Sterling Griggs

Costco Wholesale Warehouse is an absolute gold mine around lunch time. Vendors set up  tables all over the mammoth store, hawking all sorts of samples ranging from vitamin juice  shots to mini crab cakes. I used to make sure that I would go there with the kids so that we  would have at least one day when we didn’t have to meal plan.      I don’t shop there all the time because we simply can’t afford to. Not that the prices are bad,  it’s just that I don’t know when to stop. Instead, I will go every month or so to stock up on bulk  supplies of juice boxes, salsa, pizza rolls, peanut butter, and whatever items I am convinced  that my family cannot live without.        Perhaps the biggest, if only, drawback to Costco is that it is always crowded. Every aisle is  clogged with shoppers pushing oversized carts full of their choice of essential goods and,  while no one is necessarily rude about...

This is what a broken and dislocated forearm on a 9-year-old girls looks like. Unfortunately this belongs to my youngest daughter, Emme, who accomplished this after trying to catch herself from hitting the floor after falling off the balance beam at gymnastics. Accidents happen - and sometimes they really hurt! - but sometimes they affect more than just your physical well-being. If you watch sports or have a child who plays sports or were an athlete yourself, then you know that injuries are often part of the game. Not everyone experiences bone-crushing fractures or career-ending injuries - most of the time it's knocks and bumps and the occasional bruise. But there are those moments where you watch an athlete's future dissipate before his or her eyes by an injury that prohibits them from coming back. And that is hard to watch. As someone who has never really experienced any of this in the athletic arena, I've often wondered what it's like to receive the crushing...

Fridays are the best days of the week. Period. Need proof? How about these sweet lyrics from George Jones: It's finally Friday I'm free again I got my motor running for a wild weekend It's finally Friday I'm outa' control Forget the workin' blues And let the good times roll. Sorry that you now have that song stuck in your head. And yeah, maybe that song isn't so awesome after all, but Friday IS all that and a bag of chips. Here are some reasons why: Friday night high school football games in the fall The one night of the week you can stay up really late because you can always sleep in on Saturday In our western culture, Friday marks the finish line to a grueling week of work and school Square fish sandwiches in schools on Friday (do they still do that?) Anyway, Fridays are simply awesome. I always loved Friday because it was the one day of the week growing up that I was convinced I could make it through because I knew what waited for me o...

The artist known as Prince just died. It's all over the news and his music is basically on every station. While not necessarily a fan of Prince - I have never owned nor downloaded any of his music - I do have a deep appreciation for the artist that he was. I'm not ashamed to admit that last night in the car is was jamming to "Little Red Corvette" and "Let's Go Crazy" when it came on the radio. When you hear brilliance, you must stop to appreciate it. Another no-as-famous person died yesterday as well. Chyna, of WWE fame, passed away, leaving behind a legacy for female wrestlers that she pretty much started on her own. Back in the day, I used to watch wrestling when it wasn't the trashy show that it is now. Chyna was just coming on the scene then and, while I didn't always buy the theatrics, I did appreciate the fact that a woman could body slam a man and make him look silly. When someone busts boundaries wide open, you have to stop and admire,...