Hubby Bill is hard a work writing a book that he plans on publishing “soon” called the same title of this post, “The Gentle Advantage.” It basically means that The Gentle Advantage is a lifestyle, taking it easy in most things in life like adopting a gentler mindset. Bringing kindness and offering help to others in this world is the spirit of The Gentle Advantage. Today, we noticed, this also can be used for our furry friends. When there is a name for what you may see and exp

Hubby Bill and I have had the time of our lives over the last 39 years of marriage. We’ve managed through the good times and not so good times, a testament to our commitment to each other. When we said our I do’s on June 13, 1987, on a sunny and brilliant day in Cleveland, Ohio, we never knew where life would take us. No one does. But, we had fortitude, zeal, and a will to keep our love alive as best we could no matter what. Those vows were not lost on us. Over the last few w

As much as I try to do other things, sometimes the pull of my son’s experience being a 5X cancer survivor pulls me back in like an errant rip tide. I’m thankful that the book I wrote, The Focused Fight - A Childhood Cancer Journey: From Mayhem to Miracles, is celebrating its 5th anniversary this week . What I’ve realized is that when I sat at my dining room table for eight months, while the world was in lockdown due to COVID-19, I was giddy with words on the page, paragraphs

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to all who participated in the 2025 Holiday Wishes Christmas Quilt! A BIG shout of Congratulations to Mary Jean McCarthy for winning this special quilt for her and her family! Here are the facts: We had 631 names (chances) on the Wheel of Names - Wooohooo! We collectively raised $2200, with Bill and me matching the first $500 - YAY!!! We will donate the money to these organizations: Just Tryan It , which provides financial assistance to fami

Hello! I am psyched about this year's raffle quilt and collectively helping a few families like mine during this festive season. However, as I wrote in The Focused Fight: A Childhood Cancer Journey: From Mayhem to Miracles , this time of year was pure mayhem on several occasions. A lot of it had to do with Santa finding Olivia and Ryan while we were hospitalized. I'm hoping that with the funds collected, we will be able to help with outstanding medical bills, a car note or re

My hope for all my readers is to have a fun and safe Thanksgiving holiday weekend! We are hosting 15 loved ones who are traveling to Crofton on Friday. We have an ambitious agenda that involves food, pickleball, sightseeing, and more. Thankfully, I'm thrilled we are hosting, as we've done for almost 29 years. Since we are living away from our families in Ohio, it is always grand to have our gang under our roof, even when Ryan was hospitalized for several years all those years

Today is not only the reveal of the Christmas Raffle Quilt 2025, but the start of selling chances for the next TWO WEEKS! Based on last year's feedback, extending it by an earlier start date and another week to extend the chances sounded good to me, so here we go! So, as the year winds down, my heart fills up. NeedleOnFull has been in full swing with T-shirt Quilts and, of course, a holiday-themed quilt to raffle off for families facing financial strain due to a newly diagnos

My friend, Diane, an economist and author of Your Shopping Superpower , has released a guide on how to choose gifts that are people and planet-friendly. This may not be for everyone, but her research is too compelling not to share her findings. She writes: Hello friend! I put together this holiday shopping guide to help you keep the holidays more joyful and less stressful. When it’s time to choose holiday gifts that are good for people and the planet, this guide will save you

In June 2020, Diane Osgood and I met in Seth Godin's Writing in Community 1 (WIC). We were smack in the middle of the early part of the...

Selling Raffle Tkts/Sewing/Quilting It was an ambitious day all suited to my love of quilting. I started this morning by going to the...

Two weeks ago, I wrote a blog post about the new anthology Badass Sisterhood—Roots & Wings. The thirteen Badass Sisters have been sharing...

I am proud to celebrate and be in the company of excellent women writers and announce another book from Akimbo Writing in Community Women...

The iconic song "Seasons of Love" from the Broadway play Rent is my go-to for rounding up another year. I love the theme of LOVE, and the...

December 30, 2024 - Crofton, Maryland - Counted Blessings 2024 They say we should count our blessings. But before I start down that road,...

Grateful Gals, AKA Childhood Cancer Fighting Moms, Plus, Dr. Aziza Shad’s UN Agent of Change Award Recipient We are affectionately called...