More Lifestyles category, Page 80
Don’t wait for a disaster to take inventory of your belongings
With floods, fires, tornadoes, superstorms and even cranes toppling onto apartment buildings, no home is completely safe from natural or man-made disasters. Although many of us are prepared to either stick it out with emergency supplies or evacuate to safer locales, only 44 percent of homeowners have inventoried their belongings....
Annual Natrona Heights quilt show bursting with color
Nancy Pauli has been involved with needlework and crafts of all kinds since she was a small child at her grandmother’s side. But she kept putting off starting to quilt until she retired because she thought it would “take over my life.” “And it has,” says the former health care...
Entitled 8th-grade daughter refuses to clean the litter box
Dear Carolyn: I live in a home with two indoor house cats with a litter box. My 8th-grade daughter is supposed to be responsible for sweeping and scooping litter but does a terrible, lackadaisical job. It’s in my laundry room, where I smell and step all over scattered litter. Half...
Living with Children: In education, the old standards worked better than the new
As with nearly every public policy topic these days, myths abound, but few mythologies rival that surrounding public education. Some examples: Myth: Smaller classrooms promote better learning. Fact: The teacher-pupil ratio has little to do with student achievement, as demonstrated in the 1950s when elementary classrooms were bursting at the...
4-H fun: It’s so much more than cows and cooking these daysVideo
In case you were wondering, 4-H is more than just cows and cooking these days. That’s the word from Lyndsey Androstic, the Westmoreland County 4-H extension educator. “I tell people that we are maintaining tradition, but also changing to remain relevant,” she says. What that means is that young people...
Take some lessons then hit the slope, rink with confidence
On a recent Sunday afternoon at the bottom of the Boyce Park ski slope, class was in session. Students listened as instructors took the time to discuss everything from how the equipment works to how to turn to the proper stance when heading down the hill. It was one of...
Win it for Vivi! Whiskey the whippet revs up for Westminster
NEW YORK — Sleek and aerodynamic, Whiskey the whippet is dashing through the dog show world. He’s among the fastest breed of pooches on the planet, and his rise has been rapid: Coming off big wins televised on Thanksgiving Day and New Year’s Day, he’ll now try for dogdom’s Triple...
Exhausted caregiver struggles to support healing husband
Adapted from a recent online discussion. Dear Carolyn: My husband is broken — there is no other way to put it. Years of chronic pain led to multiple surgeries with extended hospitals stays. Physically and mentally he is worn out. He hasn’t worked in two years, so he relies on...
Husband’s siblings refuse to help care for their ailing mother
Dear Carolyn: I spent 10 years helping my aging parents. They died six years ago. Now my husband’s mom is 91 with dementia and he and one sister do all the caregiving. His other two siblings refuse to help. I feel they either need to put in equal time or...
Sister wants to get healthy, but Mom thinks it’s sinful
Adapted from a recent online discussion. Dear Carolyn: My youngest sister is 14. She recently spent 10 days at my house visiting and we had a wonderful time. She is a little overweight and concerned about how to fix it, so I spent this week teaching her how to work...
Options abound in flooring today
A stunning sofa or a beautiful wall color might catch your eye when you enter someone’s home. But flooring is the key to any room, says interior designer Elina Cardet. As the visual base for every other design choice, “flooring is the most important decision,” says Cardet, interior design director...
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra announces 2019-20 season offerings
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s 2019-20 season will include 20 classical weekends and seven Pops weekends. The programming includes not only new music and repertoire favorites, but also features stimulating juxtapositions. For example, three of the world’s top violinists will play violin concertos by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, contrasting them with more...
Husband pressures introvert into another uncomfortable vacation with the in-laws
Adapted from a recent online discussion. Dear Carolyn: About three years ago my husband and I (no kids) went on a big vacation with my husband’s family. I REALLY wasn’t interested in going but his mother had pushed for a family trip for a long time, his father had just...
Kitchen islands evolve to meet today’s needs
Prep surface. Gathering spot. Storage solution. The kitchen island is one of those home elements that seems to have known its purpose from its inception: a utilitarian divider between kitchen and family zones, the heart of the home. Over the years, the kitchen island has come to offer far more...
Regional artistic, maker opportunities abound
From sipping while painting to sketching with charcoal, molding hot glass, dyeing fabric or woodworking, opportunities exist for crafts people from novice to advanced to practice their artistic and making skills. Throughout the region, children and adults can find places to let their creative juices flow, with minimal or step-by-step...
Living with Children: Parenting vs. childrearing
There is “parenting” and then there is bringing up, rearing, or raising children. The difference is night and day; so are the outcomes, short- and long-term, to all concerned, meaning every single one of us. Parenting is what the vast majority of American parents have been doing since the early...
Brother’s marital strife is beginning to affect his young children
Dear Carolyn: My brother and sister-in-law have two little girls, 5 and 2, and I love the four of them very much. My brother is a doctor and works many irregular and overnight shifts; my sister-in-law must necessarily manage the girls by herself a lot. My brother and sister-in-law fight...
Politics burnout craves a newsbreak
Adapted from a recent online discussion. Hi, Carolyn! I try to keep informed with politics and the state of the world, but I’m getting so, so tired. I have depression and anxiety and struggle to deal with my daily first-world issues — how do people deal with watching the world...
Mother abandons fulfilling volunteer gig at the soup kitchen
Dear Carolyn: For the holidays this year, my mother was torn about her regular “gig” — volunteering at a local community center serving as a “soup kitchen.” She has volunteered there for many years for the less fortunate. My mother ultimately decided never to return to the soup kitchen. She...
Level Green furniture builder wins customer service award
Penn Rustics, a Level Green company that offers hand-built furniture made from solid wood, has been awarded a “Best of Customer Service” badge from Houzz, an online forum for architecture, interior design and decorating, landscape design and home improvement. The custom rustic furniture company was chosen by the more than...
Tom Davidson: For the love of ‘Truck’ and the weather
My latest son could be born at any time. That’s what my wife and I have been saying for the last two weeks. Any time will likely mean Tuesday, but that’s a guesstimate at best. It’s made work and life interesting as I continually pelt her with “Are you OKs?”...
Husband opts out of Valentine’s Day the moment they’re married
Adapted from a recent online discussion. Dear Carolyn: Valentine’s Day is coming and once again my husband will do nothing for me. He said, after we got married four years ago, he shouldn’t “have to” anymore. This was a huge shock since, when we were dating and engaged, he would...
Ohiopyle State Park celebrates season with annual WinterfestVideo
Skiers, sled riders and snowman builders all are hoping a significant amount of the white stuff is still to come to the region before the winter season ends. So is Barbara Wallace, environmental education specialist with Ohiopyle State Park, where the annual Winterfest is set for 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Feb....
Beverly’s Birthdays founder gets surprise party from ‘Returning the Favor’Video
Megs Yunn is used to throwing birthday parties for others, founding Beverly’s Birthdays in 2011 to ensure homeless children in the region get to celebrate their special day. Mike Rowe, who spearheads “Returning the Favor,” which streams on Facebook, thought it was time for Yunn to have a celebration of...
Lifetime’s ‘Love You to Death’ delves into Munchausen syndrome by proxy
LOS ANGELES — It’s easy to judge the incidents that inspired the Lifetime movie “Love You to Death” as extreme cruelty and abuse. It’s a case of Munchausen syndrome by proxy when a mother forces her healthy young daughter to pretend she is ill so she can reap the rewards...
