Dr. Pepper Is The Choice At My House

by Kevin Burton    Finally I am on the right side of the great consumer steamroller.    Usually the foods and other products I like exist in the financial fringes. Marginal sales, minimal customer appeal, and a tenuous position in the marketplace; that is usually where my go-to stuff is, always in danger of being …

I Guess Static Cling Is A Thing After All

by Kevin Burton    Serving up quibbles and bits for Saturday breakfast on Page 7.  Stray ideas, quick hitters, random asides.    It’s food for thought, albeit maybe not real deep thought…..    So, I spent the first 90 percent of my workday Friday with a washcloth stuffed inside my shirt. I put on a …

Just Say “No” To The Fourth Crockpot

by Kevin Burton    You’ve been there I’m sure, where I was Sunday.    I called it “crawl out of it” day. Perhaps you can think of a better term. The idea is part  getting back into a normal routine and part creating a better routine.    I felt as if I hadn’t quite recovered …

Latter-Day David Saves Sister With Slingshot

by Kevin Burton     So now you know two stories involving a slingshot. And two extraordinary stories they are.    Thirteen-year-old Owen Burns heard his sister screaming earlier this month, then looked out a window to see someone trying to kidnap her.    Burns grabbed what he had at hand, what he was familiar with, …

Murder She Wrote: Author Under Arrest

by Faith Karini, Andi Babineau and Sara Finch, CNN    Kouri Richins’ husband was found dead at the foot of their bed last March.    She’d just closed on a house for her business, she told investigators at the time. Around 9 p.m., she brought her husband, Eric Richins, a celebratory Moscow Mule cocktail in …

Take Care Of Mom As She Took Care of You

by Kevin Burton    From the cross, the most difficult circumstance imaginable, Jesus took care of His earthly mother.    He knew He was ending his earthly walk and He was telling the disciple John to meet her needs.    “So when Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said …

Home Decluttering Means No To Garage Sales

by Kevin Burton    Just two hours on a recent Tuesday greatly enhanced how we feel about our house, and all we did was open the front door.    Electricians came and executed six of the seven small projects we had scheduled. The seventh is much more involved than we thought because of the way …

The Power To Make Someone’s Day

by Kevin Burton    You have a superpower that you might not know about; the power to make another person glow.    So says a “happiness expert” quoted on CNBC.    Stephanie Harrison, founder of The New Happy, writes that using nine phrases will instantly brighten someone’s day. She says we underestimate how happy someone …

Christmas Tree Is A Loving Family History

by Kevin Burton    By one measure it has been Christmas season for weeks now, but by another it hasn’t started yet.    I used to say it isn’t Christmas season until I have broken one of the glass Christmas tree ornaments.   At least twice before we were married, I came to Jeannette’s house to …

Bovine Divas Bolt From Acting Debut

by Kevin Burton   Two reluctant actors in a live Nativity scene were on the mooooove Dec. 3, reports Mark Price of the Charlotte Observer.   Stage fright is a thing, but usually not a call-the-police thing.    “One coastal church’s wish to recreate a “live Nativity” scene turned chaotic in the strangest way, when …