Category: Life Lessons
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Mortgage savings for you or a way for the bank to make money?
Three and one-half years ago I purchased my first home. I bought a modest condo in Lake County and took out a mortgage that was 48% of what I’d pre-qualified for. I put down 20% of the purchase price, which was 70% of the asking price. Ya, I’m a kick-ass negotiator, when backed by the…
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Jackie Robinson West: Adults and society are to blame, so leave the kids alone
Earlier today, Little League® International released its decision in the alleged Jackie Robinson West cheating scandal in the 2014 season. The decision in part reads: The Charter/Tournament Committee has decided to vacate the league’s wins from the 2014 Little League® International Tournament, including its Great Lakes Regional and United States Championships, and suspend team manager…
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Elf on the Shelf turns this hater into a believer
Unless you’ve been living under a rock without internet access for the past few years, you’ve undoubtedly heard of or come into direct contact with the Elf on the Shelf phenomenon that will shortly overtake the otherwise rational minds of parents everywhere. It appears the Elf on the Shelf began innocently enough, but has morphed…
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New Holiday: Walk a Mile in Someone Else’s Shoes Day
In September 2013, as part of my personal challenge to have 100 new experiences, I created a holiday, International Stay In Bed and Read a Book Day. As you can imagine, it’s become very popular and is celebrated worldwide. Fourteen months later, I’ve decided that it’s time for another new holiday. Therefore, I hereby declare…
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Rape allegations against Bill Cosby have changed his legacy from the one we want to the one we need
A friend of mine posted on Facebook about a conversation she had with her daughter this morning that began with her daughter asking, “Is Bill Cosby a rapist?” This question from her tween, made my friend realize that she could no longer separate Bill Cosby the man, who is accused of sexually abusing at least…
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This I believe
A little over seven years ago, I did a Crash Davis-like Things I Believe In blog post on the original Little Merry Sunshine blog. To this day, it ranks right up there with my all-time favorite posts. Oh, you’re not familiar with Crash Davis’s monologue from Bull Durham? I won’t judge you (much), but you…
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6 things I learned from my close encounter with breast cancer
Regular readers of Little Merry Sunshine know that I recently had a too-close-for-comfort breast cancer scare. In the end, I had a benign papilloma, but throughout the process of multiple mammograms, ultrasounds, two biopsies, and a lumpectomy, there was no guarantee my story would have a happy ending. Over the last four weeks, I’ve learned…
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10 signs I may have hit Middle Age
This afternoon I had the opportunity to have my annual eye exam. My eyes are healthy and all is mostly fine. I was motivated to schedule the appointment because my arms were no longer long enough to allow me to see close-up when wearing my glasses or contacts and because the DMV told me a…
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What Joan Rivers taught us about death and dying
Unless you just arrived here via time travel from the 1980s and in a DeLorean, and if you did, let’s talk ASAP, you know that pioneering comic Joan Rivers died last week. If you did arrive here via time travel, I’m sorry for the spoiler. But seriously, call me ASAP. I want to go back.…
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Advice to new graduates: A ChicagoNow series
Just like we did with the Letters to New Moms series, ChicagoNow bloggers have once again joined forces to share our life wisdom in a new series, Advice to New Graduates. One of the things I love most about being a CN blogger is that, although each blogger develops his or her own individual brand,…
Jessica L Gardner 