I certainly hope we get some rain this month. It has been a very dry winter, and our plants are going to suffer this growing season if we don’t get quite a bit of rain. We had so much rain it was more like floods the last few years in June. Who knows what this spring will bring.
Dear Abby: I am 15 and have a big problem. My mom and my dad have been married a long time. I was looking through pictures on Mom’s phone and found some very inappropriate and romantic texts from “Rob,” her business partner. Mom forces our whole family to hang out with Rob, and my brother doesn’t like him either. But anytime we bring it up, my mom yells at us and makes me cry. She wants me to be friends with Rob.
Dear Doctors: How do I tell my doctor that I have a problem with alcohol? I’m prescribed pain medicine, which I don’t abuse. However, my alcohol consumption has increased, especially since my mom died last fall.
After two years of pandemic, masks, lockdowns, racial strife and political insurrection, stress among American kids was already at crisis proportions. • Then Russia invaded Ukraine and “World War III” was suddenly a trending topic. On Feb. 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin put his country’s nuclear forces on “high alert.” • Mental health counselors say the news on TV and social media has reignited Cold War fears among some of their young patients, including prospects of nuclear annihilation that harken back to a time when students were told to hide under their desks in case of a Soviet attack. • “We are definitely seeing kids struggle with anxiety,” said Michael Tozzoli, CEO of Ridgewood-based West Bergen Mental Healthcare. “I had a kid in my practice the other night who said he kept hearing that COVID was a once-in-alifetime thing and now you’re telling me there’s a possible nuclear war?”
Dear Abby: I am a 26-year-old man, and I’m currently incarcerated. My girlfriend, “Diana,” and I have been together for four years. She has a 6-year-old daughter, and I have a 7-year-old son. Our kids are very close, and I am also very close to her daughter.
“A Good Place,” by Lucy Cousins (Candlewick Press) Fans of the popular Maisy series of picture books will know this author and illustrator, Lucy Cousins. Cousins always creates a colorful, engaging world, and her new title, “A Good Place,” is no exception.
FREDERICK, Md. — Kathy Osborne raised her hands into the air, and the near-deafening din of a hundred fourth graders finishing lunch fell away.
Granola is like the potato chip’s cooler older brother who returns home after learning the ways of the world. • Both have an addicting crunch and texture. Both can be enjoyed singularly or paired with something – milk with granola and dip with chips – for a more satisfying bite. • But compared to the chip, granola is sophisticated, complex, mature and healthier. Pretty ironic for a food that in part fueled the 1960s counter culture. h Granola also is easy to make at home. Learn a basic recipe, and you can then customize it for a snack or breakfast food with your favorite nuts, seeds and dried fruits.
Dear Abby: I have been married to my husband for a little over three years. I have two teen girls, and he has one. They get along for the most part, but lately my 18-year-old, “Lindsay,” and his 17-year-old, “Taylor,” have been clashing.
It is very likely one of the first things you learned to make: eggs! And today, whether you want to hard cook them, fold them into batter, whip the whites or dye them for Easter, eggs are holding the spotlight for the next couple of weeks.