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My mom sends me messages through Cardinal birds
Some people will think this is crazy, just a string of coincidental occurrences that I’ve bent into having larger-than-life significance. Others will understand, probably because something similar has happened to them. I think seeing a Cardinal bird is a sign from my mom that she is still with me spiritually even though she died in 2006. Not every Cardinal, just the ones that talk to me. KIDDING. I’m not that kind of crazy…yet. Here’s why I connect Cardinal sightings and my mom: First of all, my mom was a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan and loved birds, especially hummingbirds and redbirds. FYI: while she was in the hospital trying to…
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MeLinda POV: you’re going the wrong way
First of all, thank you to Lee for writing the first guest post here at Next Door To Normal. I didn’t ask him to write it. In fact, we hadn’t talked about this mishap on our road trip until he asked me to read a draft of his post. I was saving that conversation for the next therapy session :-o It was interesting to know what was going through his mind and so I decided to share my point of view during this same portion of our 2,500-mile road trip from Kansas to Mexico and back. Lee is the driver on trips and I am the navigator. We settled into…
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Lee POV: you’re going the wrong way
Guest post by Lee – see MeLinda’s version of the same story on her post I am the driver. When we go on trips my job is to get behind the wheel and drive. So when we made our drive to Big Bend National Park I was behind the wheel for the whole drive. MeLinda’s job is navigator, restaurant locator and to sit there and look pretty. For those who know me I don’t have the greatest sense of direction but sooner or later I will find my way to the destination. MeLinda is my navigational security blanket and most times I shut down my brain when driving. When I’m…
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How me & my brother made it in the show at Teddy’s House of Comedy
So sometimes I’m going to need to get all deep on this blog. This is one of those times. But it’s a funny story while being tragic. Tomorrow is my wedding anniversary. Lee and I got married Jan. 15, 1999. January 15 is also the day my oldest brother killed himself, in 2003. Of course something like that never leaves your heart or your mind and it took a few years for me to be able to celebrate my anniversary on that day. One thing that helped was planning trips to coincide with our anniversary. Therapy helped, too. And time. Time helped dull the pain, the anger and the sadness…
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Road trips: what’s in my Verizon bag
I had a series of road trips earlier this year and now that fall is here (festivals, college football, weddings), I’m ready to hit the road again. I wanted to share some products I recently tried out courtesy of the folks at Verizon. Mophie Juice Pack Powerstation Duo This little 2-inch by 4-inch device went in my bag nearly every time I left the vehicle, especially at events like Bonnaroo where I was taking lots of photos and video and my iPhone battery was quick to drain. What I like most about it: you can charge two devices simultaneously, it has a special high-output battery that allows for ultra fast…
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Verizon’s Google Nexus 6 review: It takes two
If you’re not an ’80s child, you might not get my headline reference to Rob Base’s It Takes Two song. In this case, I’m referring to hands – it takes two hands to operate Verizon’s Google Nexus 6, which was a downside for me. I’m sure I’d get used to it eventually but I’m pretty happy being able to one-hand my iPhone 5s and snap a quick photo. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I judge phones mostly by what they can do for me in the camera department. I also own a DSLR and several point-and-shoot cameras but I want to be able to rely on my phone…
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Hands-down and hands-free: my pick of Verizon Bluetooth headphones
I’ve been in the market for a pair of high-end headphones to use to listen to music as well as to conduct hands-free telephone interviews. Verizon Midwest provided me with two different Bluetooth options to try out for several weeks each: Tracks Air by Motorola X SOL REPUBLIC and the LG Tone Infinim headset. These were two completely different styles but I wasn’t sure which I would prefer until I tried them out. The Tracks Air is an over-ear headphone while the LG Tone Infinim headset sits around your neck. While music sounded great on the Tracks Air, telephone conversations didn’t sound as good. Those on the other end of…
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Droid Turbo Review: a phone to finally bring my husband up to speed
Verizon Midwest provided me with a Motorola Droid Turbo to try out for three weeks. I’m an iPhone user and enjoyed checking out the 21 megapixel camera and the screen that made my iPhone 5s look tiny. But the real impact happened with my husband, Lee. By the end of week one, he went to our local Verizon store and replaced the phone he’d been using for less than two years. It was a HUGE step for him because it is his first phone without a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. But as soon as he saw the capabilities of buying the latest and greatest phone, he was a believer. I’ll let…
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SchMaui15: amazing Hawaiian experiences
Guest post by Lee Ladies and gentlemen, I have been to the Great Wall of China, I have seen the Pyramids of Egypt, I’ve even witnessed a grown man satisfy a camel. But never in all my years as a sportscaster have I witnessed something as improbable, as impossible, as what we’ve witnessed here today!* These are the comments that were going through my head after some amazing experiences that have occurred over the past few days in Hawaii. Day 2 in Hawaii After spending the morning of our first full day on Maui snorkeling and the morning of our second day snorkeling, MeLinda and I decide to try our hand at…