I had always thought of myself as a fairly conscientious human being before meeting my husband. I balanced my checkbook regularly. I carried a flashlight in my glove box and stayed away from people knowingly infested with flu germs. I voted. I payed taxes. I used my turn signals, visited my dentist biannually, and applied [...]

I’ve never considered myself to be a music aficionado. I grew up in a house where the Barry Manilow’s Greatest Hits eight-track was heard almost as much as Tony Orlando and Dawn. And I was happy about it! Now, if only I could say that without blushing and hanging my head in shame….
My co-workers and [...]

Every time I get a forwarded email from my dad — something about angels watching over me and how I need to squeeze my eyes shut tight, pray two Hail Marys, and make three wishes and then forward it to everyone in my address book if I don’t want to get a menacing phone call [...]

Many of you Mile High Mama Regulars know that I recently won a cow in a raffle. Excuse me, a STEER, a bovine that was castrated before sexual maturation, for those that, like me, weren’t exactly sure. Anyway, if you read about my cow raffle win, then you also know that I had to go [...]

From a very early age, I knew that my dad was different from all the other dads of this world. He encouraged me to read The Exorcist when I was eight. He recited a Max Ehrmann poem to me when I asked advice about boys (Yeah, I know. Who the hell asks their dad for [...]

Raffles. Anyone who’s lived in a town of less than 10,000 people knows that they are to rural communities as witch costumes are to Halloween. In other words, everywhere you look. I’ve bought raffle tickets that promised me a chance to win everything from a handmade afghan blanket to $200 worth of decoys from Cabela’s. [...]

The following conversation occurred between my kids and a not-so-nice child in the somewhat recent past:
“Do you have an XBox360?
“No.”
“How about a PSP?”
“I… don’t think so.”
“A PS2?”
“Nope.”
“A PS3?”
“Negative.”
“How about Guitar Hero?”
“No, but we have Rock Band!”
“Man, you guys are poor.”
As you can imagine, I was shocked when I heard that the definition of poor had [...]