You can tell a lot about a woman by the chocolate she keeps. Some of us like Hershey bars, while others prefer M&Ms. Some girls like milk chocolate. Others want dark. Then you have the discerning palates that say there is a big difference between American-made and imported chocolate. Let’s look at some case studies in chocolate. Maybe you identify with the Twix girl. She is playful, in touch with her inner child, and she is NOT worried about her health! Or perhaps you think like the Dove dark chocolate lover. She lives with intensity, is definitely health-conscious, somewhat practical, but she needs her chocolate just the same. We certainly can’t forget about the Lindt woman: ...

I’m here to confess that I don’t like olives. I’m not sure whether it’s the flavor or the texture, but whenever I taste an olive to see if I’ve outgrown this dislike, my mouth involuntarily frowns. Yes, I know there are different varieties of olives, and I’ve tried many. But you won’t find me ordering my pizza with olives on it, and I’m not one of the family members who, at Thanksgiving time, puts olives on the ends of their fingers, and then eats them one by one. Olive oil is a different story. I love olive oil! I cook with it almost daily. It adds great flavor to so many different foods, and it’s good for my health! It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me that I ...

You carry beauty, and you probably don’t even know it. Not a soft, gentle beauty but a striking, daring, strong beauty. Your dark eyes are wide open, although what fish doesn’t have his eyes wide open? You dart around, fast, smart; you are more aggressive than your fish neighbors. As your fins move fast and twitchy, you seem ready for action, maybe even a fight. Ever circling, moving, gliding, it won’t be long until you dominate the tank. And then you turn just right. The iridescent blue ridge on your back flashes, the red in your tail seems brighter, your silver sides reflect a blue green for just a split second, and I don’t know how a 5 centimeter fish can have such an effect ...

Good morning. If all goes as planned, you are reading this on December 26, the day after the Big Day. Or if you celebrate Hanukkah, you have just a couple more days left. If I were reading this aloud, I would read with a whisper. I’m whispering in case you have a holiday hangover. If you have a drinking hangover, I’m sorry. You can go back to sleep now. Come back later. A holiday hangover is when you are suffering from too much holiday. Your head hurts from not enough sleep for too many nights because you have been on the “To-Do List” treadmill. Your stomach hurts from too much sugar, too much food, or too much money spent. The parties have been fun, but you are tired of the ...

Happy Thanksgiving! I love this holiday. All the wonderful foods combined with unhurried times with friends and family make it a special day. Macy’s parade in the morning, board games, naps and football on TV are all traditions that we come back to every year. Somewhere in all the fun, we usually pause for a moment and talk about something (or things) for which we are thankful. As an extension of that tradition, I’ve come up with my list of “25 Reasons to Give Thanks”. I’ve listed these in random order; inserted into the list, I’ve written some thoughts on thanks-giving. Holiday weekends—fun, family and rest More than enough food to eat Parents who love me Eyes that ...

Occasionally our TV remote will stumble across the show “The Dog Whisperer” with Cesar Millan. That guy is amazing! He understands the nature of dogs and can quickly modify their behavior calmly, without yelling or beating on them. I would like to introduce him to my poodle; for now, I will tell a story about the Storm Whisperer. A few months ago, I bought plane tickets to take my daughter to my niece’s Bat Mitzvah celebration. (Jews celebrate the Bar/Bat Mitzvah when a child turns thirteen. It is when they become adults in their faith.) The week of the trip, a hurricane began developing in the Atlantic and was headed for the Bahamas. Hurricane Irene was predicted to be one of the ...

My favorite days are the ones where I wake up and he is snuggled up close, his arm draped over my waist, the warmth of his belly touching my back. When he walks through the door after work, I stop what I am doing, wrap my arms around him, and give him a kiss. Sometimes when we go to the movies or take a walk, he reaches for my hand. I marvel at the size and strength of that hand and how it has been a comfortable companion over so many years. I wonder at the power of touch, and I’m not talking about sexual touch--although that is powerful too! I’m talking about the touch of affection. Touch communicates from his heart to mine, from my heart to his, and it bypasses words. His touch ...

I’m pretty sure some of our friends thought we were crazy. In search of adventure, we took three small children camping. Two nights of sleeping on the ground in a tent. In southern Oklahoma, in the summer. Setting up the tent (usually a simple process) was an adventure in itself. Mark and I hustled to put the tent together so that we could have a place out of the sun and away from bugs to put the portable bed for the infant. Meanwhile, the other two kids were creating their own adventures. Our son was three and a half at the time and had just caught on to the idea that it’s important to wash his hands to keep away germs. He was following my husband around, asking him about every ...

Every once in awhile I read a book that rattles me, inspires me, and starts me on a journey that extends beyond the end of the book. Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts is such a book. Released in January of this year, it appeared on the New York Times’ Bestseller List in March, and I can see why. It is a book that will revolutionize your thinking. A non-fiction book that reads like poetry, One Thousand Gifts is “a dare to live fully right where you are.” Voskamp draws you in by telling some of her own pain-etched story, and then shows her journey from pain to finding joy in the midst of pain. The dare begins with the challenge to give thanks for everything. Not a general, ...

I stepped outside the box the other day. I stepped so far out that I surprised myself. I bought a bikini. The shock of this is that I haven’t worn a bikini in over 30 years. Well over 30 years. I can’t remember exactly when I last wore a bikini, so I’ll lay it out plainly. I’m in my 40s, and I bought a bikini. I stepped outside my age box when I bought a bikini. If you live in a beach culture or European or Latin or Australian culture, you might say, “So what? What took you so long? Why would you wear anything but a bikini?” I don’t live in any of those cultures. I live in middle America, in the Bible belt, and I am planted firmly in conservative church culture. I stepped ...