You may hear people say that the Star-Spangled Banner is an out-of-date, irrelevant work that should not be our national anthem. I think people take this stance because they don't understand the words, or the times it was written in. If we educated our students, like we used to, on the time and place it was written, we would... More..
Family Life When Serving in the Military: The Kid's-Eye View I come from a military family. My father, two of my brothers, and several of my brothers-in-law were "lifers", and I served in the Army for three years myself. Several of my nephews are currently serving. With the credentials out of the way, I'll get on with what i... More..
Not since the War of 1812, when the Star Spangled Banner was written, has our country's future been in such doubt. Everything our citizens worked, fought, sacrificed for, and agonized over in those troubled years, is in danger of being wrested from our hands. The men who crafted the Constitution during that miserable summer,... More..
To All Newlyweds: It Seems To Work For Us Over the last 26 years, my husband and I have observed that we treat each other with the respect and kindness that all couples hope for throughout their lives. We've also observed that this is not always so among married couples. We think that, although it seems to others as if we we... More..
Savings? "Who can afford to save these days?", you may ask. As I found out, the answer is "Everyone". I didn't have to save much each payday and I discovered I had the money when my washer finally died. For once, I didn't have to buy on time, pay interest, or worry that my washer would be hauled off because I lost my job bef... More..
"Miss Smitherman!" Sister Mary Otho bellowed. I jumped like I'd been shot out of a canon and stood my chair. "Recite the nine-times table". And I did. They were the easiest, because of the trick Sister had taught me - subtract one and add the number that will make it nine - for example, 9 x 7 is 7 minus 1 (6), and 6 + 3 = 9,... More..
Speaking "Buy a House"-ese I'm tired of paying rent, because, well you know, you might as well throw your money down a hole! So, I think I'm ready for the big plunge of buying a house. The only problem is, there seems to be a different language required to understand what's going on. This is the biggest buy I've ever made, s... More..
"Mary Kay, some guy's on the phone", yelled Ann, sister number five of eight. "Who is it?", I asked. "I don't know. Come and find out". "I sure hope it's Miles", I thought. We had talked most of last night (New Year's Eve) at the bar while we watched Dick Clark's show. I had laughed more than I had in a long time. I wasn't s... More..
I was surprised when I found out that the BARF (Bones And Raw Food) diet was a "new idea" and that it was what they were calling what we considered a normal dog diet. My husband and his family raised Labrador Retrievers for over twenty years. They raised and trained them for field trials and to be good team members for bird ... More..
"Clean-Slate" Approach Urged For New Internet "Smells" Did you catch the latest volley from the "the internet isn't controlled by us" crowd in The Denver Post on April 16, 2007? They're trying to push themselves into control of the internet, because they realize it's the only place left that governments (read "politicians") ... More..
Mary Kay Reed
Articles Written: 10