Leigh's Views

This book is a bit of a diamond in the rough. However, there's quite a bit of value contained within the pages. While this isn't the typical type of book I read, I found myself interested in the author's journey.  So, what do you think of when you hear 'stepmother?' The fairy tale one who's evil? Yup, I'm sure that's where most people's minds tend to go. I've known quite a few stepparents over the years, and I have to say most of them don't appear to be downright horrible. And this is why when I was asked to read this book, I agreed.  In this rather short book, the author did her best to show examples from her life of how she found happiness and made stepparenting work for her. Which, to be honest, was a refreshing take on the process of combing families.  The author does give a few specifics of how her story and struggles can help others. And she shares a few cases of other families as well. Her insight and wisdom is timely and needed. Click

The other day I sat down at a fast food restaurant to eat my lunch, the place was packed. A few tables over, a woman chatted on the phone, very loudly. I tried not to eavesdrop, however, that wasn't possible at the volume she spoke at. It soon became apparent the conversation leaned toward that of a rather personal nature. She talked about how her cousin had fantasies about her that were rather inappropriate. Then she moved on to discuss in detail about her attempts at online dating. And how all her matches were 'cowboys who fish' or the like.  As I sat in silence, munching, I debated about saying something to this woman about it probably would be best for her to not air her private affairs this way. But before I could do anything, she got to the end of her call and something rather unexpected happened. She said to the person on the other end, "Thanks for the therapy session, I do believe these calls are helping me. And next week, I do think I'm ready for an in-off

A few weeks ago, I boarded my flight back to the States after my trip to Spain. I'd ended up with a window seat and was looking forward to getting some great shots from the air since it was a daytime flight. After I settled in, a man sat beside me in the middle but he seemed rather uncomfortable. Fidgeting, he futzed with his phone, adjusting his earbuds, bumping me several times. Ignoring him, I figured he'd calm down in a minute since we were about to depart. However, he spread out his legs, ending up with his right foot in between my feet. I glared at him, and when he didn't notice this in the least, I gave his foot a hard tap with mine. And he didn't budge. Giving up, I removed my shoes and tucked my feet up onto my carry-on under the seat in front of me. The plane began to move, he continued to send texts to whomever. He shifted a bit more, his shoulder now firmly resting on mine. Debating about saying something, I pushed him hard with my shoulder instead. With no

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love the beach. Any excuse I can find, I'm there. There's something about the way the salt air smells. The feel of sand in between my toes. The wind blowing my hair into my eyes. The calling of the birds. All of the little critters scurrying in the sand. But right now, the closest I can get to the ocean is the local pool. Not even close to being the same, but at least it's outdoors. However, because it's winter there's a huge dome covering it. Which has resulted in the water being too hot, well at least for me. Over the last couple of months, I've watched as person after person, entered the pool area and dip their hand in the water. Then make some kind of face - from a mild frown to out-and-out disgust. Then every last one of them made a hasty retreat. Yeah, I get it. I'm not from here. What is cold to me isn't to others. I wear shorts when it's sixty degrees outside and everyone else is bundled up in seven layers

I was having coffee the other day with a friend of mine. After we'd been chit-chatting a while, she mentioned something about how she now was 'breaking the law' to save a buck. I paused for a moment, unsure how to respond to this revelation. She then went on to explain that after trying her level best to cut costs to fight inflation, her household budget still wasn't working. Thus, she'd shopped around for cheaper car insurance. Finding none, she called her current company to try to haggle for a lower rate. They told her to download an app, they'd send her a thing to put in her car and she'd get a discount based on her driving patterns. Sounded easy enough to her, she'd never gotten a ticket or been in an accident, therefore, she had to be a great driver. Right? Turns out she was wrong. After a few days of using the app/thing in her car, she checked the app and discovered she had a really low score. Digging deeper into the information about the trips, sh

  Okay, I know that the title of this blog sounds like the opening of a bad joke. But the other day, as I was walking down the street, I noticed these guys trying to park a trailer in a yard. Now, you might be thinking how hard can that be? Well, let me tell you, extremely. This particular yard is surrounded by an eight-foot-high sturdy wrought iron fence. And a gate that once opened left a space which, from my vantage point, appeared to be only about an inch wider than the trailer. So there they were, a guy driving a truck, two guys trying to guide him into the yard. The guy on one side yelled that the truck needed to turn to the right, the other was yelling that the truck needed to turn to the left. The poor driver jiggling the truck back and forth trying to do both. Until the inevitable happened - a loud crunch ringing out as the trailer and the fence collided. Resulting in minor damage to both the trailer and the fence. Now, at some point, the driver should've realized how impo