The dog days of summer are giving way to school days, school days, dear old golden rule days. Actually, here in Alabama, they’re the same things for a few blistering weeks, but still, the alarm will soon go off a little earlier and you’ll have to roust your little ones and get them out the door on time.For some of you, this will be your first time in the paper plate … [Read more...]

Batten down the hatches, me buckos, the babies are on the move! After many long months of confinement in baby buckets, my granddaughters are crawling. Both of them. Every day, I get reports from my daughters on their respective coasts about their little ones’ adventures in their wide new world. The babies happily navigate around furniture and retrieve their toy of choice. … [Read more...]

By Sue MurphyIt didn’t seem possible, and yet, there he was–Michael Jackson performing at the Billboard Music Awards. It was a flashy number, too, with glitter and lights and backup dancers. The kicker is that the pop star was…well, dead.The word “dead” seems so harsh, doesn’t it? Passed away? No longer with us? Maybe. All I know is that a lot of passed … [Read more...]

Sue Murphy's column from our June 13, 2013 issue was recently awarded first place in the Alabama Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.Other than ThatThings at my house have been crazy lately. Crazy good, crazy bad. Some days the juxtaposition makes me…well…crazy. On those days, I am kept vertical only by snippets of momentary bliss, a pair of bluebirds at the … [Read more...]

By Taylor BurgessJournal internI have spent the past four years living and driving in the Over the Mountain area. As a student at Samford University, I have circled around Homewood and Vestavia Hills and Mountain Brook a countless number of times. Every semester, I have taken multiple trips home to Florida—and, of course, made my weekly commute to intern here at the … [Read more...]