http://www.record-eagle.com en-us Copyright CNHI All Rights Reserved. 5 Sun, 31 Aug 2008 20:00:57 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_245093236.html http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_245093236.html Another summer has passed in a blur -- and not because of all the activity I crammed into it. No, I sat this summer out, sidelined by one thing or another, as the boat sat dry on its trailer, the bicycles and kayaks hung dusty from their hooks in the garage. It began with unexpected surgery. Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:20:00 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/traversecitytransfer_story_190180735.html http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/traversecitytransfer_story_190180735.html I'm trolling the kitchen store for gadgets to send home with my Pakistani exchange daughter when I come across Ice Kabobs, kabob-shaped molds you fill with your favorite drink to create frozen swizzle sticks. I buy them, but not before I wonder, "Who came up with these, anyway?" Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:00:58 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_154093551.html http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_154093551.html Bleary-eyed and exhausted after senior prank night, my exchange daughter still is giddy with excitement as she dons cap and gown for the traditional Senior Walk through her school's halls. As "Pomp and Circumstance" plays over the speakers, I recall my own high school graduation nearly 35 years earlier with mixed feelings. Tue, 06 May 2008 00:00:58 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_126095528.html http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_126095528.html We're a week away from a Hawaiian vacation with overseas friends when "the curse" strikes. As women of a certain age know, what may have been a routine event in earlier adulthood can be cataclysmic now. I know something is wrong when my face in the mirror blends into the white wicker frame. I'm dizzy. My heart pounds when I cross the room. Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:56:00 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_105095051.html http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_105095051.html A recent column on e-mail's tendency to free the inner bully in us all struck a chord with dozens of readers, many of whom made comparisons between e-mailers and drivers. Several readers contend people in the service industry run afoul of the nastiest correspondents. A few wrote with suggestions for e-mail etiquette, including a longtime attorney. Then there were those who missed the point completely. Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:00:58 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_070094654.html http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_070094654.html Is it just me, or did civility go out of vogue when e-mail communication came in? As a community newspaper that wants to be responsive to its readers, we encourage you to write -- and make it easier by including reporter e-mail addresses at the top of local stories and columns. Still, I'm surprised at the hostility with which some people take up the invitation. Thu, 07 Feb 2008 23:00:58 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_038094638.html http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_038094638.html 'Thump-thump-thump-thump" comes the insistent beat of a drum through the heat register upstairs where I'm working. The music is pounding from the office below, where our exchange daughter also is working -- to the tune of the Pakistani pop singer I'm trying to tune out. Thu, 10 Jan 2008 09:37:00 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_010093053.html http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_010093053.html It's not easy having diabetes. Worse than the expensive drugs and supplies, the endless measuring and monitoring, and the needle pricks that can leave your skin bruised and sore, is the constant threat of serious complications. Now those with the disease are being made to feel guilty, too. Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:51:00 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_347095217.html http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_347095217.html As a downtown employee, I do most of my gift-buying in the three blocks surrounding my office. I even have a downtown discount card I largely forget to show. This year, though, I did my Christmas shopping online. Thu, 15 Nov 2007 23:00:58 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_319100027.html http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_319100027.html Sandwiching their wedding between rehearsals and performances may not be the big day most couples dream about. But then, Anton Shelepov and Carrie Pierce are hardly typical. Thu, 18 Oct 2007 09:51:00 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_291094514.html http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_291094514.html I was reading in bed, pinned between collie and hound, when the black shepherd decided to join us. Scooting over to make room, I felt it: That familiar wrench those with "bad backs" know can portend anything from a few stiff hours to complete incapacitation. Fri, 21 Sep 2007 00:00:58 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_263093041.html http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_263093041.html A while back, I wrote about an unlikely recognition day in September called National Feel the Love Day. Oddly enough, I'm not a particularly nice person myself. I'm easily irritated, quick to judge -- although, really, am I the only one who resents being held hostage to 20 minutes of previews and commercials before the film starts? Fri, 27 Jul 2007 00:00:58 +0000 http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_207110836.html http://www.record-eagle.com/martadrahos/local_story_207110836.html