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Playing in the Big Leagues

We are blessed to live in a townhouse complex where my daughter can play with a large number of different children of ages, especially in the summer when the children play outside in our big, open area. When she was only two, the bigger children were dragging her outside, begging her to be the baby in their games. They’d maneuver her around like a doll, and I’d monitor things carefully to make sure that she wasn’t being hurt. As my daughter became a preschooler, she became more able to integrate herself into their games. At first, she would run around … Continue reading →

Understanding that Customers, Clients and Colleagues Do Have a Life

Getting irritated at the behaviors of our clients and customers (not to mention colleagues and vendors) may seem like it comes with the work territory of running one’s own business—but it doesn’t have to be that way. I think it helps us to remind ourselves that other people really do have a life and while some of their choices might be inconvenient to us—they are normally not intended to be personal or mess up our schedules and lives… If you hear yourself saying “Why are they doing this to me?!” chances are things are out of perspective. I was talking … Continue reading →

New Career Path: Playing Video Games as a Living

Confession: My husband is a big video game fan. He owns (or has owned) every gaming console ever sold except the two brand-new ones: The Wii and Playstation 3. You have three guesses as to what he wants for Christmas, and the first two don’t count. So when I was reading one of his gaming magazines he had left laying around, and saw an article where Tom “Tsquared” Taylor (who apparently plays video games very well) had signed a contract to be paid $1.25 million dollars to do just that, I yelled, “So Doug, just how good are you at … Continue reading →

Toddlers And Sports

If it seems to you that children are participating in sports at much younger ages than they did when you were a kid, you’re right. More and more kids are beginning to play sports at younger and younger ages. There is considerable debate over whether or not early involvement in organized athletics is beneficial for children. It is undisputed that children need physical activity, and plenty of it in order to develop strong, healthy bodies and minds. It is also clear that many children do not get enough physical activity, and that their health suffers because of that. Many children … Continue reading →

How to Get Photojournalist Credentials

As I mentioned in a previous post, some of my fellow colleagues are on their way to the Super Bowl in Dallas to document the fall of the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Green Bay Packers. I worked with all of them at the local NBC affiliate in Green Bay, Wisconsin, for nearly a decade. My former co-workers couldn’t be more thrilled to record the Packers playing the biggest game of their lives and I am happy that they were selected by their boss to get the job done. They joke that they are getting paid to take the trip of … Continue reading →

Fantasy Sports Insurance is Real

I will be the first to admit that I am not what one would describe as a sports fan. I know enough to be able to watch a football, baseball, or soccer game and understand which team is winning. I have a favorite football team, and a favorite baseball team, but I am not heartbroken if they lose a game. Of course, having grown up near Chicago, my favorite teams are the Chicago Bears, and the Chicago Cubs. Being a fan of those two teams pretty much means figuring they will lose the game, and being ecstatic with delight when … Continue reading →

Harnessing the Hamster: Preschoolers and Sports

Small children are amazing in their energy output. Often, I am tempted to put my daughter into an oversized hamster ball and use her to power my kitchen. Perhaps I could automate the snack-making process. Hmm, now there’s an idea! Over the last four years, we’ve registered for everything from baby swimming lessons to a class that featured an assortment of indoor sports. We’ve done ballet, and my daughter has gone running with me as I trained for a marathon. As I look at my friends and relatives, I realize that the sports that we learn to love in childhood … Continue reading →

Celebrities Who Had Baseball Dreams – Part 1

Many a little boy has had dreams of playing professional baseball one day, but did you know that some of your favorites had to settle for celebrity stardom instead? That’s right, had things been a bit different, instead of seeing George Clooney in Academy Award winning roles, you might have seen him on the baseball field. Clooney tried out for the Cincinnati Reds when he was younger, but failed to make the team. He is still a big Reds fan. In fact, Ellen DeGeneres used former Reds players as a ploy to get Clooney on her show last January. She … Continue reading →

Jen’s Present to Ben and Julianne Margulies’ Gift to Herself

I guess the child Jennifer Garner is carrying is not her Christmas present to her famous hubby Ben Affleck after all. Rather, the National Enquirer is reporting that the actress is designing her poker-playing spouse a gaming suite in their new home. The tabloid claims that Garner surprised Affleck with the plans for the new addition a few months ago. But, perhaps, even more shocking than the fact that Garner paid big bucks to recreate her hubby’s favorite high-roller suite at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas (which apparently is his favorite place to play) is the news that the … Continue reading →

Unleash the Sleuth in You at 5MinuteMystery.com

If you’re a mystery buff or the type who loves playing Clue, have I got a neat new site for you: 5MinuteMystery.com. It’s a place where you can solve a new mystery every day, earn points, and compete against other people in the process. Even better, the content on this site is family-friendly so everyone from little Billy to Aunt Zelda can enjoy solving the mysteries together –or against each other, which makes it even more fun. Getting Started 5MinuteMystery.com is a pay-to-play site, so when you sign up you also have to fork over $19.95. However, that’s for a … Continue reading →