I’m a big believer that true happiness works from the inside out. You can look impressive on the outside, but the inside is what counts. In other words, you can’t polish a turd. I have a feeling that on my deathbed the brands I wore, the size of my house, or how much I weighed won’t matter much. A montage of dramatic events will probably flash through my mind as I blow my nose into a hanky, cursing at the nurse for feeding me cafeteria goop when all I really want is a medium rare steak to moo me into the next life.

Have you been sick this winter? Be careful, it’s going around. If I had a penny for every time someone told me that, I’d be a multimillionaire. The truth of the matter is, yes, I was no exception for the wit of the angry illness bug. “The bug” is the spoiled youngest child in the family that always needs attention, seizes the opportunity to prey on the weak, and is openly ridiculed by everyone.

Thanksgiving is over! How was it for you? If you weren’t weeping into a Hungry Man TV dinner my guess is, you had an alright holiday. If you were in fact weeping into a Hungry Man, next time check out the paper! It advertises great events around town, places to eat, and holiday activities that are usually free for the public, such as the annual Electric Light Parade. We didn’t get a chance to watch the parade this year or the fireworks that follow, but I did visit the annual Kenai Craft Fair and local vendors bazaar. I even entered a drawing at the craft fair and won free jelly.

October is definitely the kick-off for birthdays in our four-person immediate family. We’re all within a month of each other, except for my husband; his is in the boring month of January. Why does he go to such extremes to be a loner? He’s still a winter baby, so I suppose that’ll do. Let’s be honest, by January we’re all broke from the holidays, we’re stuck with a collection of coffee mugs and candles, have reached a whole new kind of pale, and any hope for a Hawaiian vacation is a pipe dream, because you spent your extra money on the people you forgot about.