Do You Believe in True Love?

In the March issue of Northern Connection magazine’s “Starting the Conversation”, I mentioned that I love stories of true love especially stories of a love that has withstood the test of time.

Specifically, I shared the story of former talk show host Mike Douglas and his wife Genevieve and her advice to me not to be too clingy when my hubby is busy with work or with the public (which was excellent advice since my husband is a public speaker). I also told the story of Roy Rogers and Dale Evens, television and film stars that believe in the 70-30 rule: where you each promise to give 70% and only expect 30% and that way, the marriage will feel more even and balanced.

What do you think of these stories? Do you have a story of true love you’d like to share?

I’d love to hear from you, post your comments, thoughts and stories in the comment area below:

Obamacare: Is it Good, Bad or Ugly?

In the February issue of Northern Connection magazine, I “Started the Conversation” on Obamacare; and wonder whether it is good, bad or ugly? On the one hand, it seems much more affordable and covers pre-existing conditions, which would definitely be a good thing. On the other hand, there’s the intense concern about whether we will be guaranteed the same level of care. Will the insurance companies dictate to doctors what they can prescribe or tests they can run? This would definitely be a bad thing. And if I’m permitted a third hand, the ridiculously expensive snafus with the web site – that was downright repulsive. Then, there was the whole issue whether people can remain with their same insurance provider or not - one minute it’s yes, the next minute it’s no – and with little to no explanation.

What do you think? Have you had any personal experiences with Obamacare? Do you have concerns? Are you all in favor?

You can enter your thoughts below in the comment section and let’s “Continue the Conversation.”

Should Taxes Follow?

I “Started the Conversation” In the January issue of Northern Connection magazine, regarding the question on taxes for alternative schooling. Charter Schools which are independent public schools are funded by the taxes allotted for a child go with the child from their current school district.

Which begs the question: shouldn’t the taxes allotted for a child follow the child if he or she attends any alternative schooling?

I know in my own case, when I was being emotionally and physically bullied, the school district could no longer guarantee my safety, so my parents sent me to a private high school where I received a wonderful education in a safe and wholesome environment. Unfortunately, my family had difficulty affording the private school so any kind of tax break would have helped.

Also, just a few months ago in November of 2013, the Pennsylvania Senate Appropriations Committee approved an amended version of a charter school reform bill that will allow most charters to receive payments directly from the state rather than routing them through the local school districts and will enable other entities other than the state and school districts, such as universities, to authorize charter schools. (here's the amended version of the bill ).

Which begs another question: if they wanted, should a private or parochial school be able apply for “charter” status and receive state funded money?

What do you think? Let your voice be heard in the comment section below:

How Can We Slow Down the Holidays?

In this month’s column Starting the Conversation, I started discussing different ways my husband and I have adopted to try and de-stress the holidays, such as shopping all year for Christmas (especially on our vacation) and to switch our annual Christmas letter to a Happy New Year’s letter.

I also mentioned that we budget specifically to include the convenience of eating out. In particular, we enjoy both the Walnut Grill and the Wexford Ale House where we can relax, try some holiday features and even pick up some gift certificates.  WalnutGrill Wexford features two party rooms that can accommodate 15-50 people which really saves on the time, energy and expense of in-home entertaining.  These mini-holiday parties to enjoy their great happy hour specials that include $5 appetizer, $3 draft beers, $3 house wines, and $3 Pinnacle vodka drinks.  Be sure and ask for Vanessa Steele at the Wexford location to book your party or catering!

We also really enjoy sampling the variety of holiday and seasonal craft beers and ales at the Wexford Ale House located on route 19 on the Wexford Flats.

Just click on the highlighted names in this blog and you can go direct to the web sites for Walnut Grill or the Wexford Ale House.

What do you think? How do you and your family de-stress the holidays?

Because It's a Tradition

This month’s article on Starting the Conversation is all about family traditions – particularly those around the holidays. I mentioned in the article that my nephew Patrick quoted the musical Fiddler on the Roof regarding the importance of tradition. Here is the clip from www.youtube.com if you are not familiar with the scene or if you would just like to enjoy it again.

Traditions, both old and new, are very important to me and my family especially those that came with my family from the old country, those that we have shared from childhood and even the new ones we have introduced – of course some attempts at new traditions take-off better than others. For example, we always get together to decorate Christmas cookies for as long as any of us can remember but one year I thought I’d change it up and we would do gingerbread houses instead – oops. My icing was too soft, we didn’t have enough icing to go around so we started using peanut butter, the candies kept slipping off the roof – all-in-all it was a disaster. Fortunately my brother Michael kept it fun by having his house land on the Wicked Witch of the East and used red M&M’s for the ruby slippers.

So even though our attempt at a new family tradition never went beyond the first try, the point of spending time with family and creating memories that last a lifetime was still golden. So after that I just went back to having us all decorate Christmas cookies but of course, if first you don’t succeed…so who knows maybe we’ll try again.

What family traditions do you enjoy in your family? Have you ever had one go horribly wrong like my gingerbread houses?

Is it Real or Surreal?

In this month’s issue of Northern Connection magazine, I started the conversation on whether I was experiencing a haunting or was I in fact just dreaming. What do you think?

Once my husband and I were traveling in the Pacific Northwest and stopped at the Oregon Vortex. The vortex is a sphere of force that also bends and refracts light and so during your stay, the tour guides demonstrate the phenomenon with a series of unexplainable parlor tricks. Very fun and very cool. They say that the Native American Indians and early settlers alike avoided the vortex as a place of strong magic since horses completely and utterly refuse to enter the vortex. My husband, a scientist and zoologist, thought the visit interesting but a little hokey – at least up until we noticed the popcorn.

Someone had spilled a whole box of popcorn on the ground inside the vortex. The vortex is located within a heavily wooded and forested area. And there the popcorn sat on the ground undisturbed – not a chipmunk or squirrel or bird anywhere, no chickadee, starling or robin partaking in all that popcorn. If you recall the story of Hansel and Gretel and the breadcrumbs, this fact is more than a tad unusual. Then, as we looked up and around – there were no animals anywhere. The forest was completely silent.

My husband simply said, “This is incorrect. Time to go.”

So we left and left quickly. Just too spooky for us.

Have you ever experienced something strange that seemed to define explanation? I hope you’ll share it your experience or thoughts of strange experiences with me and our fellow readers.

Bullying Advice

In this month’s issue, we published articles to raise the awareness of cyberbullying and bullying in general. In the tech article, we pointed out that if you are a victim, then you are not alone. Teens, pre-teens and adults can sometimes, through no fault of their own, become the target of someone’s venom. On the one hand, this can happen over social media, making it in actuality “anti-social” media. Fortunately, as American citizens, we have rights against such harassment, strengthened by new anti-bullying legislation and the hosting sites are more aware and are willing to take down negative content and bar negative people from using their services.

In my editorial, “Starting the Conversation: Bullying Advice”, I mention that I have also been a victim of bullying but I received help and advice from several places including my mother, who intervened; the Sisters of St. Benedict where I went to High School (unfortunately that school  is no longer open but take a look at the many schools advertising in this month’s issue and the school directory to find another wonderful school and academic program); and even years later, my husband’s philosophy that there are some people that mistakenly think that their candle will burn brighter if they blow out everyone else’s when, in reality, they will eventually just blow out their own.

Other great advice I received was from a very hard-nosed businessman from Uniontown, who insisted that I always remember to never let anyone know that they can upset me or make me angry – he said, the trick is to never react in any way because if bad people know they can make you react by “pressing your buttons” then they will, just because they can. If someone already thinks they can, then the best thing you can do is stop reacting and just shake your head. It is surprising how well this works. A good friend of mine does the head-shake at aggressive drivers and it always seems to work to calm them down and make them drive more sensibly – not sure why this works, I’m just happy it does.

Do you have any bullying advice? If you do, please enter it into the comment section below.