What Is at the Center of Your Life and Why It Matters

What is at the center of your life? That which is at the center of our lives determines the shape of our lives and the direction our lives take. Whether it is work, ambition, self interest, spouse and family, or some other obsession, it is a question for all of us to answer. This idea for a blog came after reading a novel called Summertime by Liz Rigbey. One of the characters, Lucy, in talking about a policeman said, ‘he talked of men who lost their family, how that was the price you paid if you couldn’t or wouldn’t put … Continue reading

Have Married Couples Got It Wrong?

For married couples the age of having children has gone up dramatically. These days many couples are leaving it later, till their thirties before even considering having children. In the push to have it all and make sure they buy a house and get the house all set up, before having children, as many are doing, are they doing their offspring a disservice? Recent reports conducted in the USA and in Australia claim that children of older fathers have a lower IQ. And it seems that the older the father is, the lower his child will score in intelligence tests, … Continue reading

A Child’s Eye View of Parents

‘What are Moms and Dad for?’ was one of the questions our local paper asked kindergarten children recently. Their answers are interesting. One said ‘to take care of you.’ Another a said, ‘taking care of you and buying food for you,’ ‘For caring and sometimes helping with homework.’ But this answer saddened me. ‘They are for going to work and paying for things.’ It made me wonder what sort of home life this child had and how much he actually saw his parents. Now I admit I was a stay-at-home Mom. Mick and I decided early on I would stay … Continue reading

Making the Choice to Believe

There may come a time in your life when you are faced with the choice of whether or not you will continue to have faith. In fact daily you make choices that either build upon your faith or tear it down. These choices can sometimes lead to the big moments that can affect you for the rest of your life. If you think back on your life you may have a moment or two that stand out as the times that you chose to continue to have faith or you chose to begin to have faith. These moments may not … Continue reading

Marriage is a Compromise

Yesterday Mick and I saw The Dark Knight. Having seen Batman Begins recently on DVD, I was mildly curious to see The Dark Knight but knew he really wanted to see it. Though happy to go along, I expected he’d enjoy the movie more than I did. The Dark Knight was what I refer to as a ‘boy movie’ with lots of action, violence and things blowing up right left and centre. Of course it was also more than that and made me think about some themes it raised, but that happened after, not while, watching the movie. If you … Continue reading

Once Upon a Day – Lisa Tucker

The characters in Lisa Tucker’s Once Upon a Day immediately sucked me into their world. This story is told through the point of views of many interesting characters. Stephen was a doctor, and quite happy in his life until his lost his wife and daughter in a car accident. Because he couldn’t save them, he gave up medicine and began driving a cab. Dorothea is a twenty-three year old woman who has never before left home, gone to school, or had a friend. She’s been raised with her brother in The Sanctuary, by her father and grandmother. While she’s had … Continue reading

What Do You Read For?

My mom has been staying with me for the last month recovering from a fall, and with little else to do, has been gobbling up my bookshelves almost faster than I can replenish them. I’m passing along all the books I think she ought to like, but I’m finding something odd. There are some books she just doesn’t like, books I loved. Why is that? After thinking it over for a little while, I came to a very important conclusion. Readers all read for different reasons. Some read to be entertained. Others, to be educated, or uplifted, or distracted, or … Continue reading

Cupcakes Instead of Wedding Cake?

It seems as though a new trend has begun in the idea of wedding reception planning. The traditional wedding reception consists of at least a bride’s cake (usually white), a groom’s cake (typically chocolate), nuts, mints, and punch. Some weddings are much more elaborate but these are usually thought to be the necessities. However, as mentioned in a previous article, weddings are taking on a much less formal and more relaxed tone. The idea behind the wedding cake has changed. Brides are now finding it more acceptable to offer their guests cupcakes instead of cake slices. The time and effort … Continue reading

It is Okay to Take Time Making Big Decisions

When I was younger, I used to be much more spontaneous and much more of a “risk-taker” than I am now. Or, perhaps, I am still a pretty big risk-taker, I just do a bit more research and take more calculated risks than I did in my youth and young adulthood. As a single parent, it is perfectly fine to take time making big decisions. In fact, all that research and consideration can help us learn to be better decision-makers overall. For example, I spent almost two years learning about art, reading books, going to galleries and thinking about what … Continue reading

You Get to Decide How You Want to Do Business

You may think it goes without saying but for many of us, it takes us a while to learn just how much we are in charge of the HOW in how we do business. For those of us who are inexperienced or lacking confidence, we may be overly concerned with following “protocol” or trying to run our small home businesses like a large corporation. It is worthwhile I think for us to remind ourselves that we are the ones who get to decide exactly how we go about conducting our businesses. You do not have to do anything you absolutely … Continue reading