Celeste, Rita, Betty, Dot, Shirley and me got together for our girls night out last week, per usual. Betty was hostin’ and she whipped up a batch of her Marvelous Marcel Bars. Oh, to die for! I mean, what’s not to like about something that’s made with not only an entire bag of chocolate chips, but a bag of peanut butter chips, too. After wolfin’ down one with a white wine chaser, Shirley goes, “Thanks, Betty. I needed that.” “Tough day?” I ask. “Not one of Mini’s better ones.” Mini is Shirley’s mom. Lives in the mother-in-law apartment Junior attached to he and Shirley’s house. Shirley’s one of five and the only girl, so you …

Saturday night we went to the bean supper down to the Congo Church. If you’ve never been to one (and that is a sad state of affairs), you usually sit family-style at big round tables. Well, at our table was a couple who’d obviously had an argument before the shindig, and had not left it in the car. All through dinner, they kept sniping at each other. Wow! Is that ever uncomfortable. There’s a big difference between sniping and some gentle ribbing. What is that difference, you might ask? Well, I’d say, it’s about whether you (the person doin’ it) are motivated by love or wanting to make the other person feel as miserable as …

A few weeks ago, my niece Caitlin called me up and asked if she could come over. “Needed my advice about something.” I could tell she was upset. “Sure, dear, I’m here. Come on over. I’ll heat up some water for tea, and have my Certified Maine Life Guide Magic Moose Antlers at the ready!” “Thanks, Aunt Ida.” Poor Caitlin said this with a little hitch in her voice, like she was tryin’ not to cry. Charlie looks up from his paper. “What’s up?” “Oh, that was Caitlin. She’s comin’ over in about an hour for some girl talk.” “Trouble in paradise?” “That’s what I’m guessing.” Charlie downs the rest of his coffee, and gets …

The longer I’m married, the more I realized that sometimes, men and women have completely different ways of lookin’ at things. Like a few years ago, out of the blue, Charlie says to me, “Ida, you know what we need?” “A complete kitchen make-over?” “Smaller.” “Hmm, I don’t know. A set of Fiestaware?” “No, a boot brush?” “A boot brush?” “You know, put it by the door? Has a brush on top? You wipe your boots on it before coming into the house.” “Oh, I’ve seen those. You mean like a little porcupine, with a brush on its back?” “Well, I don’t know about a porcupine. Just your basic boot brush.” “OK, Charlie, I’ll look …

I’ve heard that rich people find it kind of tacky to talk about money. But for the rest of us, well, we gotta. I’m not saying you need to be hashin’ it over morning, noon and night, but you and your spouse do need to be on the same page in this department. Otherwise, it can be the one thing that does you in. I learned this the hard way when Charlie and me first got married. Neither of us were makin’ much money. I was workin’ down to the A&P, of course, and Charlie was at the mill. He’s a foreman there now, but he started out at the bottom doin’ odd jobs. We …