Sleep is part of the good health trifecta – sensible food, regular exercise, eight solid hours of sleep. With enough willpower, you can talk yourself into the right foods and an appropriate amount of exercise, but the sleep part isn’t that simple, at least not for me. I do all the right things – dim the lights, cool the room just a tad, make sure I haven’t just watched any … [Read more...]

By Sue Murphy All of my children and grandchildren convened at my house over the holidays, and it was glorious. We laughed, we played, we ate copious amounts of foods you can only justify on special occasions. There were nine of us total, and everyone had a bed to sleep in and a chair at the table. The house was just the right size. When I am there by myself, however, my … [Read more...]

  By Sue Murphy A $12 million grant recently was awarded to study which type of diet was most effective for losing weight and keeping it off. Guess what they found: a diet low in carbs. Twelve million dollars and we get a big “Duh!” Seriously, everyone knows that. The problem is that no one wants that to be the answer. They would love for the study to … [Read more...]

By Sue Murphy I’m hard to shop for. My children have been after me to make an Amazon gift list where they can point-and-click and have the whole thing wrapped and delivered. The problem is that when I sit down to think about the things that I really, really want, the things that would make a difference in my life going forward, I doubt even Amazon could fill the bill. What … [Read more...]

By Sue Murphy I don’t know how things fare with our national security, but I can tell you one thing: No one’s going to be surreptitiously walking off with one of Mrs. Squirrel’s tea cozies any time soon. When Santa’s elves finish making their toys, the gifts must be packaged for store display. Although the entire assemblage of Mrs. Squirrel’s Tiny Tree House will … [Read more...]