Fit to Print

Back in my newspaper days, instead of saying something was "fit to print," we (the underpaid and understaffed) would say, "All the news that fits, we print." So here are some Monday news briefs. Not necessarily fit to print, but they fit, so we'll print them ...

Enough Already: I have to quit writing about hubby's aching back. He can't stand all this extra attention. (I know. Opposites attract, right?) Anyway, he went to the chiropractor twice today so hopefully he's on the mend.

Rainy Days and Mondays: The rain held off enough so I could run this morning and do a brief walk at work later. But now it's coming down again and we love it! I honestly don't think we've mowed the grass since Casey's graduation party in mid-June. Maybe we did right after that, but it has been so dry since then, nothing is growing ... except for a few weeds (but definitely not my flowers).

Reffner Racing: You haven't heard about our nephew Colin lately because we haven't gotten to the races for several weeks due to one thing or another. But he is having a stellar season! He is the points leader for super stocks at Marshfield Super Speedway and is tied for the lead at Golden Sands. Not bad for a 15-year-old! If you want to learn more, you can always check out his Web site, too, at www.colinreffner.com.

On the Front Lines: After watching those segments on Walter Cronkite last night, I remain amazed at how involved he was during the wars and other dangerous situations. He was actually riding alongside fighter pilots in WWII plus carrying a gun! That is way different than how my life as a reporter panned out. But I'm OK with that. The other thing that struck me was the military censorship of mail to and from the troops. I can understand they don't want military secrets given out, but the censorship further delayed messages between loved ones. I am thankful today that my nephew Tony can call, email or post a note on his Facebook so his mom (my twin) and the rest us can be assured at any time that he is doing OK in Iraq. Glad some things change.

The Lucky Ones: Jim and I buy lottery tickets every week and we can always tell when the Powerball jackpot is getting up there because they start having pools (joint ticket buys) at work. Jim figures if he wins through the work one, then he can retire and I should probably keep working for the benefits. Whatever. Honestly, we are just feeling pretty lucky in general. Right now I have a handful of close friends and family members praying for loves ones who are basically fighting for their lives -- mostly trying to beat some form of cancer. We are the lucky ones. I actually feel silly even writing about our minor aches and pains. Some days I just forget how good we've got it.