back in 1996, Deanna was working as an operating-room nurse ... Read More
Let the madness begin. Stuffed bellies, ringing bells, gifts to buy, cards to address, long lines, short tempers: Welcome to Thanksgiving Weekend.
Even though many of us will spend this weekend with the people we love the most, it’s often as much a time of stress as it is a time of celebration. We know this weekend marks the starting line ... Read More
I’ve been thinking it’s about time to retire this kindness column. I’ve been feeling busy lately. Really busy.
Diva Connection is taking off (thank you, God), and that means more meetings, more trouble shooting, and more time making sure women in our community who need something connect with the women who can help them.
I started thinking that something in my life ... Read More
For the past two months, I’ve been walking around like one of those “See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil” monkeys. I’ve been closing my eyes, covering my ears and zipping my mouth. Why? Politics.
Every time I turned on the TV, switched on the radio or logged into my Facebook account, I was bombarded by other people’s opinions.
I ... Read More
There is a woman I run into on a regular basis who drives me crazy. She is always happy. I mean always.
She teaches a Zumba exercise class, so for a while I thought maybe she was happy all the time because of all of the endorphins she has streaming through her body.
Then she let me in on her secret. She ... Read More
It’s one thing to help someone who has fallen on hard times without having done anything wrong. But it’s much harder for me to understand how people can leave their comfort zones to help people who have brought the hard luck on themselves.
I received a letter from a woman named Marilyn Johnson that got me thinking about the amount of ... Read More
My friend, Kristi, said something the other day that made my heart stop for a moment.
But let me back up. Kristi is a one-woman parade: marching band, confetti, the whole works. She walks into the room and brings sunshine and gale-force winds. She has more energy than anyone I have ever met. Anyone. Ever.
Kristi and her husband, Rod, have four ... Read More
I want to follow up on the column I wrote last week about volunteering with your kids.
The day after it appeared in the paper, I got an email from a woman named Karen in Sykeston, N.D. I think she illustrates better than I ever could just how much of a difference one person can make in the lives of others.
“Dear ... Read More
