Does Elizabeth Warren Really Have Cherokee Ancestry?

The ancestry of Democrat Elizabeth Warren is still a topic that is raising questions. A few months ago, a genealogist determined that Warren did, really, have Cherokee ancestry. Shortly after that, there were blogs that stated that there wasn’t any credible evidence that this was so. Now, another genealogist says that Elizabeth Warren really doesn’t have Cherokee ancestry. In Massachusetts, the current Senator is Scott Brown, who is a Republican. Elizabeth Warren, who is a Democrat, is running against him for the Senate seat he currently holds. The winner will be decided in the 2012 election. It has become common … Continue reading

The Parent Precipice

My period was a day late this month. I know that shouldn’t be a big deal at all, but I’m prone to worrying about the littlest things, so yeah, even though the rational part of my brain knew I was overreacting – it was only a day – I couldn’t help but fret. I’d sort of asked for it; a small part in the back of my brain wanted something to go wrong with my pills, so the decision of whether or not to have kids yet would be taken out of my hands. In the first two years or … Continue reading

He Said, She Said – Let’s Meet Matt!

Good morning, everyone! Today I’m excited to announce that we’re kicking off a new series here in Marriage. My husband, Matt Pinkston, is the new Fatherhood blogger, and he’ll also be joining me one day a week here in Marriage for a “He Said, She Said” style of blog. We both have strong opinions and we both like to talk (a lot), so this will be a lot of fun for us, and we hope it will be fun and informative for you as well. Matt and I have been married for sixteen years, and together we have four children. … Continue reading

No Insurance? Where to Get a Mammogram

As I mentioned in my last entry my friends sister is facing the possibility of breast cancer and was worrying about paying for a mammogram. Many people may not know there are organizations that help pay for these lifesaving tests for the under and un-insured. When I heard that I began to find organizations that serviced her town. The first place I called was the American Cancer Society their counselors were amazing. I gave them her information and within minutes I had a list of 5 organizations that offered free mammograms and if need be further diagnostic testing. After I … Continue reading

Getting Answers from Insurers is Difficult

My attempt to find out what my health insurance actually covers came to a stand still. The booklet mentioned something about “preventative care” being covered. However, it never described exactly what the insurer considered to be “preventative care”. A call to my insurer was enlightening. I almost feel sorry for the phone representative that ended up getting me when I called my health insurer for information today. I don’t think they get many callers who are as informed about health insurance as I am. There is an advantage to writing about insurance topics every day for over a year. The … Continue reading

Should You Go Into Business Alone or With Others?

One of the choices that a person must make when becoming a home-based professional is whether to create your own business, buy into a business opportunity offered by someone else, or find a home-based job. If you decide to create your own home-based business, you may be wondering whether you should create a business run solely by you or whether you should involve other people in your venture. I must warn you that I am highly opinionated on this topic, so please be aware that this post is solely my opinion on the matter and should in no way discourage … Continue reading

Captain America: The Noblest Avenger

“Avengers, Assemble!” With these words, Captain America calls together the many scattered members of Marvel Comics’ crime-fighting squad. It’s appropriate, then, that Captain America is the subject of Marvel Studios’ last superhero flick before next summer’s “Avengers” ensemble piece. When first perusing the list of this summer’s comic book films I figured I’d give “Captain America” a pass. The straight-laced always-been-a-do-gooder Steve Rogers (the Captain’s alter ego) has less character development than some of his more conflicted counterparts, and thanks to an overabundance of History Channel specials on the topic I’m currently experiencing a little of World War II-era ennui. … Continue reading

Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival

While some of us are still shivering in the cold, being blown about by frosty winds, or sighing glumly at the piles of snow in our yard, spring is in full swing in Orlando. Yup, it’s that time again; Wednesday is the kickoff of the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival. I have multiple family members that for whom coming to see fanciful hedges trimmed to resemble and adorned with flowers to represent multi-color Disney characters would be enough of a reason to visit Epcot this spring. The living rainbows sure to be on display at Bambi’s Magnificent Butterfly Garden … Continue reading

Benefit Your Marriage

Have you heard about the seven Fs that can make or break a marriage? I read about them this week. If you remember, I did a series of alphabetical blogs at one stage. Back in February I touched on a few in the article F Means Fail. I was interested to see some of mine mentioned there matched up with the 7 mentioned in the book I read. Their 7 are: ‘Friendship, Family, Faith, Finances, Fighting, Forgiving and Fertilization.’ Fertilization didn’t mean sex and procreation, though I’m sure that would come into it too. It actually meant spending time fertilizing … Continue reading

Positive Steps to Confront Stereotypes

In recent blogs I talked about anti-immigrant feeling in America today and whether it will have an unintended impact on our adopted children. I was thinking primarily of our Asian and Latino children, but a third-grader from Ethiopia was recently taunted in my neighborhood and told to go back to her country. In some parts of the U.S. the immigrant African population may be larger than the African-American population, so possibly more and more people will assume that African-heritage children are immigrants as well. And some of them are—Haiti and Liberia have been native countries of significant numbers of adopted … Continue reading