Archive for the Just Another Mary Monday Category

While waiting for a phone conference to start the other day, one of our vendors shared an ordeal she faced over the weekend. It was her three-year-old’s birthday and he received a little electric train that zipped around a small circular train track. As our vendor lay on the floor setting up the track for her son, he proceeded to run the electric train over her head, firmly entangling all six train wheels in her hair. Other party-goers worked on de-tangling the train for nearly half an hour, when her husband hit on the

I love to fly; I can’t help it. Maybe it’s a holdover from the days when even economy air travel was a luxury experience, but the whole thing makes me giddy. When did we lose the glamour of air travel? There was a time when people got dressed in three piece suits to get on an airplane, complete with gorgeous, coordinating luggage and a cocktail in the terminal. Nowadays, the airport is a crowded mess, full of grouchy groups in sweatpants sprinting to their gate. And with airline seats and baggage areas getting smaller

Regular readers know I’m a sports fan through and through, so when the sports page makes the front page, I’m eager to chat about it! Yes, folks, it’s almost Super Bowl Sunday! I’ll be enjoying the day the standard way – wings, nachos, beer – all the necessary elements for a perfect Super Bowl Party. But this year, I’ve got to admit – I’ll just be watching for the commercials. First of all, I’m a die-hard Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Without them in the big game, I’m only a fraction as excited as I would

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we reflect on the great works of a man who sought to teach us about equality and justice. One of the most powerful things about Dr. King’s work is the way in which he humanized so many things, urging each of us as individuals to reflect on what we can do to bring equality to our world. We’re all pretty familiar with the most iconic aspects of Dr. King’s activism, his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, and even his writings from a night spent behind bars, “A

Were you invited to an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party this year? If you haven’t heard, ugly is the new cute. What started as an ironic hipster trend, with young folks mocking the tacky tastes of their sweater-wearing elders, has come full circle. Now, manufacturers are intentionally making and selling ugly Christmas sweaters and ugly sweater DIY kits to meet the demand for over-the-top holiday horrors. These parties have become so popular, Time.com dedicated an entire article to the history of this relatively new tradition. Even the Royal Family – yes, the Queen and Prince

Doctors report that every slice of bacon you eat takes nine minutes off of your life. I did the calculations, and based on this information, I should have died in 1792. Let’s just say that like any normal person, I love me some bacon. I bring it home. I fry it up in a pan. And, yes, I eat that marvelous, magical food whenever I can. But even though bacon is really close to my heart (Don’t go bacon my heart….I couldn’t if I fried….), I don’t believe bacon should be in everything. Here

It has become a trifecta of shopping holidays: Black Friday has passed, and so has Small Business Saturday. Hopefully you took Sunday to rest up, because as you may know, today is one of the biggest shopping days of the year! It’s Cyber Monday, the internet’s version of Black Friday. Not that I’ll be spending my day purchasing holiday gifts – I’ve got plenty of work to do since I’m just getting back from vacation! You may have been hunting for deals this weekend, but I was far away in the woods, hunting for

It’s that time of year again. While the rest of you are defrosting turkeys, preparing for visits with family, and trying to determine which local grocery store is open on Thanksgiving Day for last-minute purchases, I will be in the middle of nowhere turning out lumberjack-style breakfasts for my family and friends as their official Camp Fry Cook! We don’t exactly rough it – we have a camper and a roof over our heads, but there’s no plumbing, no cellphone service, and certainly no big screen to watch the game. Without entertainment like TV

If you’re a regular reader of my Monday morning missives, you know how I feel about Keith Urban. That blonde hair, those good looks, that smiling face – just as good as that first cup of coffee on a Monday morning! I’m happily married, as you know, so I’m not eligible to date a fella like Keith. Plus, he’s married too. Naturally, a gorgeous superstar hunk like Keith Urban is married to actress Nicole Kidman. She’s always beautiful, always graceful, and always manages to be connected to some of the most gorgeous guys around.