New Year's Resolutions

This is the time of year that many people are making resolutions to stop smoking, lose weight, save money and get organized. I'm always looking for ways to cut the clutter in my home. That's why I'm a fan of organizer Peter Walsh http://peterwalshdesign.com/ . He had been on the cable series "Clean Sweep." You can now catch him on "Oprah."
But, now I'm watching another cable show with over the top clutter issues called "Hoarders" on A & E. It's totally fascinating. Each week the show focuses on 2 people with a hoarding disorder. Their disorder has brought them to a crisis point where they could lose their children, homes and pets. Watch just one episode and you'll find yourself on a cleaning binge of your home. Full episodes are available online at http://www.aetv.com/hoarders/

Straight No Chaser

The one song that I'm getting tons of call about is The 12 Days of Christmas by Straight No Chaser. I have to say it's probably one of my favorite Christmas songs currently. It's very clever. It was 11 years ago today that they first performed the song at Indiana University. Their video at You Tube has had over 10 million views. Check out the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8

Perspectives 11/22/2009

The topic this Sunday morning on "Perspectives" is The Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, New Hampshire. Karen Tebbenhoff from the museum will be joining me. We discussed current exhibits, upcoming exhibits & programs and the museum's Zimmerman House. Zimmerman House is the only house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the state of New Hampshire open to the public. Furnishings and gardens were also designed by Wright and remains a very unique house museum. Hear more Sunday morning at 6:00 a.m. on 94.9 WHOM. Visit their website: http://www.currier.org/default.aspx

Missing Cat!

Recently, our cat, Lily didn't come home at night. She had never been out overnight. She's now about a year old. She knows her way around the neighborhood and who the neighborhood bullies are and how to deal with them. But, it was cold out and our last cat had been killed by a raccoon at night. The next morning, I got up at dawn and walked around the neighborhood looking for her. No sign of the princess. My husband made up color flyers and posted them around the neighborhood. We posted photos on Facebook. She has an inbedded microchip that she received when we adopted her from the shelter. We contacted the microchip company and they sent out an alert to local vets and shelters. I went on line to get tips on finding a lost cat. One website that was especially helpful is http://www.missingpetpartnership.org/recovery-lostcat.php . After reading that, we made up calling cards with a color photo of Lily and our contact information. At dusk, we set out to canvass the neighborhood handing out the cards. I felt like I was running a political campaign. At our last stop, our neighbor was just driving in. She looked at the photo and said that she had seen Lily that morning in her garage looking out the window. She opened the garage door and out trots Lily. Lily was hungry & thirsty, but fine. It's not a garage that's used everyday, so Lily could have easily been trapped for several more days, if we hadn't been proactive and searched for her door to door. Lily has received lots of hugs since her adventure.

Marathon Woman

We have a marathon runner in the family! Congratulations to my cousin Sirrah for finishing the New York City Marathon on Sunday. It was her first. She placed 31610 overall, 9377 among women. I believe she is the first in the family to complete a marathon. She raised over to $2,000 to go to the The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Safe Passage

Mainers have contributed over 4.5 million dollars to help the children of the Guatemala City Dump through the Maine organization, Safe Passage(http://www.safepassage.org/). The group is celebrating 10 years with a fundraiser featuring singer/ songwriter Catie Curtis(http://catiecurtis.com/) on November 8th in Yarmouth. Lori Voornas from our sister radio station 97.9 WJBQ will be hosting the event, so it's sure to be a fun event. Jane Gallagher and ZZ Cowan of Safe Passage will be my guests on "Perspectives" this Sunday, November 1 at 6:00 a.m.

Glee

Have you seen the new show "Glee?" It's one of my favorite new shows. It's about a high school glee club with lots of great singing and dancing. Sorry, Steve Perry & Journey, but I think that Glee cast does a better job of "Don't Stop Believin'." The Glee cast had been planning on performing the song in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but NBC didn't want to promote another network's show. To catch up on past episodes, go to http://www.hulu.com/

Financing a College Education

Recently I was talking with Elizabeth Vanderweide, Program Manager of the Harold Alfond College Challenge. She joined me on my interview program "Perspectives." You may have heard that all babies born in Maine this year and in the future are eligible for $500 to start saving for a college education. The money will be put into a NextGen(529 plan) account in the child's name. There are very few limitations, but the account must be opened within the first year of the child's life. Details at http://www.500forbaby.org/

I wish this program had been around 22 years ago when our first son was born. But, somehow he made it through college with a comparitively small amount of debt. I know there are many with college debt in the tens of thousands of dollars. Some of the things that I have learned over the years by talking to financial aid professionals and personal experience is to apply early for financial aid. Get your FAFSA filed during that first week of January. First come, first served. Have your student consider colleges' endowments when looking at schools. The larger the endowment, the better the chances of more financial aid. Of course, many universities have lost significent portions of their endowments with the economic downturn. Have your student work with their high school guidance counselor. The guidance counselors at South Portland High School helped both my sons get scholarships. Also, look around you. Does your business offer scholarships to employee's children? What about your hobbies? One of my hobbies is genealogy. Both my sons have received scholarships through the Rich Family Association: http://www.richfamilyassociation.org/#Scholarships

So, whether your child is a newborn or a senior on the college search trail read, research, attend workshops and talk to school officials to find the best financial path to a college education.

25 Years on 94.9 WHOM

September marked 25 years on the air for me with 94.9 WHOM. My co-workers threw me a wonderful surprise party. I really didn't expect anything and was really clueless about the party. Alot has happened in 25 years. The music, the people, the studios and technology have changed so much over the years that it's really not the same job that I started out with back in 1984. The songs were mostly instumentals. We recorded on reel to reel tape and edited with razor blades. The WHOM studios were in the basement of a beautiful old building on Congress Street in Portland. Several relocations later, we are now in a much more modern building in Monument Square. We now record and edit digitally without a razor blade in sight. I want to thank my co-workers for a very nice surprise, my husband for being in on it and WHOM listeners for their nice calls and e-mails! I appreciate you all!

Perspectives 9/20

Harvest on the Harbor returns to Portland! I'll be discussing the big event with Barbara Whitten, director of the Greater Portland Convention & Visitos Bureau on "Perspectives" this Sunday morning at 6:00 on 94.9 WHOM. Thousands on people will be attending this event. Find out more this Sunday. You can listen from our website: http://www.949whom.com/article.asp?id=538874
http://www.harvestontheharbor.com/

"Let Me In" Lily

There are cat people and there are dog people. I'm a cat person. After several years without a cat, we adopted Lily from the Animal Refuge League in Westbrook. She now runs the house. In the early morning hours she jumps on me, bats my head and scatches at the mattress on my side of the bed. When I finally get up, she leads me to her food bowl. Even though there is dry food in the bowl, she demands a fresh serving. If I close the bedroom door, she beats on the door until I get up. It sounds like she has a battering ram out in the hall. After a while, I just send her outdoors. I don't like putting her outside when it's still dark with all the other nocturnal animals, but she now knows to climb on the front porch railing and bat the screen windows. She may be pesky, but she is entertaining. She's very much like Simon's Cat: http://www.simonscat.com/catmando.html

La Canada Fire, California

Frequently I am jealous of the weather that my sister enjoys in Pasadena, California. But, not this week. Temperatures have been hovering around 100 degrees with ash failing from the sky and smoke filling the air. She has been sending updates and photos on the La Canada fire which she can see from her home. Last night, she could see the flames down her street. I'll take a foot of snow over a killer wildfire any day of the week.

Hurricane Bill!

Sunday, we went over to Fort Williams Park/Portland Head Light in Cape Elizabeth to see what Hurricane Bill had to offer. It was not an original idea. The place was full to capacity. We were lucky to get a parking place. It was a gorgeous sunny day and the waves were impressive. I took lots of photos. My husband, Chad played with the video camera. He uploaded it to youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GXYGfm6BCk

Perspectives August 23, 2009

This Sunday on Perspectives, Linda Nutter and Tammy Atwood, Regional Vice President with the National Kidney Foundation Serving Maine join me. We'll be talking about Kidney Camp, a great respite for those with kidney disease and their families. http://www.kidney.org/site/support/index.cfm?ch=103
Meredith has Dr. Anne Maloney from Maine Medical Center Research Institute joining her. They will be talking about the family exergaming study. Tune in Sunday morning at 6:00 a.m. on 94.9 WHOM to hear more.
http://mmcri.org/familyexergaming/eg-background.php

Squirrel!

Have you seen this one? While vacationing in Canada, a couple set up their camera to take a photo of their adventure. While the camera is ticking off, a squirrel pops up to check it out. I love the story and the photo. More details at
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/enlarge/squirrel-portrait-banff.html

Vacation

I just returned from vacation. We spent a couple of days in my husband's hometown, Southwest Harbor(photo on bottom looking at Greenings Island). We did alot of visiting in the few days that we were there. We stopped in to visit my aunt and uncle in Bass Harbor or McKinley as my father calls it. We watched the boats returning to harbor, the sun set and the almost full moon rise. The light was pretty spectacular. The next day, we tried to head out to Baker's Island where my husband's family had once been lightkeepers. The dense fog allowed us to get only as far as Islesford/Little Cranberry(garden photo). We had lunch in the boat and later walked around the island. I recommend getting out to Islesford if you're visiting Mount Desert. It's a great place to walk. You can also visit the shops, the Islesford Museum and have lunch at the restaurant at the end of the pier.

Perspectives & Whitney

This Sunday, August 2nd, I have another best selling author. Carla Neggers joins me at 6:00 a.m. on 94.9 WHOM. She sets many of her books in Maine and is a New England native who currently lives in Vermont. http://www.carlaneggers.com/bio.html

Whitney Houston is finally coming out with another album! It's been talked about for years but is finally being released August 31st. You can get a sample of what it will sound like at her website: http://www.whitneyhouston.com/ . At her website, you can download her new song, "I Look to You."

Road Trip To South Berwick, Maine

We took a nice road trip to South Berwick on Saturday to visit the Sarah Orne Jewett house (on the right) on Saturday. We took a tour of the house and gardens. It was very interesting and I learned quite a bit about the author and her home. We went into Rollingsford, NH for lunch. We decided to check another Historic New England property, Hamilton House. I absolutely loved the grounds! The tour guide at the Jewett House had recommended that we take a picnic lunch to Hamilton House and I can see why. It's situated on a bluff overlooking the Salmon Falls River with beautiful gardens and a wonderful field. The mansion is pretty spectacular too!

http://www.historicnewengland.org/visit/homes/jewett.htm

http://www.historicnewengland.org/visit/homes/hamilton.htm

Perspectives 7/26/2009

If you've ever wanted to become a published author, tune in this Sunday morning to "Perspectives" on 94.9 WHOM at 6:00. New York Times Bestseller author, John Lescroart joins me. We discuss his latest book "A Plague of Secrets." He gives advice to aspiring authors and has inside stories from the publishing field. http://www.johnlescroart.com/

The Raspberries are Ripe!

We have a little raspberry patch in our backyard. It started with just 3 little stalks from my in-laws' yard in Southwest Harbor and now we have more than we can eat fresh, so we found a great recipe for this raspberry cake. Here's a link to the recipe: http://recipes.epicurean.com/recipe/23340/raspberry-almond-coffee-cake.html

Perspectives

Aimee Petrin, Executive Director of Portland Ovations joins me for "Perspectives" on Sunday, July 19th at 6:00 a.m. We discuss why after 80 years, the organization has changed it's name from PCA Great Performances to Portland Ovations, the upcoming season and behind scenes stories. http://portlandovations.org/

Well we all survived two graduations in two weeks. Lots of traveling, family, food and photos. We took over 150 photos between the two. I hope that we captured every moment! Our older son, Chris graduated from Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass. Know of a job for a computer science major? Young James wrapped up his studies at South Portland High and will be heading to U. Maine in the fall. We're very proud of them!

Well, I finally finished the baby quilt for my niece to be. Here in the photo, Lily is playing Vannah White to display my latest creation. It's actually a pretty simple quilt top... just strip piecing. I totally love the floral print border. It's hard to see in the picture, but the squares pick up all the colors in the border. It took me longer to bind and tack all the layers than sewing the top. The back is quite bright. I pieced the two brightest fabrics from 3 large scraps that were leftover. I'm so pleased that I completed the project before little missy is born. Now it's back to wrap up the Noah's Ark quilt that I've been making for my nephew, Beck. It's a bit more complex with applique. Hopefully, I'll get it done before he graduates. He's only 2 and a half, so I have a few years.

It's Friday! I'm psyched! It's sunny and warm. I have a whole list of things that I want to get done this weekend. I'm working on a baby quilt for my sister's baby girl to be born May 22nd. This will be the first granddaughter for my parents and the first girl of that generation for our Harris family. It's funny how my grandparents had all granddaughters except for my brother. And now all us girls have had boys. Anyway, I'm determined to get this quilt finished this weekend. We watched "Survivor" last night. We had watched it for years and then got a little bored with it until Bob from Maine arrived last season. So, we're back watching it again. Last night was a great show with all the scheming and big mouth Coach carrying on. Read a fun blog by Jeff Probst: http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/04/jeff-probst-b-1.html
My husband has been cleaning up the yard. I haven't mentioned this on the air but he was laid off 2 months ago. He has been doing so much around the house and yard. I'm not sure that I want him to go back to work. He makes dinner, buys groceries, washes dishes and does any errand that I send him on. I mentioned that I wanted the side yard cleaned up. He made 2 trips to the transfer station yesterday with the car filled with yard debris. I'm starting to feel guilty that he's doing all the work. Things may change when the bugs come out. They love to attach him. He's also getting to know the neighbors better. They've been laid off too. Maybe, the neighborhood will get spruced up this spring with so many people unemployed.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This seems to be the time of year when everyone talks about their Irish ancestry. What is it they say about the Irish? Their greatest import is their people. I, too, am one of the millions of Americans that carry that Irish DNA. My mother is a Dunn. Her people came from County Mayo. My father is of Irish descent, too. His great grandmother was Margaret Brown Harris(photo). She emigrated from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia to live with her son and my great grandfather, James Harris in Bar Harbor. She was a hard drinking woman who smoked a clay pipe and lived well into her 90's. Her father, Philip Brown immigrated to Canada from County Wexford, Ireland. Her mother, Marie Lejeune dit Briand was of French descent, but Margaret spoke her father's native tongue, Irish Gaelic. My grandfather was a great story teller and some of his favorites were about his Irish speaking grandmother. Margaret was Catholic and was not fond of her protestant daughter-in-law, Charlotte. Every morning, Charlotte would tap on the kitchen stove pipe to let Margaret know that breakfast was ready. Well, one morning Margaret was especially resentful of her son's wife and dumped the contents of her chamber pot on the stove pipe. My grandfather said it was the worst smell. Things got so bad, the priest needed to stop in and have a little talk with Grammie. While Margaret was a bit of a trouble maker, she was a hard worker too. As an old woman, she would scrape the needles off balsam fir branches to make sachets. Her hands would be red and raw from the sharp needles. Like many Americans, my family's heritage is diverse and descends from all the continents of the world except Antartica and Australia. That's just a little snippet about one of my family lines for this St.Patrick's Day.

Cancer Community Center Online Auction

The Cancer Community Center in South Portland is holding it's annual online auction. It's a really fun event that you can enjoy from your computer. I like to look at all the fun stuff and see what people have donated from the community. Last year, I got a nice cable knit sweater for my little nephew, Beckett and a book signed by Governor Baldacci. The cool thing about the Cancer Community Center is that their programs are free to people with cancer, their family and friends. You should look at their calendar of events. They have something for everything. The people are really nice too. I've had a chance to get to know Executive Director, Michele Johns. I was on their media board for several years. I am so impressed by everything they do. The auction is going on until March 26th.
http://www.cancercommunitycenter.org/

Perspectives 1/25

This week my guests on "Perspectives" were Stephanie Chanpimol and Craig Evans of the The Salvation Army, Northern New England Division. To find out more call toll free 1-866-674-4391 or go to http://www.use.salvationarmy.org/nne
If you love dogs, you'll want to listen to "Perspectives" this Sunday, February 1st at 6:00 a.m. on 94.9 WHOM. Patty Holmquist of Almost Home Rescue of Maine will join me. Like many non-profit organizations, they are in great need of funds. They are having a comedy night fund raiser at the Gold Room in Portland on Friday, April 3rd. Tickets must be purchased in advance to benefit the group. Details at http://www.almosthomerescue.net/

Lily The Wonder Kitten

She leaps through the air. She tumbles. She jumps from high above. She's Lily the Wonder Kitten. We adopted her from the Animal Refuge League in Westbrook http://www.arlgp.org/

It's been several years since we've had a pet. My husband produces Pets of The Week:

http://www.yourtownscable.com/petsoftheweek.html So, every week he would come home and tell me about the adorable animals he had seen and threatened to bring one home. So, before he did that I decided that I wanted some say in the matter. We were talking about adopting a cranky old curmudgeon of a cat. Well, Lily the Kitten has remarkable marketing skills. As we were walking around the shelter, she stuck her little paws out of her cage at me and rolled around adorably. How could we resist? Now our house is littered with cat toys and Lily has become the pampered princess. We take more photos of her than our sons. The above photo is the latest as she sdmires her video on our computer screen in the LOL cat style http://icanhascheezburger.com/

If you can't adopt an animal but would still like to help, there are many different ways to aid your local animal shelter. Many shelters are in desperate need of food, funds and volunteers. The Animal Refuge League has a wish list with everthing from hay and canned food to old towels and blankets: http://www.arlgp.org/support/wish/holiday%20wish%20list.pdf