Hello, my name is Mitsy, and I am addicted to yard sales.

There are things in life that we do because we have to. Then, there are those things that we secretly love, even if we act like they are a nuisance. About every 6 months, my wife decides she will have a yard sale. When this topic comes up, I flashback to "yard sale people" in your driveway one hour before you are going to start. They hover like vultures to get the first picks. Then they haggle with you over a .50 Christmas ornament.

I remember growing up each Christmas, as a family, we would go select a real tree. Once we got it home, my dad and I would put the tree in the stand and get it level. At this point, my dad would ask my mom to be the judge on which direction the tree needed to be adjusted. For a average size tree this might be an easy process. However, most years we went for a "Griswold" size Christmas Tree. Like clockwork, 15 minutes into the leveling process, Dad would start to get frustrated as the tree was still not set. Mom would respond by saying; "that's it! Next year we are just getting an artificial tree.". To this day, my parents are still buying real Christmas trees.

The point of this is, even the things that we enjoy will test our patience and sanity from time to time. We need to learn to embrace the stress as part of the process.

So as a final tip, Christmas tree will never be level. They are grown on the side of mountains. After a few glasses of egg nog, no one will notice anyway!

Underwear is not the only thing that should be supportive

There is not one time that someone interviewed after a victory does not thank all of those that supported them in their pursuit. No great achievement can be done without support. Those that support us give us the confidence to push beyond where we thought we go.

Mitsy is training for a half marathon. I am extremely proud of her taking on this goal. I plan on being there for support as she is training as well as being there cheering her on at the finish line.

Motivation starts the ball rolling, determination keeping it rolling, but support helps to prevent the ball from rolling back on top of us.

Catch me I'm Falling.

Why do you think people get so excited to see the fall colors? Is it because brown and orange remind us of how much we love candy corn? Is it because colored leafs are fun to put under wax paper for art projects? Or is it because it reminds us of a good Robert Frost poem?

For me, Fall colors remind me of one of my favorite books at this time. It goes something like this; " Red shirt, blue shirt, yellow shirt, oops.". Ok, this is not a book about fall per say, but one of the main characters is a turkey!

So in honor of Fall, I will make a commitment to rake all of the color leaves every week until they are gone. Wait, never mind.....I only have palm trees.

Come to vote, we have cookies

I heard this story today. Apparently, in several areas around the country, one party or another was providing free meals and rides to and from the polls.

The first rule that I learned in economics was; "There is no such thing as a free lunch". No matter what party it is, I am suspicious of this type of voter turn out. It reminds me of Chicago, where voters would be rounded up, paid, and told who to vote for.

The right to vote is very important. That being said, it is my hope that there are more educated voters than not. There is nothing more frightening than a voter without a clue. Everyone has the right to their own opinion. So, don't believe everything that you have seen on the Internet, TV, or heard on the radio. If so, you are probably only receiving 1/2 of the truth.