Author Archives: Ann Kirsten

It all started with Martha Stewart (as all good stories do).  Many years back, Martha had a darling small tree with gingerbread men hanging on it in her magazine.  The cookies were simply de...

I once naively told a funeral director that Christmas must be his quietest time of the year (I figured that even if people were gravely ill they would try and hold on through the holidays). He looked ...

Recently, our family was going through a hard time.  One day, out of the blue, I received a mysterious manila envelope addressed to “Queen Blogger Ann”.  I opened it to find a me...

As we head into the Holidays, most moms start to feel their stress level rising.  In spite of our best efforts, we somehow tend to get caught up in “perfect mom syndrome” and the desi...

As I was doing research on the first Thanksgiving, I found out that the only females left alive after those first awful years of sickness and starvation were four women and two teen girls. It is said ...

We all have reasons for living our lives in fast gear.  Some of our reasons are really good ones too.  We may have a house full of kids, a busy work and social life, or just brains that don&...

Remember the ALS ice bucket challenge where otherwise sane people poured ice water on their heads?  It became a global phenomenon.  And, really why did so many people take part in the crazin...

I am sitting here in the dark with only the light of a flickering candle.  The power is out again.  There is no TV, no internet, and no phone.  A lot has happened in the last...

When our kids were young, we struggled to figure out how to participate in Halloween. At the time, our kids went to public school during the week and Sunday school on Sunday. Depending on who you talk...

I always want to sing The Brady Bunch theme song when I think of my brother’s family: “Here’s the story of a lovely lady, who was bringing up three very handso...