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Some of us joke that we’ve been in a bad mood since the prior election of 2016, others were in a bad mood after the 2012 one, and some are now down in the dumps due to the recent election results.  Politics, however, isn’t all that stirs our pot until it reaches a boil and maybe spills over into many of our interactions. Yes, we admit it, we’re a lot angrier these days. We roar, we curse, we use sarcasm, or we tune others out for fear of confrontation. Then, we might go silent, which is passive-aggressive behavior and that...

Gift giving can be a lovely, generous and tangible expression of how much we care about someone.  Who doesn’t love presents? Well, one of us does (Barbara) and one tends to pooh-pooh the whole gift giving notion (Margaret).    However, since we want to get into the holiday spirit, this is a collective effort of our present to you, dear readers, to share what great gift ideas we’re seeing online, in magazine and TV ads and viewing on our very few ventures into stores this season. We try to buy local when we can, so we know those favorites will...

Some comparisons can be fun, even funny, to make. We do it all the time. A couple of times we both entered a Wisconsin cheese contest expecting to win because each of us thought ours was the best. Sadly, neither of us won. Most recently, we decided to hold a baked apple cider doughnuts bakeoff and were able to get together to sample each other’s effort. Barbara felt Margaret’s tasted better but were too sugary and Margaret didn’t care for the cakey consistency of Barbara’s doughnut, but it otherwise tasted great. These doughnuts have become a popular fall staple. Then,...

We’re here to pick a bone about Thanksgiving 2020. This is the iconic American family holiday when multiple smells of cooking waft throughout our homes. We set our tables with the good dishes and get ready for the big day with lots of guests, food, multiple courses, fancy centerpieces and typically the same cast of characters. It’s also a time to revel and rejoice, to give thanks for one’s blessings, although 2020 has been a challenging year for all, turning our world upside down and our Thanksgiving topsyturkey. We don’t want to be killjoys, but this year our Thanksgiving might...

Don’t you wish we could say at times what we’re really thinking? Imagine the trouble we’d get into if we did. We know, however, that it’s not okay to do so in polite society. Deep down, we try not to hurt anyone’s feelings even if we’re ticked off or feel slighted, make assumptions and try to be patient while, at the same time, consider our own feelings and needs. Some situations challenge us more than others, and often blindside us to the point that we don’t know what to do or say.   Actually, that’s not completely accurate. We know what...