I hate automated answering services when you call up a business. The last one I called I heard the computer generated, very calm female voice say, “State your problem after the beep” and then 2 seconds later there’s a beep....then she gets back on and says, “That is not a valid response.” I’m thinking I know it’s not a valid response because I didn’t say anything since you only gave me 2 seconds to perfectly summarize my rather complex problem I’m calling about, just give me

It’s time to celebrate the New Year!! Every year you have to decide how to celebrate, and it all comes down to your level of enthusiasm for it versus your ability to stay up past midnight. When you’re really young, you look forward to staying up past midnight…it’s a huge deal. But when you’re new parents, old parents, or simply middle aged or older, the party you’re fighting traffic and freezing temperatures for has to be something straight out of a Hallmark movie to get you

Went on another business trip with Russ...I think he’s not going to ask me to go anymore. It was in April in Orlando, so this time Lauren and Thomas wanted to go...Mike couldn’t take off work for a week unfortunately. Gone are the Mickey Mouse days and putting them on the Dumbo ride and waving to them... you have to step up your game with teenagers. We went to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, and the second ride we went on was a 3D ride....keep in mind we’ve bee

Lauren wrecked with her friend on a bicycle and they were both scraped up, and it just brings you right back to your childhood and all the times you got scraped up. Did you ever have a close call as a child but miraculously walked away unscathed? For me…being the 6th child of 7, it was a big deal when it was my turn to ride on the back of our Artic Cat snowmobile with a relative driving who shall remain unnamed to protect their identity lol. When he got the snowmobile stuc

I purposely didn’t look at the cute Valentine’s in the stores that kids buy to hand out to their classmates because my kids are out of elementary school now and it breaks my heart to see them because I miss that stage. But then I saw Facebook posts from other parents after the holiday about their experiences getting those Valentine’s ready, and I started to count my blessings! One Mom said her child forgot the master list with all of his classmates’ names on it, so she tried

Lowes, Home Depot, or even local hardware stores are like catnip to most men, and a lot of times for women too. First, you appreciate the sliding glass door as you enter so you don’t get flu germs touching a door handle, only to be met by a huge blast of hot air in an epic, invisible battle between the outside cold air being pushed out by the man-made forced hot air. Nice touch. I couldn’t breathe for a scary 5 seconds because I wasn’t expecting for it to take my breath away

Sad to say this is a true story I’m telling just to try to lighten the mood for all those struggling with sending their kids to college. So during my son Mike’s senior year of college, I went with my sister and niece and her friend to visit him and give my niece a tour of the campus....they even scheduled an official tour. After eating lunch with him they went on the tour, and I stayed with Mike for a while until he had to go to class. When he left for class I started texti

I have an idea for a commercial for my insurance company, a spoof on “how not to drive.” I think my hilarious insurance agent should star in it. For arguments sake, let’s just call him “Ed.” (Names have been changed to protect identities, and no animals were hurt in the making of this commercial) Scene 1: While driving south on the road between the Montrose Golf Course and Rite Aid, when Ed’s light turns green and he’s driving straight through the intersection onto 706 Sout

Considering I’m a sixth-generation resident of Susquehanna County whose ancestors came straight from Ireland, naturally I have a lot of green in my closet for St. Patrick’s Day, “Wearin’ o’ the Green” tradition. Unfortunately, most all of the green clothes I bought over the years weren’t as pretty as they looked in the store. I didn’t realize how bad until I had my teenaged daughter help clean out my closet. Normally I constantly donate my clothes and the kid’s clothes to int

It all started when I noticed the shower wasn’t draining, so after pouring Drano, taking apart 2 sinks and trying the plunger to no avail, my husband Russ took the cap off of a huge catch pipe in the basement which revealed this black sludge blocking the whole thing. Well, as soon as he removed the sludge that was clogging the pipe, it was like someone removed the Hoover Dam wall; it unleashed this unholy, raging blackish river flowing at a super high pressure, which he was f