Our dog loved her crate for five years.  When we brought her home from the pound, we gave her a crate and this became her safe den and each night she freely went to sleep there and we'd lock her in so someone could supervise her morning outing.  For five years this went along just fine.  Then one night, she clawed, banged, scrabbled at her crate door until it bent and someone heard the ruckus and came and let her out.  She then went upstairs…

I am an Opera junkie. I love live Opera and also the simulcast Opera shown in movie theaters.  Most of my life I didn't like Opera, but my brother got comp tickets for the San Diego Opera final dress rehearsal and wanted a companion, so I went.  I didn't really enjoy it much at first, but the staging was interesting, so I went a number of times.  One night at the final rehearsal of Bizet's The Pearl Fishers, there is a tenor duet and as…

Do I need a wagon? I like to do the laundry – it's something I can do to take care of us but I can't carry laundry baskets so I kick them down the hallway.  I decided to buy myself a cloth wagon thinking that would be better. I haven't used it yet because I can't carry it up the staircase. "To live is to change, and to be perfect is to change often."  John Henry Newman

Here is my advice.  Work on your self-esteem; if you feel self-doubt and unhappiness, figure out why.  Get to know yourself, what you like and what you do to take care of yourself.  In this process, figure out what you believe in and want to stand for, these values become part of your essential self.  Give love every chance you get: my personal mantra is, "be with a loving heart."  I believe that is all that is required of me. Know you have a birthright…