So, your elderly parent(s) lives over three hours from you and you’re more than a bit worried about their well-being. Don’t feel like the Lone Ranger. 34 million Americans are the primary caregivers for an elderly parent and, of that number, over 5 million live more than an hour away. Subsequently, an entire industry has…
What the heck are the “dog days” of summer and where did that term originate? Well, avid readers, I am not only paid exorbitant amounts of money to write these blogs, I am also expected to do a bit of research too. The term comes from the heavens, or, more specifically, a star constellation called…
If you remember, valued readers, last week we discussed some ideas for summer fun WITH the kids, which goes a long way to explain the topic of this week’s post. As a father of two tween boys (yes, “tween” is a new, 21st century life stage), I’ll be the first to admit that my wife…
That’s correct, summer fun WITH the kids. It is possible. Although, the topic of my next post will be summer fun WITHOUT the kids (boy, that was a hell of a teaser, wasn’t it?). Anyway, if left to their own devices, most kids will spend the summer on their devices, whether its video games, social…
Well, by now, if you have school-aged children, your family should be well into its summer vacation and all the chaos and boredom that comes with it. The “get up, get ready for school, go to school, attend after-school activities, then eat dinner routine”, as Alice Cooper so eloquently put it, “has been blown to…
When it comes to vacation spots within America, sure, you can look at Orlando, the beaches of Southern California, Washington D.C., various amusement parks like Six Flags and Cedar Point, or just about any major city, but those places can be overcrowded, expensive tourist traps. What most of us desire (OK, maybe it’s just me)…
Before we discuss these “awesome” decorating ideas, please allow me to pontificate for a moment. It seems from my vantage point that our “patriotic” holidays (the Fourth, Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day) have melded into a giant mélange of red, white and blue. We seem to have forgotten their origins and why they were created. So…
Of course, the seniors to which I refer in the title are those of the “well-aged” variety rather than those who are about to enter their last year of high school or college. As discussed in too much detail in my last post, summer in the northern hemisphere begins in the wee hours of the…
George and Martha were in no mood to host yet another Fourth of July barbecue at their suburban Virginia home they liked to call Mount Vermin (when they first moved in they had a slight mouse problem and the humorous name stuck). The patriotic couple usually had a dozen friends and family members over for…
As always, let’s start this post with some topical background information regarding the upcoming summer solstice…I figure it’s not needed for a barbeque. Many people consider the summer solstice to be the start of summer while some in the northern hemisphere refer to it as midsummer (such as Will Shakespeare and his “Midsummer Night’s Dream”). …