THINGS TO CONSIDER TODAY    - A column by Leland Pulley that looks at issues and concerns in the lives of people and provides insights to help address them.

Have An Overall Strategy In Your Life

It’s amazing to me to see the number of people who go throughout their adult years without an overall life strategy to follow. They haven’t figured out what they really want out of life nor what they’re capable of getting, and therefore haven’t put together a plan or strategy of obtaining this. So they’re usually content to go along and react to life more than act to get what they want.

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Help Your Child Utilize School To Get A Good Education

Education is a broad topic and cannot be covered in one article. I will raise several points and hopefully this will stimulate you to do the rest. You can come up with your own thoughts about it, especially things that are unique to your child(ren) and his situation.

It is not enough to merely send your child to school and assume over the years that he’s getting a good education. In too many cases this is simply not true. This may be due to what is going on at school or to the effort your child is putting into his education. Either way, direct parental involvement will help ensure that your child will get a better education while growing up.

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LIFE IN THE MIDDLE TODAY  - A column by Colleen Pulley that illustrates how to face the challenges of life, make choices, and move onward; and in the process experience more joys along the way.

Do Kids Make Better Choices With Hovering Parents

School is back in full swing. The kids are getting back into the routine of homework. Their backpacks have probably already had their first scrapes and ink marks added to them. The leaves are starting to turn colors, and for us; this week we are experiencing “Indian Summer”. The last couple of days it has actually hit the 90's !

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The Beaded Bracelet

Around my stethoscope hangs a small dull beaded bracelet. It has been there for six years. I was given the bracelet by a little girl who lost her battle with cancer. Whenever I look at the dull beads, I am reminded of Alexanne and what she brought into my life.

I cared for Alexanne over a two year period. I saw her loose a kidney, have her leg amputated, and held the bucket when she threw up after her chemotherapy. I was there for her blood transfusions. I was there when she stood looking out of the window when her white blood cell count made us place her in isolation. I was there during it all. I was there when she finally couldn't fight anymore, and took off the bracelet and told me to take care of it. I was there when she died, and I was the one who took the red balloons from her room and released them, as the rising sun streaked the sky in pinks and golds. I stood there and watched the balloons as they drifted higher and higher until I couldn't see them anymore. I thought of how Alexanne told me she was going to be in charge of the snow, because she wanted everyone to be able to lay in the snow and make snow angels.

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Guest Article by Sarah Gentili

Another School Year

Summer has faded away and many of us have found ourselves wrapped up in the chaotic time known as “back to school.” This is our first full academic school year with our three adoptive children, and I have been stunned by the amount of paperwork involved in starting a new school year. When our children first came to us last year, school had already started and we missed a great deal of this extra work thrust upon parents.

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Guest Article by Julie Plancarte

The Cost of Change

During the 2008 Presidential Campaign, Obama won the hearts of people with feel good slogans and vague promises. Time after time he stood on a podium reading off a teleprompter while an adoring press hung off every word and feverishly wrote about his “vision of the future”. Any specific questions about how he was going to execute the office of President were swept under the rug. Any remarks about his ability to keep the promises he made and the cost to the American people were brushed off as “unfair”, or “racist”. So what if he was inexperienced? So what if he had questionable people who he associated with? So what if he had deep ties to unions and community action groups that had questionable motives. He eventually won the election and sailed into the office amid cheers of good will and ecstatic newspaper and television stories about how “historic” he was.

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