His master replied, \’Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master\’s happiness!\’ – Matthew 25:21 NIV As a little girl, I use to daydream a lot and tended to dawdle. In first grade, my teacher saw some artistic talent in me, and gave me an assignment to paint a poster-sized picture. Every day I spent part of my recess time staying inside and working on it. I\’m also a bit of a perfectionist, so the progress became painstakingly slow. One day my teacher came in to see... Read More

During the Beijing Olympics, beach volleyball players Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh were undefeated in their second gold medal Olympics, with an amazing record of 108 consecutive wins. Watching the advancing duo during the Olympic coverage, I heard commentators mention that when either woman was asked during interviews which one of them was better, they responded, “We\’re better together.” That contrasts sharply with end-zone-prancing receivers or star-encrusted players whose look-at-me antics signal an “I am the best” message. These athletes communicate that their... Read More

By Wendy Reid Crisp, NABBW member, Editor-in-Chief of GRAND magazine, and author of “When I Grow Up I Want To Be 60” Yesterday, I left work early, went home, and crawled under the covers. It was a cold and rainy, typical for California’s northern coast. I was feeling whiny. I’d met my husband, John, for lunch at the pizza shop, and was munching through an over-cheese Hawaiian when I looked up at the clock — 12:40 — and suddenly remembered that I had had a conference call scheduled with the management team of my biggest client in San Francisco. For 12:30. Immediately, I said... Read More

Christmas Diet Tip #1: Eating Slowly Translates to Pounds Lost Here is one thing you can do today that will help you gracefully and sveltely move through the holiday season. Chew Slowly and Savor the Flavor Research shows that those who slow down while eating and savor the flavor, eat less than those who gulp and stuff. In a recent study conducted by the University of Rhode Island, scientists found that when eating quickly women consumed 646 calories in approximately nine minutes. When they ate slowly, they averaged 579 calories in 29 minutes! Get it? They ate 67 calories more in nine minutes... Read More

We\’re familiar with the saying, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” (too good to be true). Well, what if you\’re looking for free land? Is this possible in the United States? The surprising answer is yes! Today, I\’m going to share with you a site that describes how you can get free land in exchange for residency: www.KansasFreeLand.com. What\’s the deal here? As the site explains, “The ‘free land\’ program was designed as a means of fighting declining populations and out-migration of local folks to larger cities. Free land can be had in exchange... Read More

Some Americans wake up inspired and applauding; others fearful and disappointed. You, as parents, have been in all those feelings before, but for different circumstances. News brings up memories and feelings. We are a community here. We will come together no matter what the ups and downs. We will be here to celebrate good times. Change, whether for joy or challenges, brings up newness and maybe a sense of feeling off balance…a now what? Maybe you can remember the times you were hurting and didn\’t think the pain would end. It did. Maybe you can reach out to something or someone that... Read More

In last month’s article, “7 (Non-Financial) Tips to Saving the Family Fortune” we looked at what family fortune means to you and your family. Understanding this is important because when families get involved with caregiving and difficult decisions need to be made, all kinds of sibling issues can come up from who should bear the day to day caregiving responsibilities to how much money should be spent to “mom loved you more than she loved me”! When difficult decisions need to be made, if you don’t look at the big picture, you may lose the most precious family fortune of all – the... Read More

Is this exciting or what? I can hardly believe it myself. But it\’s true; the Queen here is expecting. And that\’s not all; delivery is in the very near future! I haven\’t said anything to you—my adoring fans (both of you) because I wanted to pick the perfect time to share this good news. Now I know what you\’re thinking. You believe I\’m way too old to start raising another one. Now, now…don\’t be hasty. There\’s still a lot of get up and go in this old gal. Course most of it got up and went, leaving no forwarding address, ahem; but still, I believe... Read More

Have you been struggling to reach your goals and achieve the level of success you desire and deserve? Then use my Get CLEAR Process to get the results you want. Clear the Clutter. The first step in the process is to eliminate the clutter that takes up physical and mental space in your life. Your goal is to make room for your future by getting rid of the excess “stuff” that creates chaos in your surroundings and clogs your mind with overwhelm. To accomplish this, you\’ll want to first select an area to work on—whether that\’s your desk, your home office, or some other space... Read More

Author: Rosanne Pellicanewww.outskirtspress.com Reviewed By: Melinda Cianos She came from heaven. Often people—-and dogs (that\’s right, dogs) —show up when you least expect them, like angels adrift in search of a purpose. They enter one\’s life and set to work sustaining and loving, reassuring and guiding. Few would deny that there is a transcending bond between pet and owner; when the match is right it is definitely a heavenly creation and serves to soothe the beast-like qualities in both. Author Rosanne Pellicane shares her tale of one such match, unlikely and untimely... Read More