Thursday marked the first day of Spring, and as someone who likes to have a clean house, that meant this weekend was devoted to spring cleaning. Spring cleaning at our house is a family affair; everyone has to participate. And this year, some of our major initiatives included washing every surface inside the house, cleaning out the garage, changing all of the flood lights, repainting the porch ceiling, and fixing the porch lights too! When it comes to being a “clean freak”, it’s nice to know that I’m in good company. Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett
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He is called “the Sage of Omaha” and the “Oracle of Omaha” thanks to his investment prowess, but Warren Buffett is also known as “the Billionaire Next Door.” Buffett is the world’s richest billionaire investor (worth upwards of $62 billion), yet he is legendary for his modest, frugal lifestyle. He still resides in the same house in Omaha, Nebraska, that he bought in 1958 for $31,500. A man of simple tastes, he likes McDonald’s hamburgers, cherry Coke, and Dairy Queen. Although he could have chosen any venue in the world for his second marriage
Read more →What do I love best about the arrival of Spring? The warmer weather? The blooming flowers? Truth be told, it’s March Madness that puts that extra little spring in my step. There’s nothing like watching all of the college basketball teams play against one another to determine who is #1. Naturally, this Carolina girl will be rooting for her beloved North Carolina Tar Heels. I’m such a fan, I even have the Tar Heel tattoo (on my foot) to prove it. When you’re born and raised in North Carolina, you’re literally taught to be
Read more →I’m not the only one. The entire family came with me. Why? Because we’re remodeling. When we bought our current home in 2006, we had plans to remodel right away. The house was in serious need of some updates; when giving people directions to my place I usually say: “When you get to my street, you’ll see two lovely brick homes on the left. Mine is the house that looks like it belongs to the Brady Bunch in the middle.” I may live in a Brady Bunch house, but my wife insists that there
Read more →Our team has been working on a new marketing campaign that’s big on personality. I can’t wait until the grand reveal. Until then, I’m not at liberty to disclose details, but I will give you a hint: In last week’s marketing meeting the word “butt” came up at least 50 times. As someone with an ample amount of junk in my trunk, I consider myself a bit of an authority on the subject. Sometimes I joke that I maintain a healthy-sized backside so more people can kiss it. Call it what you will —
Read more →Sometimes things just don’t go according to plan. This week, that’s been the rule more often than the exception. Crazy stuff, much of it beyond our control, just kept happening. For instance, one of our drivers slipped on a patch of ice while walking to his truck. He bruised his tailbone severely, which meant no sitting behind the wheel all day for him! Once we confirmed that he would be okay, the scramble was on to cover that load again. Despite careful planning and seemingly brilliant ideas, the “best laid plans” can still go
Read more →Imagine this: It’s pool league night. My turn at the table. All of the balls are racked in their classic triangle pattern. I tap the cue in the direction of my first solid ball and send it straight into the pocket. I continue to pocket each ball, on my way to a break and run. Any league player who pockets at least one ball on the break, and then proceeds to pocket all of the remaining balls without the opponent getting a turn at the table receives a special “Break and Run” badge. “I
Read more →The Olympics may be over, but one interesting fact is still at the forefront of my mind. Somewhere in between bob sledding and speed skating, I heard that Sochi is one of the warmest locations ever selected for the winter Olympics. Weird, isn’t it? One doesn’t think of Russia as warm…. In order to be prepared for whatever weather Sochi might experience during the 2014 Games, the organizers saved 450,000 tons of last winter’s snow under specially designed thermal blankets. In other words, the Olympic organizers created the largest “snow warehouse” in the world
Read more →I hate the happy sticks. “What are happy sticks?”, you ask. They are the system my youngest son’s teacher has to control her students’ behavior. Each student receives three happy sticks at the beginning of the day. A student who behaves all day keeps all three sticks and earns a “green” score at the end of the day. Each time a student misbehaves, a stick is taken away. Two sticks at the end of the day means “yellow”, one stick means “red.” And no sticks? Well, that means a visit to the Principal’s office.
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