Eve Penman: An Empowered Housewife in Rural America

Q: What do Bing Crosby , Darren McGavin , Burl Ives , Stan Boreson , and Harry Stewart (Yogi Yorgesson) have in common? A: Washington State...and Christmas! 💁🎅🎄 Here are five famous and fondly-remembered entertainers that my holidays wouldn't be the same without (and maybe yours, too!) who are connected to my home state of Washington.  Map created with Google Maps & information compiled via Wikipedia by Eve Penman .  Following the order on the map above; top to bottom, left to right: TOP STAR   > Burl Ives (1909-1995) best known at Christmastime for being the narrator Sam the Snowman in the 1964 classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer ; an Illinois native where he was laid to rest, he passed away while living at his home in Anacortes, WA, in 1995. Find Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer  for listening and watching at Amazon (see disclaimer below) . MIDDLE STAR  > Stan Boreson (1925-2017) best known at Christmastime amongst Washin...

Vacuuming literally sucks, especially with my sensitive ears. 🙉 It's not that I hate the act of vacuuming, it's that I hate the sound of the vacuum; I always have. As a kid I would want to hide from the vacuum cleaner just because of the sound -- LOUD. 💢 Ever since learning about misophonia  a few years ago due to my issue with the sounds of chewing, I have concluded that my over-sensitivity to vacuums might be part of it, too; along with my dislike for the sounds of blenders and food processors. 😣 While I haven't always wanted to vacuum, I have never made the sound an excuse not to vacuum. Pure laziness seemed to be a good enough excuse, but maybe my sound sensitivities were subconsciously stopping me, only I didn't know it all those years ago. 💁 It's not that the sound makes me have to cover my ears in order to function, but it is unsoothing to my ears and I do not like it, period, so it does not motivate me to clean, and that's really not good. 😞 I h...

(Disclaimer: This is not legal advice; this is information on how to conduct online research to find public documents.)  A few things I learned as a court reporter: Divorce happens, divorce is not pretty, and divorce comes with paperwork...lots of paperwork. So, where does one find the paperwork for filing a divorce? Where else in the 21st Century but online, of course; and it's a wonderful convenience, too. Searching for any state's divorce forms is very easy thanks to search engines. > Open any search engine and type the state's name with the words 'divorce forms' after it. For example, I tested it out on Mississippi, a state I have never lived, worked, nor breathed in.  When I typed 'Mississippi State divorce forms' the first non-ad link that came up in the search was the forms page for the  Administrative Office of Courts for the State of Mississippi Judiciary . Under the Statistical Reporting Forms section is the link Civil Case Filing...

Thanks to the reader who left this curious comment on my blog post Where Do Tote Bags Come From : "Hmm it looks like your website ate my first comment (it was super long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I wrote and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I as well am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to the whole thing. Do you have any tips and hints for first-time blog writers? I’d definitely appreciate it." Thanks for reading and commenting! Sorry for the annoyance of the eaten comment, I know how irksome that can be. Here is my list of tips and hints for first-time blog writers,  by request and in no particular order : > Do not spend money on a blog if you do not know what you are doing. 💸 > There are numerous free blogging platforms for a reason -- so people don't have to spend money! Learning for free is awesome in the 21st Century; take advantage of it. 📚 > The best way to learn how to blog is to sit down and actually do it onc...