In the Seattle area, we’ve had a few nice days among the rainy ones. I’ve had some more time to work on getting my yard ready for winter, along with assistance from my yard work helpers. One fun thing that happens in October is my daughter Mona’s birthday. What a wonderful day when she was born. Such a beautiful baby, who so quickly became a wonderful woman. Read more →

National Singles Week is Sept. 17-23, with National Singles Day Sept. 23. Created in 2006, the purpose of National Singles Week is to celebrate single life and recognize singles and their contributions to society. About 47 percent of U.S. adults are single. That’s 117.6 million unmarried Americans, nearly every other adult aged 18 and older. Read more →

For the last few weeks, I’ve been working on organizing my historical family photos. About 10 years ago, I had around 200 photos scanned. I named and dated about a third of them. The rest are numbered. I paused the project until I could buy a good scanner so I could scan the rest of the photos myself. Now, I need to name those and scan others. Read more →

It’s been the second coldest April in history here in the Seattle area. And, then, there’s the rain, rain, rain. Even hail at times. Since I’m a photojournalist, I like to take photos of our state Capitol when the cherry blossoms are blooming. Many years it’s tricky to get a blue sky with the iconic building. Read more →

I don’t know about you, but 2022 went by so fast for me. After four years, I was finally able to get the first draft of the book about my journalism career done, but the printed copy is still elusive. I’m not a person who makes resolutions, but I’ve written about why people make them and how well they work or don’t work. Read more →

Getting older in America is a challenge many ways. And, it seems that the older I get, the more ageism I face, especially from the medical community. My blogger friends are thinking and writing about aging, too. Here are their thoughts on the topic: Read more →

When life gets tough, I tell my family and friends not to let it steal your joy. That philosophy got me through the Trump years fairly well. However, the massacres this month are weighing heavy on my heart. I hope taking my own advice will help me bounce back soon. Read more →

Many Americans lack financial literacy. Moreover, regardless of their financial wealth, many Americans also aren’t as happy as they could be … lacking what one of our reviewers defined as “life literacy.” We wrote “Your Total Wealth: The Heart and Soul of Financial Literacy” because of these two reasons. Read more →

It’s shocking to be sitting here at my computer and seeing that covid cases are up more than 200 percent from two weeks ago. Right now, we have more covid cases than at any time during the pandemic. With about 62 percent of Americans vaccinated, I was surprised that another variant could cause so much havoc. Read more →

For me, my holiday celebration ended early. My daughters came for a Christmas celebration in early December, Lisa from Madrid and Mona from Sacramento. We had such a great time; a fabulous Christmas dinner Dec. 4 and opening presents Dec. 5. Read more →