The Rest Of The Story

Dear Editor,This past February I was out on a business trip when I got a call from my wife at approximately 9 p.m. She had just gotten a frightening call from her 82-year-old mother who lives alone on Tioga Avenue. She said there was a strange acting, hooded man sitting in a rocking bench on her back patio. I told my wife to call the Sheriff's Department ...

Dawn’s Column - Married…Finally

It's official. I'm now a Mrs. - for an entire month already.All the details came together for the wedding, which was a beautiful, memorable event - that went by very quickly. We feel blessed to have wonderful friends and family who supported us throughout this whole process.I now have a husband. I've altered my name, moved into a new home - just to ...

Marg-Ins - May I Ask You A Question?

If you have been a regular reader of the paper for any length of time, you are probably familiar with our feature that has been called a number of things, from 'Street Beat' to 'Question of the Week' to our latest moniker 'People Poll.' It typically occupies a space here on the 'Perspective' page but that, too, has changed over the years, from the bottom of the ...

Ramblings – Slip Sliding Away

Words slip and slide. I discovered that a long time ago. In writing essays for high school, papers for college, accounts of trips and adventures, I found the words take over and dictate the story, not the other way around, and the story doesn't turn out the way you intended it even when you sometimes, almost by accident, choose the right word. Much is the same with life ...

Stuff ‘N Nonsense – Homeownership: An Education In Economics

As previously mentioned, you might remember that we purchased our first home last year. It's been about six months now and we're still settling in but we've managed to unpack most of the important boxes even if we aren't entirely sure where everything ended up (I still can't find certain items that once resided in the kitchen).

Dawn’s Column - On To Something ‘Big’

A couple years ago around this time, I wrote a column about going to see the Sex And The City movie on opening night. I drove three hours to meet up with one of my partner-in-crime girlfriends from college and some of her girlfriends who held a 'Big' bash, complete with cosmopolitans (and champagne and kamikazes and…) and a limo to drive all 10 of us to the ...

Mommy Musings - Not-So Common Sense

Knowledge is not always power.

Marg-Ins - Through The Raindrops

May has given way to June and junior high has given way to - yes, that noise was me gasping - having a high school freshman daughter. Of course, she won't actually be considered a freshman until school starts in August but the simple fact of the matter is my daughter is now an eighth grade graduate, has completed her elementary and junior high school years and, I am ...

Stuff ‘N Nonsense - A Few Words…

The school year is winding down. My teenage boys are moving into their junior and sophomore years respectively and my daughter is moving onto kindergarten. It's hard not to sit back and reflect when everything has gone by in such a blur. This past year my oldest son traveled to New York with his drama club and collected priceless memories ...

Mommy Musings – More Than Smart … Pure Genius

It's a whole new world out there.

Dawn’s Column - The Merger

My fiancé and I are in the process of planning the final details for our wedding, it's nerve wracking. But I can tell you something else that's equally stressful - getting his house ready for me to move in.

Mommy Musings – It Takes A Village

What makes a good mother?

Marg-Ins - It’s A Wrap

One of the luxuries of being the editor - at least on some days - is that since I am the last one that reads stories, captions and columns before they go to press, I can tinker with my own deadlines. For instance, reporters have to turn their columns in by mid afternoon Friday before the Wednesday it is published, since the 'Perspective' page is laid out over ...

Stuff ‘N Nonsense - Things That Go Bump

I've always been fascinated by the paranormal. I embrace the theory that there is something beyond the life that we experience in the here and now for I cannot imagine that this is it. Throughout my life I've encountered a number of experiences that may qualify as paranormal from a phantom touch on my shoulder to noises that don't belong and while I may have been a bit ...

Dawn’s Column - Sparkly Shoes And Ham

My fiancé and I recently hosted Easter dinner at his house for our families and have done this for the past few years, as his place is centrally located. We made the plan to drive to Stockton the day before Easter to pick up a Honeybaked Ham for the family gathering. He ordered the ham and I proposed that we arrive at the store early, before the line got too long. ...

Still Matters - Love Matters

May always makes me think of Mother's Day and flowers. And this year we added a graduation, planning for a wedding in June, and everything else in between.

EDITORIAL – Attention Oakdale – All Units: 11-99

Attention Oakdale – All Units: 11-99

Marg-Ins – In With The New

Stuff ‘N Nonsense - Adjusting To The Dream Job

Who knew there would be an adjustment period to living the dream? I certainly didn't. Many of you know I published my first book in December 2006 and it's been a dream of mine for longer than I can remember to support myself solely on my fiction writing income. After many years of incredibly hard work, I managed to make that dream a reality and I left my post at The Leader to live the dream.

RICH IN THOUGHT -Toes In The Water, You Know The Rest

As I write this column, I am planning to be off work for an ROTC assignment.

Reporter’s Notebook – A Tainted Finish

Monday, April 15 did not start for me as it did my friend and running teammate Cathy McClelland or Oakdaleans Vanessa Walton and Tom Burchell, or Jesse Santana of Riverbank. I did not board a motor coach in my sneakers with a race bib pinned to the front of my shirt in anticipation of running the 117th Boston Marathon.

Marg-ins - No Fooling Around

No need to check the calendar and this isn't an April Fool's Day joke – I am just trying to get my column schedule back 'on track' after having been haphazard about it the last couple of months. I know one ran just last week, so forgive me for the back-to-backs.

Marg-Ins - Two Decades And Counting

Marg-Ins - Love Lost … And Found

More than a week past deadline, I finally have taken a few deep breaths and will try to get this column written. Typically, the 'Marg-Ins' column appears the first Wednesday of the month, which means it is running a week later than normal this time. Being the editor comes with certain privileges, one of which was giving myself a break on writing this last week. It's because the subject ...

Rich In Thought – All The X’s, L’s, V’s And I’s

The Super Bowl Season is upon us as many of us gather for what is as close to an American holiday as it can get.

Still Matters – The New Girl

Hello, Escalon, Oakdale, and Riverbank. I am the new girl at the Oakdale Leader office. You may have seen my name on a few different articles, pictures, or both in various issues. Or by now, you may have even met me in person.

Community Corner – What’s Growin’ On …

Happy New Year! We all survived the Mayan calendar apocalypse and the "Fiscal Cliff" – kind of started to remind me of the Y2K phenomenon 13 years ago.

Stuff ‘N Nonsense - A Graceful Exit

I have an issue with finality. At the end of every year, as everyone is celebrating the ball drop on a New Year, I'm lamenting the fact that I'll never be in that moment again - another year lost to time, never to experience again. In that second before the big calendar change, I panic just a little knowing that it's over. I'm happy to report that the panic doesn't last but ...

RICH IN THOUGHT - Be Prepared, Do Something, Denial Kills