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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 […]

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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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Broken Ankle? Here’s My Key to Getting Through the Non- Weight Bearing Stage

If anyone had told me my new best friends would be a bedside potty and a knee scooter, I would’ve said, “No way. My best friends are electricity and running hot and cold water.” I learned to treasure those essential buddies from too many hurricanes and their aftermaths. Now I must add to my list […]

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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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Mammogram: Have You Treated Yourself Lately?

  Hey ladies? Have you had your annual mammogram yet? How long has it been? Do you have a personal checklist? A to do list for taking care of yourself? I do. I’ve timed it for the end of summer as if I’m getting ready to go back to school. Why then? I used to […]

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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.

March 11, 2022
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Tweezers and Flashlights

By Lisa Batten Kunkleman I really should keep tweezers in my car, along with other preparedness items like jumper cables and a flashlight. I’ve had several appointments lately where a medical professional needed to mess around my neck—and thanks to my new menopausal hair that grows in all the wrong places, my biggest concern was […]

April 14, 2021
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We’re Stuck Like Goo

By Lisa Batten Kunkleman Looking at the yellowed pages of our wedding album, I knew it had to go. The album, not the photos. Trying to slip the eight-by-ten photos from each sleeve didn’t work. In frustration, I tried separating the yellowed and crinkly plastic from the white edging and found that it was a […]

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Driven to Drink Coke and Peanuts: Senior Traffic Jam in Medical Building Stairwell

By Lisa Batten Kunkleman I just finished drinking a little bottle of Coke with peanuts in it, and I am relaxed enough to tell the tale that drove me to it. I don’t drink soda. If Coke can clean a car battery, I feel funny putting it in my stomach, but today, I didn’t care. […]

July 16, 2020
lisakunk

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Meditation or Irritation?

By Lisa Batten Kunkleman Not that I understand how to meditate properly but I’m pretty sure I picked the worst possible guided meditation from an app I loaded on my phone. It was about “being here” and started with birds and water-sounds. The first part was delightful. Soothing. That’s what I’m talking about. I was […]