My birthday is coming up this month. I have a friend who celebrates her birthday for the entire month! Not me. For me, it’s more like, “Oh yeah… my birthday’s this month.” No big countdown. No confetti. No birthday week. Definitely no birthday month. But when I was a child? That was a completely different […]

A humorous personal story about gardening, family memories, mischievous dogs, unexpected wildlife, and the baby snake that turned a simple lettuce harvest into a sprint for the record books.

So… it’s decision time. My 50th high school reunion is this year, and the invitation arrived. Fifty years. Honestly, I’m still trying to recover from hearing that number out loud. As I started stepping back in time in my mind, I thought about my high school self. I definitely did NOT have the three P’s. […]

I don’t know about you, but I have what I call “irrational” fears. Well… maybe the fears themselves aren’t irrational—it’s my reaction to them that probably deserves the side-eye. Take bugs, for example. They are icky, ooookey, and just plain yucky. In my humble opinion. And if some unlucky insect happens to land on me? […]

I am not a gadget type of gal. It’s not that I dislike gizmos… I just can’t figure them out. How they work feels like some kind of unsolved mystery. The kind best left to people who enjoy reading instruction manuals for fun (do those people really exist?). My husband, on the other hand, loves […]

Sometimes I feel like an extremist.Not in the political sense—just in the Peni tries to do everything at maximum intensity sense. Like exercise. I go all out… until I can’t move, can’t think, and have to sit in one spot for hours, questioning every life choice I’ve ever made. Or books. If I love a […]

As we say goodbye to 2025 and hello to 2026, we also say hello to something else—our hopes for the new year.Otherwise known as New Year’s resolutions… those well-intentioned promises we make while holding a cup of coffee (or something stronger) and thinking, This year will be different. I usually start the new year full […]

I’ve been thinking a lot about the human touch lately—especially hand-holding.There are so many reasons we reach for someone’s hand. When I was little, my big sister and I held hands constantly—part safety, part comfort, and part, “I’ve got you and you’ve got me.” Even without words, that was our promise to each other. Two […]

We all get “set in our ways,” don’t we? It happens so gradually we barely notice it… until someone else can’t adapt, and suddenly we’re experts on flexibility! Take this past Thanksgiving, for instance. My hubby and I drove to our daughter’s house to celebrate with her and her husband. We booked a nearby hotel […]

I never had a coach for anything as a kid—or as an adult, for that matter. Looking back, wow… I missed out! I had plenty of teachers, instructors, mentors, even therapists—but never a coach. But now?Oh, now I have all the coaches.Exercise coaches, nutritional coaches, and even writing coaches.I feel like I’m being coached into […]