Best Buys
My son walked into the room, and I nearly passed out. The aroma from his Speed Stick deodorant was overpowering ($2.99 for 3.25 ounces at Walgreens). I’d prefer body odor to that heavy, cheap-cologne smell. …
Hallelujah! I’m not cooking for Thanksgiving this year — the Kellys have gotten themselves invited to a monster gathering up north. When I asked what I could bring, they just said, “Wine, and lots of …
You can’t be blasting your fellow man with dragon breath. So, when Patrick complained of the chalkiness of his Dentyne Pure Mint gum ($1.49 for 9 pieces at Ralphs), I knew a replacement was needed. …
My poor son’s face has become a wasteland of angry red bumps. It brings him no end of misery, and nothing I’m bringing home from the drugstore is doing much good. Time to call in …
Every October, when the colors of autumn start to show, my creativity seems to wake from a long summer slumber. I think the seeds of my creativity were sown in my childhood in New England. …
I am in full Earth-mama mode these days, using a natural remedy whenever possible. So when Patrick started moaning from the bathroom about inheriting his father’s bad digestion, I started looking into aloe. Yes, aloe. …
The seasonal section of the grocery stores has been beckoning, particularly the apple butters and pumpkin butters. Last shopping night, I bought every one I could find. A couple of them came from a local …
“What ever happened to home economics class in school?” asked my Aunt Azelda. “So kids don’t learn to sew. Sew what?” I joked. Yeah, she didn’t think it was funny, either. “We have everything from …
The man is blessed with thick calves — voluptuous, meaty calves. He says that’s what attracted me to him. The man likes to see me laugh. The ample gams war against his soccer socks. The …
“Imagine if I could grow tomatoes year-round…” I said as I came in from the garden. “One word,” replied my husband Patrick. “Hydroponics.” John at Mr. Hydro in Solana Beach (858-259-9100; mr-hydro.com) gave me an …
“Can I make room in my heart for a gecko?” joked my hubby Pat. When an overwhelmed Marine-wife friend of ours asked if we’d adopt her family’s pet, a house gecko, how could I say …
Patrick’s nephew is coming in for a visit, right in the middle of this heat. “Let’s do a root-beer-float party,” suggested Uncle Pat. “And let’s get some killer root beer — make it interesting for …
“We always had poor-kid lunches,” I reminisced. “Peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole-wheat bread, wrapped in a bread bag. Sometimes with an apple.” “Friends around me would be unwrapping their plastic- and aluminum-wrapped multi-meat …
The kids have been begging to go to Comic-Con for years. This year I yielded, on the condition that we seek out age-appropriate offerings. After 30 minutes of swimming through an ocean of people decked …
“Are you trying to kill me?” gasped hubby Patrick. He was eyeballing the lineup of 24 bottles of ranch dressing on the counter. Patrick doesn’t even like ranch dressing, but his family does and they’re …
“Late night?” I joked with my friend Kendra. She’s not much of a drinker, but she looked awful. “It’s cramping,” she replied. “I almost couldn’t get out of bed this morning. And I don’t want …