A colleague who happens to be an under-40-year-old breast cancer survivor shared her story and invited me to a fundraising concert for breast cancer causes.  I decided to wear red for the month of February to raise awareness about heart disease in women -- a cause that has continued to fly… Read full post »

My cousin-by-marriage Tim sent my this photo of the all-red (including shoes!) ensemble I wore as a flowergirl in his 1970 wedding to my cousin Kay.  May, the grandmother my cousin Kay and I share, bore nine children, survived the death of her husband during the Great Depression, s… Read full post »

 I got my sense of humor from my  family--a family probably best described as colorful. Mom even managed to crack a joke during her last medical examination: When the doctor asked her how much she weighed, she answered, "210 pounds of pure muscle." 

I don't know if … Read full post »

Two days before Sunday it dawned on me that I am a preacher and that I would need to wear red to preach. I actually have a red robe I wear on occassion but it has stripes, so I wanted something purely red. Once again I scoured secondhand stores and… Read full post »

Except for a few weeks when a broken foot left me temporarily imobilized, my weight has always been within the range of normal.  No doctor has ever suggested that I should lose some weight. My waist measurement has always remained below 30 inches, as recommended by the … Read full post »

If a woman you knew was 24 hours from a major heart episode, would you recognize the signs? I didn't. While I was in San Francisco at a professional conference, my roommate and I and two other women headed out on foot for what we expected would be a pleasant Sunday… Read full post »

Wearing red for the month of February to raise awareness about heart disease in women is making me feel like Dorothy in the middle of the tornado. Memories keep whirling through my brain. When I suited up in head-to-toe red this morning for day one I went straight to my… Read full post »

Yesterday I posted my intention to wear red and blog about it during the entire month of February to raise awareness about heart disease in women. Today I realized that if I really wanted to do this thing I needed to go all in--so I went on a second shopping spree,… Read full post »

During the month of February, I'm going to wear red every day in honor and in memory of my mom, who died of a heart attack that should never have happened.

February 3 is National Wear Red Day, but one day doesn't seem like enough to really get the message across,… Read full post »

Mother's Day has evolved into a holiday that involves children honoring their mothers, but for me, Mother's Day is a day to thank you, my children, for allowing me to become your mom.

When most kids get angry at their moms, they shout, "I didn't ask to be… Read full post »

Once again, the New York Times Thursday Styles tries to stay relevant with a feature on shopping during the recession, and once again it is a mixed bag at best. The article "09ers Take as '49ers" chronicles the very real difficulties faced by a small chain of upscale Manhattan store whose… Read full post »

I am an animal lover, so when I saw the headline in the New York Time's Thursday Styles section about the hot new trend of people doing yoga with their dogs, I honestly thought, "Cool!" Alternative health practices like yoga can do wonders for humans, so why not dogs? Then I… Read full post »

A good female friend insists that her husband not buy her flowers, cards, or candy, or otherwise drop any money on holiday-related retail expenses for Valentines Day.  She may, however, be the only lady who feels this way. Even though the modern celebration of Valentine's Day… Read full post »

As the first of the final episodes open, it's clear that we're not in Kansas anymore--or if we are, it's been blown to frakin' smithereens.  Word comes down that this post-apocalyptic earth continues to emit enough radiation two thousand years after a nuclear holocaust to ren… Read full post »

When I met my current husband, I had long been a member of the TV-free set, entertaining myself with NPR, music, reading, crafts and these things called books. Looking back I don't know how much money I really saved (I had a tendency to buy the books, which eventually lead you… Read full post »

So you've decided to travel to Washington, D.C. for the historic inauguration of Barack Obama. Good on you--it should be an awesome experience!  If you're still looking for a place to stay I can't help you much with that, but as a former D.C. resident I can provide some gr… Read full post »

A few years ago, Amazon.com decided that being the number one online bookseller just wasn't enough, and expanded the wares offered to include just about everything. (To be precise, some of the goods originate with other vendors and Amazon is merely an outlet.) Sure, Amazon sell… Read full post »

Let me begin by saying I love my family, who are wonderful, and devoted to me and my husband and our two children. That being said, I don't necessarily agree with them on politics and religion all the time, which made last week's annual holiday visit a bit interesting.

I… Read full post »

On the day after Christmas in 1998 I boarded a flight from Chicago to Mexico City. My trip was supposed to be more business than pleasure--I was participating in an educational seminar to scout it out as a possible winter session course at the University I worked at the time--but come on,… Read full post »

In what I hope will become an annual tradition,  I'm pleased to present awards to the best (and worst) examples of being a cheapskate in 2008.

Friends, those of us who are serious cheapskates know that besides the indescribable thrill of finding a good bargain, being a cheapsk… Read full post »

First, let me say up front, that I am not now, nor have I ever been, a cross-dresser. Like most women in the modern era I grew up wearing jeans (still wear 'em every chance I get, thankyouverymuch), but I generally  enjoy, as they say, being a girl. However, when a… Read full post »

Perhaps we should give them points for trying, but over at the New York Times Thursday Styles, they have once again failed to inject a spirit of joie de vivre into the recessionary gloom.

In the real world, where I serve as a pastor of a small congregation, requests for help… Read full post »

Carbon Rally ( a site that encourages green lifestyle choices) has issued a challenge that a cheapskate can love--wrap some gifts in recycled/recyclable packaging. I didn't have to think twice about that one: challenge accepted! But how to make the alterna-wrap look nice for my non-alter… Read full post »

Are you a cheapskate wanting to blow your sweetie away? A late December proposal is for you!

We’ve all heard the saying “two can live as cheaply as one.” That’s only true nowadays if you take turns eating, but Cheapskates need love like everyone else. If you are… Read full post »