As a kid, I never did much fundraising.  My parents felt pressuring neighbors into purchasing things to support my school trips was inappropriate.  This was fine by me — if Mom and Dad were willing to pay, why would I stand out in the cold while Mrs. Schmidt decided on what kind of pie she wanted? …

The first snow has fallen, Thanksgiving has taken place, and we have moved into the month of December.  It would be a shame to reach Christmas before having made several batches of Christmas cookies. Every year, a few members of my family block out their schedule to help make dozens of these delicious treats. Initially, …

As we all know, the Christmas season brings on candy canes, sugar cookies, and the dreaded box of chocolates. I, for one, am not even remotely a fan. Despite my dislike for chocolates, I always trick myself into believing the box may have something good to offer. I struggle with identifying which chocolates are which. …

Doing my rounds at a grocery store this week, I saw the cutest little girl on her tiptoes next to the bulk candy.  She was quickly scooping large amounts of sweets into several bags. She appeared to be unsupervised and apparently had a master plan.  When her parents discovered what she was doing, they would …

Dedicating eight hours to sleep each night means you spend about 1/3 of your life snoozing. It seems like a waste, until you have the dream that solves a problem or gives you a genius idea. I’ve always been fascinated by dreams.  High school psychology taught me that writing down all your dreams aided in …

I was walking downtown this week during my lunch break in attempt to find a good location to camp out for an hour.  I wasn’t paying much attention to anything going on around me when I heard a cheerful “Hey there pretty lady!”  Looking up, there was a middle-aged man on a bike who (for …

You can tell a lot about a person by their marshmallow-roasting strategies.  I believe there are two main kinds of marshmallow roasters.  Group 1 claims their marshmallows taste better.  Group 2 claims they can make well over ten marshmallows for every one that is cooked by a member of group 1.  Each group believes their …