Congratulations to The Class of 2013!

June 4th, 2013
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After (hopefully) fours years of hard, hard work and spending thousands and thousands of dollars on college tuitions, remarks by a notable person — whether an author, celebrity, scientist, politician or even the First Lady or the President of the United States — definitely seems in order this time of year before degrees are handed out at universities across the nation.
For the parents, relatives and friends of the graduate, and even those of us who have already graduated, whether from a university, a community college or the School of Street Smarts, the commencement speech is also a time to … Read More

The Very Cool Sela Ward

April 12th, 2013
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Sometimes on Friday evenings, I watch CBS’s prime-time hit series CSI:NY on television.  I love crime shows and one of the other reasons I like to watch it is Sela Ward, an award-winning actress who plays a very cool, straight-to-the-point detective named Jo Danville. In real life, Ward is a busy mother of two children and a wife as well as a career woman.  Yet she always gives off this aura of being calm, collected and totally together; something I am constantly working towards. This month she landed beautifully and professionally on the cover of  Ladies Home Journal magazine where… Read More

Good Friday, Hello Chocolate

March 29th, 2013
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Today is Good Friday, the Friday before Easter, and many Christians will spend the day praying, fasting and reflecting on the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ. I am working today so I will try to reflect and pray but I will be squeezing it in between my office projects and the usual running around I do in order to keep all the balls in the air. Good Friday signals that Easter is almost here and that means that the end of Lent is also almost here. That’s good news for me because this year for Lent, I gave up… Read More

Silver Linings Playbook

February 25th, 2013
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Bradley Cooper & Jennifer Lawrence I applaud the beautiful and sensitive movie, Silver Linings Playbook, which came away from the Academy Awards last night with Jennifer Lawrence winning an Oscar for Best Actress. I had heard a lot about this movie before I recently saw it and I blown away by it.  Silver Linings Playbook definitely lived up to its reputation as a solid, slightly edgy, movie and it stands out because its story and its actors are courageous and hopeful.  The movie shines a light on two subjects that make people uncomfortable: grieving and mental health, and weaves these… Read More

Rosa Parks

February 6th, 2013
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When I read that the U.S. Postal Service unveiled a stamp commemorating civil right activist Rosa Parks, I said to myself, “It’s about time.” Parks, who would have turned 100 this year, was riding a segregated and crowded bus home in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 when a white man wanted her seat.  She refused to get up and give it to him and she was arrested for breaking the law. A 381-day bus boycott began, lead by a young Baptist minister named Martin Luther King Jr.  Both Parks and King went on to capture the nation’s attention for standing up… Read More

“Loved You First” Cover – Owen Danoff

January 10th, 2013
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Music can change my mood in an instant! If you are anything like me, you probably have songs in your iPod that you listen to only when you exercise and those songs are probably different from music that you play when you want to relax or just chill. I think from the moment we are born we are sensitive to sounds and how those sounds make us feel. Listening to music can be therapeutic and soothing; truly a stressbuster.  I believe that music can truly heal your soul.  Or it can get your creatives juices going and help to push… Read More

Dealing With “The Blues”

January 7th, 2013
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  Covered Bridge in West Cornwall, CT  By Thomas Schoeller I keep a folder of story ideas and I was search through it yesterday for timely stuff that I thought could help all of us in our different emotional journeys through our blessed lives.  Some of the ideas in my folder are things I have heard in conversations or on the radio or TV and other ideas are pieces of papers I clipped from newspapers and magazines. I came across the following bit of wisdom from The Washington Post’s Marguerite Kelly.  Kelly writes a popular and long-running advice column called… Read More

Perspective

September 25th, 2012
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Photo By Patti Raab Have you ever been sitting in your car at a traffic light waiting for the light to turn and you look out the window and see something that’s probably been there for months but right at that moment it’s as if you are seeing it for the first time? Why haven’t I noticed that building before?  Are those new plants?  How long has that bench been there? When you slow down or stop the usual routine of what you are doing, it can give you an opportunity to really see the world around you and notice… Read More

Welcome To Today!

August 23rd, 2012
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A good friend from high school who I am now friends with on Facebook (Yay!), posted the below message on her page. I found it to be so hopeful that I wanted to share it with you! Today is a new day, a clean slate and an opportunity to start or finish or say or write something that you didn’t get a chance to do yesterday. There is always hope that things will get better.  I truly believe it!!  Hang in there my sweet readers if you find you are going through a rough patch. Here’s a toast to today. … Read More