Christmas Eve, what did you leave out for Santa? Cookies? A sandwich? Chocolate? Or even better, what did you feed Santa’s reindeer? Carrots? Apples? When my friend Dot’s husband Tommy was a kid, they’d leave out dog food. I think is kind of weird. I mean, these reindeer are magical beings! They can fly, for God’s sake! One year, when Betty’s kids were small, they left out some cookies, a glass of milk. That night, Betty and Pat were so busy putting together a new train set, they forgot to put away Santa’s treat. The next morning, they discovered that the dog Daisy had eaten the cookies and spilled the milk. The glass and plate …

As many of you know, I just love yard sales. I love going to them and I love having them. Because the thing is, if you go to a lot of yard sales, you have to have a yard sale every once and a while to get rid of all the stuff you bought at the other yard sales. Yard sales bring back memories, some good and some not so good. Like last summer during our yard sale, I had a flashback to our worst Christmas ever. I am referring to Christmas 2000, the year of Big Mouth Billy Bass. You remember them, don’t you? That fish mounted on a plaque? It looks normal enough …

December is full swing, so I’m going to jump right in with a gift giving tip for you and your friends that is guaranteed to make Christmas shopping more fun. I’ve shared this before, but it bears repeating. You can read it here, or watch a video of it below.  The Women Who Run With the Moose (that’s me and my friends, Celeste, Rita, Betty, Dot and Shirley) have known each other since God was in diapers, so it may surprise you to learn that we do not exchange gifts at Christmas. Us girls take a more practical approach to gift giving. We call it the “Not-So-Secret Santa.” This is based on the Secret Santa …

Is it a guy thing, or is it just my husband? Charlie, who is usually pretty level headed, can get so “busy” doing stuff that common sense flies out the window. He’ll say to me, “Man, I’ve had a headache all day.”  “Did you take anything for it?” “Nope.” “Why not?” “Too busy.” Yup. Stopping what he’s doing in the yard, coming inside,  popping a couple of pills, then going back too work (which would take all of five minutes) is just too much multi-tasking for him. It’s ridiculous! Then there was the incident last winter, after one of the big snow storms, I noticed it seemed to take Charlie forever to snow blow the …

We had a happy Thanksgiving here in Mahoosuc Mills. My sister, Irene, hosted and I helped her in the kitchen. That’s always my favorite part of the holiday, cooking with my sister. That and the leftovers. Way too many leftovers. Let’s just say that the turkey was not the only thing that was stuffed. We always, go around the table and say what we’re thankful for. This year, Charlie surprised us with a poem. What a sweetie! Thankful Thankful? What I’m thankful for: A year without a canker sore, Flu or some persistent hack My back did not go outta whack Mower started like a breeze I weren’t attacked by any bees Finally ditched our …

There are times in a relationship where your spouse is on a need to know basis. Like when I get home from shopping on Black Friday, Charlie doesn’t need to know about every bargain I found (or all the money I spent). Charlie doesn’t need to know if my friend Dot is irritated with his friend Tommy or about that little dent in the bumper of my car. I don’t need to know every time Charlie and the boys drop by the Busy Bee for a Big Boy Bacon Burger. You know, the one they call “the other woman” because it’s so good you need to sneak around to have it. And I don’t need …

So on Saturday, my car needed to go in for a little work. It was sounding weird. The kind of thing where when the radio’s on, you don’t notice. But then you’re giving someone a ride and your car sounds like it’s on it’s last legs. You look over, and your friends seems a little nervous, and you realize you should probably be, too. I have to go to Bangor for my mammogram on Thursday. (I know, the fun never ends!) And I didn’t want to worry that my car wasn’t going to make it. That’s nerve racking to say the least, and is a fabulous way to make a long drive even longer. So …

It’s unbelievable how fast time flies as I get older. It seems like it was just Labor Day. We had such a beautiful fall, and I enjoyed every minute of it. But already Halloween is behind us, and Turkey Day is just around the corner. So, I guess we are officially in the holiday season. I mean, Christmas stuff is already in some stores. I say it every year, but it bears repeating: there ought to be a law against that. It’s like mums in August, just too soon. Pumpkins and Santa should not share shelf space. And then you add Tom Turkey into the mix. It’s unnatural!  I’ve been pondering this, and I think …

Charlie and me are all set for Halloween tomorrow night. I bought a bunch of candy, ate it, bought some more, and you guessed it. Now I’m candied out, so I took the leftover candy and donated to the Community Center for their Halloween party. Who am I kidding? There was no leftover candy. I had to buy more candy and drive directly to the Community Center, do not pass go, do not, under any circumstances, rip open that plastic bag. There was a moment where I thought they were going to have to pry that candy out of my hands, but I manage to let it go and run from the building all the …

Haven’t the leaves been beautiful? There are some years when the foliage isn’t as spectacular, just a lot of yellows with maybe a little orange. But this autumn is vibrant, with intense reds, perky oranges, and light-up-my-life yellows. Must have something to do with the weather. I don’t know, but I’m going with it.  One of my favorite things I get to do all year round is to visit libraries across the great state of Maine. Spring and fall are the best times to do this. Winter is touch-and-go with the weather, and summer is pesky because of the tourist traffic. Spring is nice because you get to check out the buds, leaves, flowers and …