Don't blame Obama (04/10/08)
Call me dense, but frankly I just don't get it. Why should one person be blamed for the words that come out of another person's mouth? Several years ago, when my mouth tended to outrun my brain -- not that it doesn't happen now, but this particular incident happened several years ago -- Brad ran into a situation similar to the one Barack Obama is experiencing now...

Leaning toward the lake (03/13/08)
I've always looked forward to the first signs of spring. I'm not exactly sure why, since I know what happens after the first spring flowers begin to pop through the once frozen ground. This year, I just want it to stay away. I try not to look around the yard to see what's greening and what's budding, but Brad seems to have an overwhelming need to remind me every night when he comes home from work...

The tale of the cat and the window sill (03/06/08)
Well, here it is 2:30 in the morning. I tried lying down to sleep, but just as I was about to doze off, I heard a thud. I lay in bed listening, wondering what in the world was going on. Then I heard it again, over near the window. First the thud and the "meow."...

Seven or eight lives left (02/28/08)
Throughout the last nine years with Brad, I've been the owner of several varieties of pets … an iguana, two ferrets, too many fish to count and a wide range of birds. Throughout those nine years, we both vowed we'd never own a cat. That all changed in October, when Brad and I went hunting in Wyoming...

A love-hate relationship (02/21/08)
I've always enjoyed playing on my computer. I started out using it to keep a diary. I took a BASIC computer class in college and set up a few simple programs, such as games and a simple bookkeeping system. When I began work at the Gazette, I started at the local desk, typing obituaries, club notes and other local news...

Say it in the right way (02/14/08)
It's Valentine's Day, a day when men and women alike are expected to show their love through gifts of flowers, candy, cuddly teddy bears, jewelry and an uncountable array of other gifts. It's a special day when engagement rings are presented and love is proclaimed...

Finding facts easy on the Internet (01/17/08)
Since I started writing my column six years ago, I've stirred up a little trouble here and there and been called a few names but I think the best one came from a response on the Internet last week to my article, "Don't We Have a Two-Term Limit?" "David--X--Machina" wrote the following … "I'm wondering why anyone would heed the political musings of a second rate columnist at a second rate rag newspaper in a cultural, social, and intellectual backwater town in a flyover state?"...

Don't we have a two-term limit? (01/10/08)
I don't know about the rest of you, but after Hillary's waterworks this week, I think she should join all those stars nominated for the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the People's Choice Awards and any other ceremony honoring people who actually know how to cry on cue...

Is that the right young soldier? (12/27/07)
My dad and I had the pleasure of making a trip to Omaha last Thursday to pick up my youngest son at the airport. He was to arrive at 10 p.m., so a flight from Omaha to McCook would have had to wait until the next morning. He'd already spent 10 hours at the airport in Columbia and wasn't all that enthused about spending a minute longer than necessary in any town other than McCook...

He had to hear about it on the Internet (12/13/07)
My cell phone rang mid-morning Tuesday. It was playing Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, the special tone I have for my eldest son, Shane. I pushed the send button on the cell phone. "What's up?" I asked him. He didn't mince words. "Why is it that every time there's news from home, I have to read it on the Internet?" he demanded...

Pop, puffs and publishing (12/06/07)
It seems as though I've caught the bug. This one is a bad one. I can't seem to move from where I'm sitting. The only thing I seem to be getting accomplished is drinking pop and smoking cigarettes and sitting in front of the computer. The "bug" I'm talking about doesn't come in the form of a virus or bacteria, but it does infect your brain to the point that you become fixated on one thing -- in my case that one thing is getting a book published...

Fire safety learned the hard way (11/29/07)
Now that Thanksgiving is finally over, it's time to start getting ready for Christmas. If you haven't already started cleaning up and getting ready to put up all the Christmas decorations, most of you will be soon. I tried doing my annual before-Thanksgiving cleaning a couple of weeks before the holiday -- by cleaning my self-cleaning oven...

It's been a slow news day (11/08/07)
Unless you've been living in a cave for the last week, you have probably heard mention of the writers' strike. Some people might consider it the end of the world, my husband being one of them. I, however, hope it continues for at least the next three years...

Wanting to fly in the worst way (11/01/07)
After a week-long trip to the East Coast, I've discovered the truth in the old phrase, "There's no place like home."
My time spent there was great, but getting there and getting back made the trip a living nightmare. It started out from McCook just fine. ...

Riding the wave (10/25/07)
It was déjà vu. There I stood in a room full of strangers, happily hugging one another and reacquainting themselves with their loved ones. While Shane, my oldest son, was at my side -- I still felt alone. Someone was missing. I began milling around looking at the faces of all the young men and women wearing their neatly pressed dress greens and berets. ...

Do seven men spoil the stew? (10/18/07)
Last weekend, I had the pleasure of sitting back and watching seven men cook dinner. It was an absolutely amazing display of differing opinions working into a dinner of perfect harmony and contentment. Brad and I were on our annual antelope-hunting trip in the hills of Wyoming about 50 miles east of Gillette...

If anybody gets a Taser ... (10/04/07)
I can understand Brad's overwhelming need for a new gun. I can understand his desire for the biggest and best television. I even empathize with his overwhelming need for a set up to site his guns in on. But now he wants a taser gun. I can't for the life of me understand what he needs a taser gun for. ...

Tossing grenades and spouses (09/27/07)
I've been finding out lately exactly how much I love all the modern conveniences -- and how much I hate them. Take, for example, the fact that I cannot in any way, shape, form or fashion, connect electronically with my youngest son. We're using what they call "snail mail" for those of you who aren't as "hip" on all of the current lingo as I am. (That was written tongue-in-cheek or thumb-in-mouth in this case.)...

When they threaten to come home (09/13/07)
Now that I'm working from home, it seems as though writing a weekly column is one of the hardest assignments I've ever had. Most of the time I forget what day it is. But there are also other reasons … I oversleep; I tell myself, "I'll write it in the morning," and by the time morning comes, I've forgotten it; I get involved in other projects; I get done with my early morning job and decide to go back to bed … and the list goes on and on...

Can't wait till hunting season ... ends (08/30/07)
The time has come once again. The nights are getting cooler and the days are getting shorter, which can only mean one thing -- for Brad anyway -- hunting season is just around the corner. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I'm not looking forward to treading through three feet of snow, looking for just the right rack, but Brad is taking it to an extreme...

Finding the family room's future (08/23/07)
For the last nine years, my basement has played several roles in our home. It started out as a garage. My bed is sitting over what was once a mechanic's pit. The cement walls were crumbling and you could see the water damage on what little drywall was left in it...

Sympathy night sweats (08/16/07)
It appears that we can all look forward to a higher electric bill for the month of August. It takes a lot of electricity to keep a house cooled down to 72 degrees when it's 125 outside. I don't like the heat. If I had to make a choice between the tropics and the Antarctic, I'd have to choose the Antarctic. Face it, you can always put more clothes on to stay warm, but I've never discovered a way to take enough off to get cool...

A soaring heart, a lump in the throat (08/09/07)
I never realized until Wednesday afternoon that your heart can soar with joy at the same time your stomach rolls with disappointment and trepidation. I never realized that you could cheer for someone to win and hope they would lose in the same moment of time...

Some people and their dogs (07/26/07)
Over the years, I've talked a lot about our three dogs. I always thought they were spoiled. They get to stay inside all day, out of the heat -- or cold, depending on the season. They have the run of the house, the yard, and when the opportunity arises and the mood strikes them, the neighborhood...

Getting sleep, one way or another (07/19/07)
It never fails. I've spent the last eight years getting up at 5:30 every morning. I don't even need an alarm clock anymore. At least I didn't used to -- I'd be up and running, getting ready for work, before the clock made its first annoying ring. Now, the only time I wake up at 5:30 is on my days off...

Whatever happened to manners? (07/12/07)
It never ceases to amaze me. When I was growing up, I was taught to respect the people around me. Throwing a temper tantrum in the store would have earned me a trip to the car and a sound spanking when we got there.

Hit it! Oh, never mind (06/14/07)
It continues to amaze me. My mind keeps telling me I'm still a young kid, but my body lets me know in no uncertain terms that I am no longer 25 years old, but a 45-year-old mature (some may beg to differ) adult. I proved it to myself last weekend after spending an afternoon on the lake with my son one day and my husband the next...

Shaping up and shipping out (06/07/07)
Memorial Day was a kind of bittersweet day for me. Jeremy had his marching orders -- he was to be in Hays, Kan., at 0845 for shipment by van to Kansas City, where he would then be transported to Fort Jackson, S.C. after two days of PT (physical training) and his final weigh-in...

Making new memories (05/24/07)
Memorial Day Weekend -- one last chance to spend some time at the lake with Jeremy, fishing, swimming, catching some rays … it sounded like the perfect plan. The perfect plan, that is, until we delivered our camper to the lake Wednesday night. As we pulled into Trail 4 at Harry Strunk Lake, north of Cambridge, we could see the campground littered with campers of every shape, size and condition. ...

Wishing the clock would slow down (05/17/07)
The countdown is on. As of today, my son Jeremy has exactly 11 days until he takes off for boot camp. Since he got out of school, he's been complaining of boredom. I keep telling him, he should probably enjoy it while he can, but he doesn't seem to get the whole gist of sitting back and relaxing...

A rollercoaster ride of emotion (05/03/07)
Like most parents with graduating seniors, I have been thinking about Jeremy's graduation for the last month or so. All the invitations have been sent, plans are made for the after-graduation reception and, it seems, in less than two weeks, my youngest son will be graduating high school, no matter how hard I try to postpone the in-evitable...

An invitation to Old Sarge's (04/26/07)
A recent article written by Dick Trail and published in the McCook Gazette has a few people in an uproar, and rightfully so. In his discussion regarding a request to serve wine at the McCook Senior Center, Trail wrote, "Now we aren't talking the clientele of Sarge's Bar; more like the patrons of the Looking Glass or Coppermill and I love them all, especially the protesters."...

Better than a good day at work (04/19/07)
Some may say it's a little early to think about getting out and camping, but we've been preparing for it since March. We replaced all the copper tubing that made up our water line, since we had neglected to prepare for winter the last time we used it in October. The sewer line is fixed, the propane bottles are filled and my grocery list is complete. We're hoping to have the camper at the lake by this evening -- and with a little luck a boat of some kind on the water by Friday morning...

Time to admit mistake and pull out (04/12/07)
As of Wednesday, there were 3,292 American soldiers who have died in Iraq. As of Wednesday there were 3,292 American families that sent their son or daughter, husband or wife, mother or father, and brother or sister off to war -- never to see them again...

Monday was a good day (04/05/07)
Monday was a great day. The sun was shining, it was nearly 80 degrees outside and the wind was blowing at less than the normal 25 miles per hour. It was a rare occasion. Brad was home from work early. I had the day off. Jeremy was home from school by 3:35 p.m. We talked about what we wanted to do for the evening. We were all tired of sitting at home watching television...

Dogs and the Heimlich maneuver (03/29/07)
A story in the news yesterday made me realize just how smart dogs can be -- some dogs anyway. Two-year-old Toby, a golden retriever, saved his mistress' life when he noticed her choking and dragged her to the ground, jumping on her chest until she coughed up the piece of apple she was choking on. The dog ate the apple when it was all said and done...

Fishing for the right motivation (03/22/07)
Over the years, I've learned a very important lesson -- the ability to motivate depends a lot on whom you are trying to get to act and what you're trying to get them to do. I'm easily motivated the minute Brad mentions anything about naptime. He and Jeremy however are motivated the minute the word fishing or hunting is uttered...

More than a non-binding resolution (03/08/07)
A young veteran in California is being criticized for his view of the 13 months he spent serving in Iraq. On the back windshield of his Nissan Frontier pickup, Sgt. Mathew Gonzalez has the words "Lord please forgive me; I have committed sins for our freedom," and depicts a soldier kneeling in prayer...

Spring fever sets in early (03/01/07)
"I don't want to go to school this morning" my son, Jeremy, announced Wednesday. "Let's go fishing." "I have to go to work this afternoon," I told him. "And I don't like ice fishing." "Well the ice probably isn't that thick any more," he reasoned. "I like fishing under the ice even less," I told him...

How about some sunshine -- and now (02/15/07)
Am I the only one who's noticed the change in people's moods lately? Is your husband a little more irritable when he comes home from work? Are your children a little more disobedient than they once were? Has it been two weeks since you've actually felt like cooking a home-cooked meal after you've spent the day taking care of irritable children or grouchy bosses?...

Growing together in a hospital room (02/08/07)
I used to be a firm believer in Murphy's Law -- "If anything can go wrong it will," but two weeks ago this Friday, my belief turned more to the miracle of prayer and the God-given wisdom of the medical profession. We got the call just as we pulled up to the house from picking up our supper -- my step-daughter's husband had been involved in a car-train accident in Moorcroft, Wyo. ...

When the government goes too far (01/25/07)
I thought I'd heard it all. I thought the government had gone as far as it could go in intruding on our private lives and mandating the way we decide to live our lives -- and then I came across a story on CNN.com. The story reports that a California legislator is gaining support for a bill proposing the banning of spanking of children under the age of four...

More troops won't change the culture (01/11/07)
Twenty-thousand "troops." Maybe they use the word to take off the edge. "Troops" -- like tools or guns or Hummers or tanks. The fact is President Bush's Iraqi plan, televised across the nation Wednesday evening, is to send 20,000 more American men and women to Iraq, place them in harms way, and try to make up for the mistakes he admits are his own...

Always something to complain about (01/04/07)
No matter what the weather, there always seems to be someone who can find something to complain about. For months, we've been hearing how much we need moisture. We finally got it. Granted we didn't need it all at once, but just take a look outside and you'll realize there's a lot of moisture laying on the ground and in places it could be there till March...

As years, shoe sizes go by (12/28/06)
There are a lot of ways to judge our age -- our mortality. For some, it's their chronological age. For some it's the condition of their body -- for still others it's the age of their children. My oldest is 25 today. That's a quarter of a century and that means it's going to be hard to convince anyone that I'm still 29...

Sen. Baker served us well (12/21/06)
It's hard to believe that the new year will begin in less than two weeks. With each new year, comes change, and this year, in the Nebraska Legislature, the change will come in the 44th District. While working at the Gazette, I had ample opportunity to get to know Sen. Tom Baker...

The Christmas hints you didn't get (12/14/06)
With Christmas just 11 days away, people keep asking me if I've got all my Christmas shopping done. To be honest, I haven't even started. Just like every year, I plan to put it off until Christmas Eve. I never have trouble shopping any other time of the year. I go out, I buy what I want, what I think I need and whatever someone in the household thinks they can't live without...

Learning from one of the best (12/07/06)
It seems like only yesterday that I walked into the office of the Gazette with a couple of short stories and a diary of sorts and sat down in Gene Morris' office to ask him and Gazette editor Bruce Crosby for a job as a reporter. That was six and and a half years ago...

Jerks who ruin it for the rest of us (11/30/06)
Responsible hunting -- it's something hunters should have been taught since the first time they picked up a gun. Never point a gun at anything you don't plan on shooting. Never carry a loaded gun in a vehicle. Always treat a gun as if it was loaded...

What will we do with our time? (11/09/06)
The election is finally over and I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do with my time. No more running to answer the phone, only to find a recorded message from a politician or organization telling me how to vote. I no longer have to consider requesting a third weekly trash pickup in order to get rid of the flyers we've been receiving over the last three months...

Simple rules for avoiding the couch (11/02/06)
It seems to be official. The winter cold and flu season is here. It's hit the three of us like a ton of bricks. It started with Jeremy. It snuck up on him like a cat stalking a mouse. One minute he was in the basement collecting shotguns for the long-awaited first day of pheasant hunting and the next minute he was upstairs sneezing every three minutes...

Flood makes camping more memorable (10/26/06)
If memory serves me -- sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't -- I remember how much I used to enjoy our summer family camping trips. There was nothing fancy about the way we camped. The six of us would pile into one big tent for sleeping. If we were lucky, we were camped close enough to the outhouse so we could get to it in time to use it -- if not, we figured out how it was done before outhouses were invented...

A little out of the loop (10/19/06)
Since leaving the Gazette to follow other pursuits, I have to admit I'm a little out of the loop on political issues, There are a few things I do know. Ben Nelson doesn't like Pete Ricketts, and Pete Ricketts has very little use for Ben Nelson. There are about 12 initiatives I should vote in favor of for one reason and the same 12 I should vote against for another. ...

When the blonde highlights kick in (10/05/06)
I've always been a firm believer that I should stick with the color of hair that the good Lord blessed me with. I was born a blonde. Pictures from the past show a tow-headed blonde until about the age of eight. Then it began turning to a dirty dishwater blonde...

Out of action by a bottle of soda (09/21/06)
Over the last eight years, Brad and I have taken on dozens of home-improvement projects. We started out by re-plumbing our entire home, and replacing all the old wiring with new. We've taken out old walls and put up new. We turned our basement -- which was once a mechanic's garage -- into a finished floor with an office, family room and laundry room...

House work waits on hunting (09/14/06)
It seems that while Brad may be making his last trip home from Gillette this weekend -- if all goes according to plan -- we'll be making another trip to the Gillette area in the next month or so. It seems antelope season opens Oct. 1. I spent last weekend in Gillette with Brad. He was very animated as he told me about a rancher who had volunteered to put us up and give us all the opportunities at getting antelope we wanted...

Why he won't be hunting this year (09/07/06)
Well, it seems that I may not be moving to Wyoming after all. If all goes according to plan -- and I can only hope that all goes according to plan -- Brad will finally be back home on a permanent basis within the next two weeks. I'm not sure he's looking forward to it as much as I am, since my honey-do list has now grown to about six pages full-size 81/2 inch 2-column pages filled on the front and back...

McCook's rental market may be booming (08/31/06)
When Brad was first asked if he'd go to Wyoming to work for two to four months, I was -- at the very least -- a little hesitant about the idea. But I went along -- what's good for the company is good for Brad and what's good for Brad will ultimately trickle down and be good for me...

In the fall, it's first things first (08/24/06)
"Only 10 more days, Mom," Jeremy informed me the other day. I must say I was a little disappointed. According to my calender, it was only six days till school started. I decided to argue the point with him. "It's only six days," I replied patiently...

A helpful tip for the airlines (08/17/06)
When my son called me three weeks ago to ask if Brad, Jer and I would be willing to fly out to the East Coast if he bought the tickets, I jumped at the chance. I was driving home from Gillette, Wyo., where Brad is working, and the phone rang. Within 24 hours, I had arranged for time off work. Brad had arranged for time off, and the airline tickets were bought...

Back to the future, floor-style (08/10/06)
"I'm never going to do that again." It's a statement I've made so many times I can't count. And here I am, back on another project I said I'd never do again -- eight years ago. This time it's my floors. The carpet was starting to look pretty shabby. With a husband that works in the oil fields and three dogs that shed enough to knit two sweaters a week, I finally decided it was time to go back to hardwood floors...

Up close and personal on U.S. 85 (07/27/06)
Since Brad has been in Wyoming for the last three years -- I mean months -- I've made several trips up to see him. Last weekend I went with a purpose. Finishing the month and a half worth of paperwork he still hadn't gotten done from mid-April to the last of May. I was determined. We'd spend the whole weekend in the motel room working on it if we had to...

Fishing, fingers and flywheels (07/20/06)
"You need to replant my mother-in-law plant. It's going to get root bound" Brad told me as he walked out the door on his way back to Wyoming. It sounded to me like the plant was about to get constipated. I thought about feeding it a laxative. The plant had been sitting on the breakfast bar for the last three months. The only time it got any attention -- or water was when Brad came back every two weeks and gave it a drink...

Showdown on the way to Deadwood (07/13/06)
Since Brad left for Wyoming in mid-April, I've been trying to find ways to keep myself occupied. I've made a trip to Southeast Oklahoma. I've tried to keep the house in decent condition. I've worked on building a new deck, which he helped me finish on his days back in McCook, and I made my final trip to Gillette...

Basic training will be nothing (07/06/06)
After my son joined the Army National Guard two weeks ago, I've suggested that the two of us go to the YMCA so he can get ready for basic training. Since this will be his senior year in high school, he won't be leaving until June 30, 2007 -- that gives him a year to buff up...

Looking for balloons after dark (06/29/06)
It has been 16 years since I visited my mother's family home in Southeast, Okla. My mom has been asking me for the last eight years to join them at the yearly family reunion. I always had some kind of excuse -- not enough money, Brad had to work, I had to work...

Things I've learned while fishing (06/22/06)
Over the last eight years, I've learned a lot from Brad about fishing and hunting. Up until last year, we'd never fished from a boat. Instead, we would sit in the shade of the trees that line the banks of the area lakes, sip our sodas and wait. We never waited long. We found our favorite fishing hole threw our lines out into the lake as far as we could get them, Not once did we go home skunked...

We should have taken the hint (06/15/06)
After last weekend, I've come to the conclusion that boating may not be on my list of favorite things to do. I guess it started out OK. We went out to pick up the boat where it was being stored and we actually got the trailer loaded onto the hitch on Brad's pick-up. ...

A teen is back in the house (06/08/06)
It seems Brad and I are going to have an addition to our little family. Things are going to have to change. No more late-night partying. No more spur of the moment shopping trips to Kearney or Lincoln. Our lifestyle is about to do a 180. From now on, when we go on any kind of trip, I'll have to make sure there's three bags packed instead of the normal two...

In hot water, thanks to Murphy's Law (05/25/06)
I've am now a firm believer in Murphy's Law. I used to scoff at the idea. "Things do go right every once in a while," I'd tell myself. What a fool I was. It all started two weeks ago when Brad had left for Wyoming and I tried starting the weedeater. It didn't...

Priming, pulling and priorities (05/18/06)
With only 24 hours in a day, it's always been hard for me to prioritize the things that need to be done. There's work, of course -- eight hours of the day gone to paying bills and having a little play money for whatever little project I might come up with. Then there's sleep. An additional seven to eight hours that prevents me from doing the fun things in life that I really want to do, like mowing the lawn, cleaning the house, laying the flooring on the deck, shopping for a new water heater …...

What was he supposed to do? (05/11/06)
It's funny how things get turned around as you get older. It used to be if my kids were having trouble going to sleep, I'd simply stick them in their car seat and go for a 15-minute ride. They were out like a light. Now when I start getting a little grumpy they stick me in the car and take me for a 15-minute ride and I'm asleep within five...

Curling up with a good bag of mulch (04/27/06)
My son, Jeremy has been looking for a car he can fix up for the past year or so. I've been hoping he'd get one to drive back and forth from Norton for the past year or so. He finally found a 1974 Ford LTD. It cost him $200. It needed a little work -- new brakes, a seat cover for the front seat, a duplicate title. But we finally got him on the road...

One out and one on deck (04/20/06)
The weather channel says its supposed to be 69 degrees today -- with light winds. Can you imagine? It will be like getting off a carnival ride your mind will still be spinning after it finally ends. People will be walking around in a bent over position for the next two weeks trying to adjust to the calm...

Ungrowing the planted and unplanting the grown (04/06/06)
And here I was looking forward to spring. I was tired of the browns of winter. I was tired of hunting. I was tired of the wind blowing the dry dust around. I was tired of hoping for snow, only to be disappointed every time our 30 percent chance for moisture was quashed by 70-degree days...

When's a hamster have a headache? (03/30/06)
A friend of mine sent me an e-mail the other day relating real life questions that had been asked in the courtroom. I read it at least a week ago. Another friend received it Tuesday. She giggled and guffawed throughout the entire reading. One of the quips told of a lawyer, who asked a coroner if he was sure the subject was dead when he began to perform an autopsy. The coroner explained that the patient's brain had been removed and was sitting on the counter when the autopsy began...

Big plans for the yard work season (03/23/06)
Well, it seems I may be spending a good part of yet another spring working on the yard alone. Brad and I found out a couple of days ago that he'll be moving his oilrig to Wyoming within the next week or two. I think it's a conspiracy. We still have work to do on the house. Our door to nowhere is still going nowhere. Our windows still need trimmed out on the inside. And someone needs to climb the three stories in the back yard to get the backside to match the rest of the house...

Ultimate male multi-tasker (03/16/06)
Brad is back to countdown again. A few days ago, he told a friend it was only two more weeks before we could get the boat out in the water. I don't think he should rush it any. After all, a boat only has two good fishing trips in it before it breaks down and spends the rest of the summer sitting in a boat yard waiting to be repaired...

Salami to talk about dancing (03/09/06)
"You know what I want for my birthday?" I asked Brad last week. He gave me a nervous look -- he'd just bought my dream car in December, I had just purchased a new pair of glasses that would have paid most of our income tax bill, and I had recently put a $500 camera on layaway...

It's hard to let them go (03/02/06)
My son called last night from Alexandria, Va., obviously upset. His girlfriend hadn't called -- she wanted to take some time to think about their relationship, his computer had broken down and a friend in California had been in an accident and wasn't doing well. Things just weren't going his way...

The strange looking man in the window (02/23/06)
Brad seems to be having a few trust issues when it comes to our new car. We have a steep driveway down to our backyard, where we often park our 2004 Crossfire. With the recent snows, the driveway was ice covered for a few days, and the Crossfire remained in the back yard, safe from any sliding vehicle, snow plow or salt truck...

With friends like these ... (02/16/06)
The first time we ever met, this guy made me cry. The three of us, Brad, myself and Kirt have been pretty good friends since then. Sure we have our differences -- he's a Republican, I come closer to being a Democrat. We've become close enough friends that he's finally quit calling me a liberal, and defends me when others do...

Just don't know what's gotten into him (02/09/06)
I'm not exactly sure what's gotten into Brad lately. I came home from work the other day to find him cleaning my kitchen. He decided one night he wanted steak and shrimp for dinner. He actually went outside and grilled the steak. He knew I was busy trying to get the Gazette's "Progress" edition together so he made me a dinner of Hamburger Helper and dinner rolls...

Doing the math (02/02/06)
In May, taxpayers across Nebraska will be asked if they are willing to raise their lawmaker's salary from $12,000 a year to $21,000 a year -- a 57 percent increase in their pay rate. "Ridiculous! " some might say. "Out of the question!" others might chime in...

Getting over it; I hope (01/26/06)
In the past week or so, I've discovered a very important lesson. When your sinuses are running and your head is aching and every musclea and joint in your body is screaming out against any kind of movement -- it's hard to think clearly. Like a lot of people around the area, I've been dealing with the flu -- or a cold -- or a sinus infection -- whatever the doctors are calling it this week -- for about four weeks now...

Driven to distraction (01/19/06)
A proposal in the Nebraska Legislature would make it illegal to use cell phones while driving. It's not a new bill -- it's kind of like a life preserver, it just keeps coming up. There's a difference this year, though. This new bill includes any kind of distraction. Under LB 1108, you could be fined for petting a pet, also a distraction for some drivers...

Picking the pack's pecking order (01/12/06)
I've heard of the alpha dog concept, but it wasn't until recently that I realized it affected us humans as much as it does the animal world. We have three dogs. Our oldest Chewey, is the middle-sized master of the canines. Max, the largest and youngest of the three is the subordinate. Gizmo, our only female in the pack, is the mistress of our little family pack...

Driving in the dark runs in the family (12/29/05)
Brad and I bought our first car together six years ago. His precious Grand Am had been totaled by hail damage. We continued to drive it, but after my little accident (sticking a metal post through the trunk of the car), we (I) decided it was time to start looking for something different...

Three days 'til Christmas (12/22/05)
Three days 'til we hear the squeals of excitement when new toys are ripped from their packages and cries of disappointment when those new toys are broken. Three days until little ones get to take the first ride on their very first bicycle and experience their first crash...

Let's take that Christmas picture later (12/15/05)
During our daily meeting at the Gazette Wednesday, the ad staff was talking about taking pictures of the Gazette staff for our Christmas greeting page. They mentioned that they'd be going around taking photos on a certain day and wondered whether they should warn people of just pop up with the camera...

When the family doesn't get along (12/01/05)
It's amazing how much they begin to infiltrate your life. You bring them home, and despite their lack of ability to understand the rules you lay out, they begin to worm their way into your family. You tend to overlook their misbehavior, allowing them some leeway because of their age, and the newness of their surroundings...

The 'we' in good housekeeping (11/17/05)
I looked around the house the other day as Brad and I were preparing to leave for the first day of deer rifle season. I've always admitted I'm not a great housekeeper. My house normally isn't dirty, it's disorganized. I've tried the "A place for everything and everything in its place," philosophy of housekeeping -- I could never re-member where I had designated a particular item to be placed...

They've got calendars in their dens (11/10/05)
The way I see it, come January Brad is mine. It started in September with dove season. October brought antelope season. November rolled around and it was pheasant season, then turkey season. This weekend brings deer season and come December, muzzleloader season kicks in...

Only two more days 'til opener (10/27/05)
There're only two more days before the pheasant season officially opens in Nebraska. I realized how close it was Wednesday night when I saw a group of about six guys at the local retail store stocking up on groceries and refreshments. They were all dressed in brand new Mossberg, and Cabella's T-shirts and talking about the type of meal that will get them out into the field the fastest...

It's Thursday and back to reality (10/20/05)
I had it all worked out ... A new car, a castle-like mansion imported from England, a 60-foot yacht, a summer home in the south of France, the chance to support my extended family in the style to which they'd like to become accustomed, but once again, the lottery winner of the $340 million ended up being from one of the country's coastlines...

Setting the sights on another first (10/13/05)
Throughout the years, Brad has introduced me to a lot of firsts when it comes to the outdoors. First pheasant hunt. First dove hunt. First deer hunt. First duck hunt. This year was another first for me -- my first antelope hunt. We left for the hunt Friday afternoon, arriving in Kimball at about 9 p.m. -- we had to make a stop in Sidney for supper and shopping -- this time Brad got to do the shopping...

Hot prospects for advertising (10/06/05)
"Guess what, Gloria?" Dawn Kalinski, one of the Gazette's ad staff, asked me as I walked by her office the other day. I stopped, waiting for her revelation. "September was National Menopause Awareness Month." I wasn't sure how to take it. Did she expect me to act more civil now that Sept-ember was over. Was it her way of telling me she understood how I had been feeling. Or was it simply her way of pointing out that we had missed out on a great revenue opportunity...

If I could sleep through September (09/29/05)
Dear Sis: Brad and I were driving around the countryside Tuesday night as we do every year in the fall, trying to get pictures for the Gazette's upcoming Hunting Edition. As we drove, I heard a song that must have been written just for me. It wasn't vanity -- not really, the words described the way I have felt for the last eight years. The song is performed by Green Day, an alternative rock band (can you imagine, me listening to alternative rock!?):...

Fall fashion sense (09/22/05)
You would have a hard time convincing some people that this is the first day of fall, considering we hit the century mark just yesterday. But it's true -- fall is supposedly here. We can start looking forward to cooler days and chilly evenings -- and a fall shopping spree...