He slid down the final three stairs, his four furry legs splayed beneath him.  He landed on the floor with a groan and a humph.  Poor Hickory!  My 12 year old golden retriever has lived a remarkably healthy, veterinarian-free life.  His only sickness now is his advancing age.  The last time he stood at the top of the stairs looking down the long wooden decline, he whimpered, shook and refused to give it a go.  Dan carried his 75 pound body down the stairs in what has since become known as “Hickory’s last stand.” (more…)

For most of my life, I have eaten sugar and carbohydrates with every single meal (bread, pasta, potatoes, crackers, sweets). Honestly, I never met a carb or sugar that I didn’t like. But this has all changed recently. It began as a lark – almost a dare. I innocently tried two weeks on Phase I of the South Beach diet, which meant completely giving up sugar and yes, carbohydrates too. (more…)

I just returned from four days in my hometown of Dallas, Texas.  My husband, Dan, and I sampled delicious tex-mex food, footlong corny dogs at the State Fair (though we passed on the fried butter and fried alligator), and with my family surrounding the television, we watched the Cowboys win in overtime.  It was a wonderful reunion with my southern roots  . . . until we drove to look at my childhood home. (more…)

I was reading a bedtime story to my six year old stepson, the beloved tale “Hansel and Gretel”.  I casually read “And then the stepmother sent the children into the deepest part of the forest to be rid of them.”  Yikes!  This isn’t going to help my cause.  Cinderella’s and Snow White’s stepmoms didn’t exactly win stepmother of the year either.  Sure they were evil, but being a stepmother is not for the faint of heart. (more…)

Several years ago, I had a psychic reading and the shaman told me, “You need to be better at loving yourself.”  At the time I thought, “What?  You’ve got to be kidding.  I totally love myself.”  In retrospect, I was great at pampering myself.  I have always tried to be generous about taking time for me: an occasional massage, going on retreats, developing hobbies, taking quiet time for a treat at Starbucks.  I thought that such luxurious behaviors meant that I was crazy about me. (more…)