One of the previous articles submitted inspired me to step into my closet once again and clear out some of the items that I have in there that have not seen the light of day. What a waste! Even though I’ll donate all that I clear out to a neighborhood charity, I had to sit and ponder why. Why did I buy these items in the first place?

Despite consistent pressure by advocates and victims to change the Vatican’s house rules on clerical sex abuse, their newly released revisions of the document doesn’t seem to include any of their requests: there are no …

Have you ever noticed that when you hang with a certain group of friends, you spend more money than with others? There may be a small bit of pressure to take out that credit card or open up that wallet with one group more so than with with another. In this period of time, where money is tight for most, is there something to say or do to still be included but not feel the pressure to buy??? Why do we feel such pressure to always say yes and to be included?

Sometimes I feel like the Andy Rooney of this blog. I often write about my gripes and there are many gripes swirling around the atmosphere at the present moment. I don’t even know where to begin with the oil spill in the Gulf. I can’t watch or listen to it anymore. It isn’t that I’m apathetic. I simply get a pit in my stomach and a feeling of doom when I see the pictures of the beautiful blues of the water being tarnished by sludge. Some people aren’t beach people. I am. It is my valium. It is my ambien. It soothes my soul.

We all know someone who’s been abused. Since they’re adults, making choices of their own free will, we empathize, we counsel, we offer guidance. But what about those young adults, teens that we know that are experiencing the same types of abuses in their relationships? What do we do then? Can we stop the cycle of abuse if we intervene? The answer is YES!

What is the deal with mean people always getting their way by yelling and screaming? Maybe it is true that the one who yells the loudest gets the better end of the deal. I noticed that being kind and nice to some people only take you so far. Sometimes I find that being nice can also mean being taken advantage of. People can misinterpret kindness as someone who is submissive and will not complain or will back down when put in a difficult situation.