Since my blog is aptly named “Sweet Talk” it can’t hurt to post a much requested, holiday dessert recipe: my Grandmother Riley’s Famous Fruitcake. Since Grandma has passed, I can confess the tweaks I made in the version posted here: I changed out the citron for chopped dried apricots. They provide a nice (and[...]
1969 – It was afternoon in the late summer and we were bored. My girlfriend, Gail, and I were plopped down on the warm grass in front of our house when my sister’s boyfriend drove up. He got out of his jacked-up muscle car, we all said hi, and then he and my sister went[...]
From The Passion of the Christ – 2004 True confessions: I once—and for too long—pursued love, romance, (and yes, sex) with a vengeance, trying to find meaning and happiness. In that regard, I’m just “one in a million” who was blind to the beauty of true romance. Most thankfully, my True Love never took his[...]
What a dump*, I thought as we surveyed the old house. I had just started working for my father in his commercial real estate appraisal business (where we’d work together for the next thirty years!) On this day early in my career I would learn a lesson that would serve me the rest of my[...]
It’s January! Time for packing away holiday decorations and tossing out or donating other things we really don’t need. Our interior life needs to be decluttered, too, since we all struggle with “inordinate attachment” to things, outcomes, and even our relationships. Too often, these can take up our time and attention and block us from[...]
BOOM! Your marriage is in trouble and DIVORCE IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER. What do you do? As with a medical emergency, get help now! Waiting only invites death. The qualified and trained ER staff will assess your immediate needs and give you a list of things to do. Yes, you may need extensive[...]
It was 1963 and I had just turned twelve. I’d gotten my period a year before and was developing faster than most girls in my class. Where they were still short, rosy-cheeked, and flat-chested, I was six inches taller, growing into a B-cup, and getting acne. It was an awkward, confusing time for me. Sadly,[...]
The woman approached me and thanked me for my book, Personality PLUS at Work. It’s about the life-changing impact an understanding of the four temperaments can have on all our relationships. “We heard you speak three years ago. Our whole family has been studying this! It’s amazing!” Her smile quickly changed to a look of[...]
“Rosie, for your Christmas present, the brothers and I want to take you and Dad to Sayulita, Mexico. And we want to pay for everything.” What?! My oldest stepson, Pat, had taken charge and took me by sweet surprise. He, Matt, and Rory wanted us all to return to Mexico for another family fishing trip.[...]
Not if you mean an exhaustive set of detailed schematics that he decided before you were born and that you must discover or be doomed. Let me explain. Back in the 1970’s I began a thirty-year career as a commercial real estate appraiser. I’ll never forget the first time I unrolled construction plans for a[...]
