Parenting is not an easy job, and yes it is a job. It often comes with struggles to relate to your children without being caught in the ‘parent’ trap... and no, not the 1961 Hayley Mills classic or the 1998 Lindsay Lohan remake, which to be honest wasn’t bad, but give me the classic anyday. 

Many of you were probably up late ringing in the New Year last night. Go ahead and put on some coffee, I can wait.

Branson Tri-Lakes News Entertainment Editor Tim Church and I were sitting in the office talking about this Christmas edition of the paper you’re now reading and I asked him what I thought was a simple question.

You’ve almost gotten through it.

(This is the second in a series of columns giving you some behind the scenes info on journalism from the Branson Tri-Lakes News.)

One of the problems with moving to a new area is your “go to” places for food at your old home base are gone, and it can take years to find a place which is in the same ballpark. You know those things: the food items which provide comfort, or help you get off to a good mental start, and if y…

There is a real challenge when you start talking about any kind of gun related issue; people get entrenched in their views on the Second Amendment and allow it to color anything else which might be remotely related to guns. They’ll seek to see actions taken which may not be connected anywher…

It was the third Eli hiding place we found on packing day.

BRANSON POLICE DEPARTMENT UNDERCOVER AUDIO RECORDING TRANSCRIPT, 1 NOV 21.

You’re reading this column some time after Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021, but I’m writing it on Wednesday of the same week. Today marks six months since my mother died and despite the best efforts of friends, family, and professionals, I’m still nowhere near being over the loss of mom.

By the time you read this, the title of “sports editor” will no longer apply to me. My heart aches as I type this. Monday, Oct. 25, was my last day with the Branson Tri-Lakes News.

The sun is setting earlier, the wind is chillier, the rain is more consistent, and yet, I still can’t wrap my brain around the fact that we aren’t even 10 days separated from November.

Our family has an official, mental health professional prescribed Emotional Support Cat.

There are not a lot of good things I can say about Facebook, but it does allow you to keep in touch with family members who are far away, reconnect with people you may have genuinely lost touch with that matter to you, and it brings back reminders of times past that may have more meaning thr…

I was recently invited to go to Silver Dollar City to celebrate my ‘granddaughter’ Maddy’s 7th birthday. 

I have begun to read stories of people who are actually losing their jobs because employers are mandating COVID-19 vaccinations, or who have tendered their resignations because of such an edict and are now actually without a job or income. In reading those stories, I found a serious amount o…

Hello Friends,

One of the aspects of moving to a new community I frankly don’t like all that much is the process of finding a new church family. When I moved to Springfield from Arkansas a few years ago, it took me almost a full year to find a church where I felt like I belonged and could really dig in. 

Budgeting is something we do, whether consciously or not everyday. We budget our money, we budget our time. We are taught or at least we should be taught how to budget things like money and time as we grow up.  

It was 1988, I was 17, and I was an outcast. I was bullied, insulted, and undermined by kids I went to school with. I was left out of social circles and thought the people I went to school with would be significantly happier if I was dead. I honestly believed at the time if I did it, my form…

I haven’t seen my child in over six months. I never thought I would say that. I know what some of you are thinking, why? 

Hey there! It’s been a while since you’ve seen one of my stories in the paper. 

She was, as Claudio would say in Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” in most profound earnest.

One of the wonders of a child with autism is the way their mind works. Just when you think you have figured them out, they’ll say or do something that leaves you amazed.

Hello Friends,

I knew I was going to be breaking down in tears a lot when I arrived at my childhood home the day after my mother died.

My son, Eli, is on the autism spectrum. He was diagnosed at 18 months, so we were fortunate we were able to get him therapy which has helped him become moderately functioning. He can do many things for himself, but he will never be able to live completely on his own. 

I traveled internationally for the first time going into my sophomore year of high school. I went with a group from my church, where I knew everyone, to Peru, where we spent about a week and a half. Smooth travels. 

First and foremost, I want to make you aware of an item coming up for a vote at the next Board of Alderman meeting, on Tuesday, August 24, 2021. The Animal (PET) Ordinance is on the agenda for a final approval. We have appreciated your input during our three public town hall meetings. Please…

While you’re reading this, I’m probably lying on a white sandy beach, as the ocean waves lap around my toes, with my new husband.

I don’t know who they were talking about, but a local entertainer was the subject of conversation between two individuals enjoying a smoke outside of a theater on 76 Country Boulevard.

In this day and age we are all constantly on our phones and our favorite technological device. I could never have imagined as a child that I would be able to carry a phone that would fit into my pocket with me wherever I went and have the instantaneous ability to talk or write to anyone anyw…

Hello Friends,

Anyone who knows me knows I’m not the most extroverted person and sharing who I am does not come easily to me. Thus my hesitation to write an editorial since starting this job in March.