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carol@inkwellcoaching.com

Crown Point, IN

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October 2, 2025

A Star Ingredient for Flavorful Meals

In last week’s blog, I wrote about a variety of spices that add warmth to fall dishes. I had a question from a reader about how to use star anise. S

September 25, 2025

Fall Spices That Warm the Season

As the air turns crisp and leaves begin to scatter the sidewalks, many of us automatically think of pumpkin spice. It seems to be in everything from l

September 18, 2025

When Healthy Habits Don’t Add Up

You exercise regularly. Your plate is full of colorful fruits and vegetables. You’ve swapped fried foods for lean protein, cut back on sugar, and ev

September 11, 2025

How to Eat Healthier at Any Restaurant

Eating out doesn’t have to derail your health goals. Whether you’re grabbing a bite at your favorite local diner or trying a new international bis

September 4, 2025

Mr. Corn Visits Indiana

It’s that time of year again when my dear cousin, Roger, visits from Florida. He visits now because the sweet corn is amazing here in Indiana. For y

August 28, 2025

7 Late Summer Wellness Tips

The nights and days are cooler. Darkness comes earlier. The sky looks like fall. I even saw some leaves in Michigan that had turned brilliant red. How

August 21, 2025

What to Do with All That Zucchini

Yesterday, my friend Lisa presented me with a zucchini that looked as though it had taken growth hormones. It was gigantic! She told me that she grate

August 14, 2025

Echoes of Summer

Can you feel the shift? The days are steamy–yet the calendar is getting a bit crowded with commitments that pair better with the cooler days of

August 7, 2025

August Anxiety. Sunscreen vs. School Bells

This time of year, I feel a mixture of emotions. On the one hand, summer is in full swing. The flowers are thriving, temperatures still soar, and ther

July 30, 2025

Recharging After Your Vacation

Have you ever returned home from a vacation and thought to yourself, “Gee, I could use a vacation.”? I know I have. It seems wrong. We have such a

Dancin’…Dancin’…Dancin’ the Night Away

What fun we had the other evening.  We danced!  Not just any dance, but THE BIG DANCE– of the year.  My son attends an all boys’ high school and each year is the Mother & Son Dance, fondly referred to as the “Mom Prom.”  

Now, before you think this whole idea is crazy and wonder what young man between the ages of 14-19 would even attend such an event, let me set the record straight.  Lots of sons dance with their moms and actually have fun.  It is a very refreshing sight to behold.  Young men dressed in suits, ties and the like, out on the town with their moms.  Granted, most freshman struggle with this, but peer pressure can be a good thing.  This dance is a real treat for us moms, and the upperclassmen set the tone.  There were several instances when I heard my son say to a fellow student, “Why aren’t you dancing with your mom?  She does everything for you!”  Wow!  Hopefully this phase of raising my son lasts his lifetime. 

We laughed and danced and laughed some more.  We took lots of pictures and tried to follow the latest “club” dance steps.  (The boys seemed to have it a bit more together here.)   Moms and their sons, having the time of their lives, before college and crazy work schedules…in spite of current day challenges.  It was a bit like a fairytale, and at midnight, the glass slippers were gone.  Hard as we try to hang on to times like these, time marches on and so do our children.  How blessed I am to have had one more dance.

“Discipline your son and he will give you peace;  he will bring delight to your soul.”                                    Proverbs 29:17 NIV  

There’s just something about dinner

I was conversing with some friends yesterday, and it became very clear that some pretty big decisions are made while dining together.  Not just about superficial “how was your day” talk, but meaningful things that have the potential to change lives.  Like:  deciding to make a retreat;  becoming a community volunteer;  or coaching your child’s sports team.  Why is this?  Perhaps it is because we have time to really think as we chew, taste and swallow that bite of baked potato seasoned with real butter and a smidgen of sour cream.  Maybe our brain goes through a similar process to make a decision.  Maybe it’s because we are forced to look into our friend’s eyes and see what is honestly happening in their life as we sit across the table.  Or is it because we have chosen to take the time to just be present to the moment at hand?

Think about the significant things in your life and you’ll see where I’m coming from on this.  When we get together to do just about anything, there is food available.  Example:  business networking usually takes place during the breakfast or lunch hour.  Yes, some of that is because we are all very busy and stressed and we have to multi-task to fit it all into our day.  However, there is just something really comforting about eating while we talk about important stuff. 

I often joke about how it is all about the food.  It is.  Food sustains us.  It is tangible and comforting and hopefully, delicious.  (Healthy will be another “thought” on another day.)  So, the next time a friend invites you to meet for dinner, be careful what you sign up for.  You might find yourself in a situation that you never expected….and it could be a very good thing!

“So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.”                                                                                  1Cor 10:31 NAB

After the Turkey

We had spent Thanksgiving eating our family favorites….deep fried turkey, real mashed potatoes (with lumps as proof), sweet potato souffle, cranberry jelly (can rings included), and stuffing.  Blessings and abundance and love.  What could be better?

The day after the eating frenzie, we drove south to a state park and met dear friends to hike off the calories.  An unseasonably warm, sunny day added glory to the streams and rocks that glaciers had carved out so many years ago.   Laughter, slipping in the mud, remembering stories we had written….now called our life, and feeling so very thankful for so many reasons.  Some of us felt challenged by the trails marked as “most difficult” but not one of us turned to take the easy trail.  Sure, we joked and thought about it, but when it came to the moment of decisive truth, none of us caved.  We just kept climbing and pushing our way forward, laughing to ease the pain and encourage one another.  Were we crazy?  No need to reply.  This is the trail.  This is life.

In a world of chaos and frenzy that searches for the best deal or cyber-sale, what relief we found…together, after the turkey, on a November day filled with uncharacteristic splendor.  Many other families did the same.  Gratitude.  Abundance.  Friendship.  Another story written, to recall another time. 

“He climbs highest who helps another up”  Zig Ziglar  

When the rain won’t stop…

It is the kind of autumn day where it seems as though the sun will never shine again.  Dark, damp, rain…all day.  Isn’t life like this too sometimes?  Too often?  We begin to think everything will be fine.  We’ll find not just any job, but the Best Job, with great pay, and all those bills that have piled up will magically be gone.  The children will behave, all at the same time, and not one will have a cough or runny nose.  Our dog won’t run off the minute the front door is opened because there is a squirrel going up the tree in the front yard.  Oh, and the sadness over our sick loved one will subside since there really is a cure for the disease, or the memory will certainly return…if only the rain would stop.

But it doesn’t stop.  One day seems to just flow into the next like a giant wave, with no distinction, no break, no sun.  Circumstances beyond our control.  Tough to face and impossible to change, to fix, to heal.  We do, however, have the ability to choose hope.  We can decide to be thankful for the little glimmers of sun that are cast into the day. 

Glimmers…it is still a job, and although it may not be the Best Job, it will suffice while a plan is made to find the Best Job.  In the meantime, to choose to be the very best in the current circumstance, while seeking out others who may know just the right person to contact.

Glimmers…the children are generally healthy and happy and quite silly and loud most days.  They are the sunshine with their smiles and carefree spirits.

Glimmers…the dog.  With all the stuff that accompanies owning a pet, the dog makes the owners laugh at her silly ways.  Her morning “doggy yoga” stretches, waiting at the kitchen door for any morsel to drop on the floor or land in her bowl, sleeping the day away, because dogs can do that.

Glimmers…as long as there is breath, there is hope.  We lean on those who help us, love us, through our pain.  This lifetime is but a brief moment in time.  We are promised more…we are promised that the rain will stop.  We are promised an endless sun.

“When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.”   Micah 7:8 KJV