How many batteries does your house have?

As electronics move into every corner of our lives, most of them require batteries to operate. As these batteries die, the consequences can be from a minor annoyance to catastrophic failure in your house when the heat goes off and the pipes freeze. To avoid these problems, large and small, you need to know where all the batteries are located and when to change them.

Summer is here?

Recent fluctuations in temperature and barometric pressure makes this question inevitable. What really is this season? At time of writing, we have experienced multiple ebbs and flows in heat and cool. Multiplexes, however, have been in a cold spell with nothing of note gracing their screens. Usually blockbuster season isn’t until May, so it was a surprise to see what very well may be the biggest movie of the year drop in Dune: Part Two.

Ask an Angel: March 21, 2024

I am reaching out to seek your expertise and guidance regarding the care and well-being of my aging parents. As my parents are getting older, I find myself increasingly concerned about their health, safety, and overall quality of life. While I strive to support them to the best of my ability, I recognize that I don’t always know what I’m doing.

Check in at Checkers

A long, long time ago, in a suburb far, far, away, there lived two young foodies. They traveled near and far in search of new restaurants. This was a big adventure since there were no cell phones or GPS, they had to rely on Jim’s map reading skills and Nancy’s nagging. They ventured from their comfortable Hoffman Estates home all the way to what they considered the boonies of Woodstock. The reason for this trip was a restaurant called Deeter’s which featured excellent German/Swiss cuisine.

Move ahead a few millennia, and lo and behold, these two young foodies are now ancient and use a GPS in conjunction with Nancy’s nagging. As fate would have it, they now live in the boonies of Huntley, and Woodstock is their close neighbor.

Total eclipse of the park: preparing for a rare solar event

We all have those ‘Where were you when’ memories. For some it may be, ‘Where were you when man first walked on the moon?’ or others ‘Where were you on September 11, 2001?’ Although not nearly as globally significant many of us remember the answer to the question, ‘Where were you when you first experienced a solar eclipse?’

We take it for granted that whether or not we see it, the sun is above us in the sky each and every day. Clouds may obscure our view, but we know that the sun is there shining bright. This star influences our planet in several key ways. It determines our seasons, influences the climate, drives our weather patterns and assists in controlling the ocean currents. All living plants are dependent upon the sun and could not survive without it.

The ham that took it on the lam

I lost a ham today.

I know that’s not the kind of confession you expect to hear every day, but there it is:

Today, I lost a ham.

“How does someone lose a ham?” my friend Anne asked when I told her.

Why social media is boring me to pieces

I’d like to thank Elon Musk for purchasing Twitter. Ahem — I mean ‘X.’

As soon as Elon Musk walked into Twitter’s headquarters carrying a sink (the caption to the video read, “Walking into Twitter HQ. Let that sink in,”) it was clear that Musk was more concerned with crafting Dad-jokey quips than he was about making the platform better, or at the very least keeping it clear from hate speech and disinformation.

For me it was a nightmare.

Doing away with dread

I’ve been thinking about dread lately, namely how much I’m dreading these months leading up to our next presidential election. I dread the endless rhetoric, the talking heads regurgitating empty promises and attacks and criticisms ad nauseum to fill the hungry belly of the 24-hour news cycle. I dread the ads, the bumper stickers, the way I will sidestep social conversations about politics like I’m tiptoeing through a minefield.

Even the word “dread” sort of sits in the mouth like a lump of wet clay and falls out with a thud.

Potato pancake palooza

Getting a puppy is fun and exciting. However, once she comes home, that’s when the fun begins. First thing: housebreaking. We hung a string of bells on the patio door and taught Rosie to ring them when she has to go out. Unfortunately, she loves the outside and rings those bells every 15 minutes. If we don’t take her out, she sits in front of us and looks at us as if to say, “do you feel lucky”?

Updating the outside of your home

Chris, my husband, and I have been updating our home this winter. As we have lived here for over 20 years, it was time for the inside of our home to be refreshed. Our gold fixtures are being replaced with brushed nickel, we are installing hardwood flooring in place of carpeting and the beige walls are being painted over with shades of grey. While we aren’t trendy people, it does feel good to be making these improvements. The inside of our home will soon reflect the beauty that we have created on the outside. Just as there are interior design home trends, there are also gardening trends. Here is a preview of the top gardening trends for 2024.

Serial thrillers

Greetings all, we are about to head into another month with still no movies to choose from. The theaters have been inundated with schlock. All of this done, presumably, pull focus onto Oscar pics before the big ceremony. The strikes in Hollywood have started to show their consequences. Luckily, streaming has been picking up the slack with prestige miniseries, harkening back to the days when network television would break up the monotony of their scripted dramas and sitcoms. So, let’s liven this very strange season shall we?

Ask an Angel: February 22, 2024

I’m reaching out as a daughter who is facing a unique challenge with my elderly parents, and I could use some advice. My primary concern revolves around my mom’s reluctance to get dressed. This situation is complicated by her dementia diagnosis and is ultimately hindering my dad’s ability to leave the house.

My mom doesn’t feel up to getting dressed, and my dad often has to miss out on family events as a result. He asks me to convince her to get dressed so they can go out together. It saddens me that they’re missing out on things and we don’t know how much time we have left with them.

The false promise of January

Is she gone yet? Is January out of earshot, so we can talk behind her back?

Before December is even over, I get excited about hanging out with January. I start making lists well before the turn of the calendar, to be ready when she comes. I plan out all the fun things we’re going to do together: exercise, self-care, healthy eating, budgeting, family time, career goals.