Dear Heloise: Don’t forget to stock up on batteries for Christmas. Most gifts that need them don’t have them included. You want to be sure that folks will be able to use the item as soon as they unwrap it. This is especially important for children’s gifts. -- Carolyn M., in Canaan, ...

Dear Readers: So many of you wrote about the widow columns that I printed recently, and made some interesting points, so I wanted to share a few of these letters with everyone. Dear Annie: Oh, wow! I just saw this in our paper and pointed it out to my wife. She didn’t believe it at first, ...

Dear Heloise: I recently learned a hint that artists or kids could use while drawing. Cut out a placemat-sized piece of bumpy rubber shelf liner and place it beside your work area. Place colored pencils or crayons on the shelf liner, and your art tools won’t roll off the tabletop no matter ...

We had a fabulous autumn weather-wise, nothing to complain about although that didn’t prevent many of us from doing so. First it was too warm and too dry; then, when it started to rain, it was too cold and too wet. There’s no pleasing some people. In our neck of the woods, every snow-free ...

Dear Annie: My husband and I have been married for 14 years. He is 9 years younger than I am, and when we got married, we each brought three children into our blended family. For the past two years, I was the primary caregiver for my mother after she had a stroke. Even before that, I spent a ...

Last Sunday, I met daughter Anna in Minneapolis where we attended Les Misérables at the Orpheum Theater. This is about my tenth time seeing Les Misérables. It is somewhere between a guilty pleasure and an addiction. I’ve always liked musicals, in person and on stage. Film is not at all ...