Fran the man

Last week was spring break, and despite my daughter’s protests that “it didn’t sound exotic enough” (that’s a quote), I took my kids to New York City to get a taste of the Big Apple. My son, a huge fan of the TLC show Cake Boss,...

How to say no

With all due respect to Nancy Reagan, sometimes you shouldn’t “just say no.” In fact, the best purveyors of that pesky word can deliver it without ever saying it. They can even leave the recipient of the denial feeling, well, not denied. It’s a...

Intern-al combustion

It’s intern season in the corporate world, the time of year when college students scramble to find summer employment meaningful to their area of study. Candidates seem to be crawling out of the woodwork; I’ve been approached by more people this year than...

Actions speak louder

Several years ago when I separated from my husband, I bought three CDs. Unlike the Veggie Tales and Anne Kaffeekanne discs with which I usually stocked my car, these were for me. It shouldn’t have been a big deal; I just wanted to surround myself with something...

Persistence vs. perseverance

“Mom, isn’t there some rule of salesperson etiquette that says when a customer tells you ‘no’ three times, you stop trying to sell him something?” My son asked me that question last night as we left a store. We had just purchased a mirror...