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How to Have a Relaxing Thanksgiving: Our Secret Family Recipe

By Lisa Batten Kunkleman I’ll not make you wait like those infomercials that repeatedly say, “In just a minute, you’ll learn the secret to live forever, have an obedient dog, a perpetually happy toddler, and be the world’s best person. Nope. The secret is…drum roll…have your big shindig, feast, or family reunion on a different […]

April 7, 2025
lisakunk

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Dreary Days Make My World Bright

Today, it’s raining. Love it! I slipped outside between showers to talk to our new bloomers and plants whose roots have made it into the ground, and those who are soon to have their little feet in the dirt. Bring on the gardening before it gets too hot and I hibernate.  Our backyard garden area […]

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Purging is Okay but Preserving is Okay Too

I know, I know! Purging is cleansing. I agree up to a point. Reminiscing is cleansing as well. Hubby Dan and I have lost all four of our parents. With neither of us having moved during our childhoods, our attic and storage areas held tons of cool and not so cool items. His parents’ belongings […]

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Leftovers: When Does Joy Turn to Obligation?

By: Lisa Batten Kunkleman Leftovers: When do they move from being joyful endulgence to  another holiday obligation? Are you over the leftovers yet? Does your fridge need a diet or a full-on cleanse? Does your dishwasher need a vacation? How to ensure all the food gets eaten the week after Thanksgiving is a conundrum for […]

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Happiness is so Fun To Watch by Lisa Batten Kunkleman

When life gets tough, try to find things to make you smile. Use all your senses to find it. Smell that toast. Rub that fleecy blanket. Listen to upbeat music. Taste that good smelling toast. Watch our granddog living large with his best friend, Water. He’s using all his senses I’m certain.

August 3, 2022
lisakunk

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Missing Pieces or Extra Pieces?

By Lisa B Kunkleman   Seriously? We worked on this big ol’ Coca Cola Ads puzzle for a week and now that we’ve finished, there’s one piece missing and, are you kidding me, we have three duplicate pieces! How does that even happen? So now what do I do with this massive defective puzzle? Give […]

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Out With the New, In With the Old

By Lisa Batten Kunkleman   I’ve done it again. Waited so long to update the house that it’s now in style. It only took twenty or thirty years. That would be great if I wasn’t sick of looking at our green bedroom and beige and blue bathroom. Our house is filled with the ceramic tile […]

May 23, 2020
lisakunk

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Dancing Cheek to Cheek is Different These Days

By Lisa Batten Kunkleman I saw my mother the other day. Yes, during quarantine, we saw each other. It’s different and distant and yet, it’s better than not seeing her at all. When I walked in her back door she immediately said, “Here’s your air hug,” as she did her twisty hug-herself dance. She and […]

April 10, 2020
lisakunk

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Is Stay-at-Home, Social Distancing Order Easier for Some Than Others?

Can life experience, interests, and personality affect how one deals with being told to stay at home and socially distance? I wonder if it’s easier for the following people to deal with the stay-at-home orders than some others? Just pondering. A person who has most everything needed for survival, like shelter, food, medicine, power, money, […]

April 1, 2020
lisakunk

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Pandemic Care Package for Our Daughter

By Lisa Batten Kunkleman Never, ever did I expect to be mailing our 23-year-old daughter a care package during a pandemic. But here I go. Thank heaven for the postal service still being an option.  The used mailing envelope I stuffed is available thanks to my compulsion for keeping such things, just in case. I […]