Maneuvering between a rock and a hard place is easier if you don't have your hand out.

I've begun a new chapter in my life. With renewed appreciation for those I love, I've altered my morning routine. So, after dropping my kids off at school, I make a beeline to the front door of my dear friend, Grace. Her kids live far away and, though she makes you forget it with her dancing eyes and ready laugh, she's getting on in years.
 

When retailers hear, "Have yourself a merry little Christmas," they wince. They are afraid they might.

Much of today's news is depressing so I decided to write about something to lift up our hearts. Let's talk about "the good old days."
 

We all have those childhood memories of sitting around the kitchen or dining room table and being amazed by the stories that families would tell. Some would make you giggle as unbelievable revelations were told about cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Some you would hear over and over until they were branded in your mind while others were told once because one of those looks from a relative told you it was never to be told again! 
 

George Ayoub column

Belmont, Calif., has a message for us: No ifs, ands or especially butts. It is about to become the nation's strictest anti-smoking city.

The safe-haven law is good news, too. Really.

Let's start with last week's civic exercise: Nebraskans said no to affirmative action -- just as Californians did 12 years ago. The same day our red state gave a thumbs up to Ward Connerly and his minions, blue Californians said no to gay marriage -- just as Nebraskans did eight years ago.

According to reports, it rained buckets last month. We thought so too. Truth be told, for our family, it poured.
 

We have been through a very stressful election campaign, both at home, for our state and our beloved country. As we thank God the election is over I recall a question one friend asked last week about the outcome: "Will we get what we need or what we deserve?" Only time will tell and we must remember that whatever happens, the Lord is still in charge.
 

Can you imagine the thrill of the four-minute mile, the eight-foot high jump or the day man first set foot on the moon? Or even that day last summer when Michael Phelps won all of those Olympic gold medals?

On Tuesday, use your cell phone to honor a veteran.

In fact, it doesn't even have to be Tuesday, Veterans Day. Any day works because if you use it enough to wear it out, you can become part of a terrific plan that transforms those old cell phones sitting in a kitchen drawer or at the bottom of a filing cabinet into phone cards for soldiers serving their country.

I spotted a UFO late Wednesday night, a bright white specter on a green background. It was stick straight, and strange enough that I had to slow down to get a better look.

For those unfamiliar with the paranormal, that's UFO as in an Unidentified Figure of One (for the price of fuel).

Change was a hot commodity Tuesday, rocketing Barack Obama to the White House in historic fashion.

I will vote this morning, just under the wire. That's because Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008, is not Election Day. It is the last day to vote.

Does it seem to you, as it does to me, that this has been the longest political campaign ever?

What started at the turn of the century as an effort to gain a day of recognition for the significant contributions the first Americans made to the establishment and growth of the U.S., has resulted in a whole month being designated for that purpose, according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior.
 

I grew up believing the world housed some serious evil: Satan, the Russians, Castro, the Boston Strangler. And Bud Wilkinson, known to successive generations as Barry Switzer.

Twenty-three. That's the threshold. After 23 kids  -- mostly teens -- showed up on Nebraska hospital doorsteps, Gov. Dave Heineman has had enough. He has called a special session of the Legislature to amend LB157, the state's safe-haven law, which passed the Legislature 41-1 last spring and was signed by Heineman. The session will begin Nov. 14.