Going on holiday with friends - boon or bane?

One good way to spoil a beautiful friendship is to go on holiday with your best pal. Trust me, I know and have learned from experience. Instead of rest and relaxation, you could end up with rows and recriminations, and a long friendship in ruins. But there is a way to have a really good time traveling with friends. You just have to figure out how.

At the end, how do we say goodbye?

This has been one of the hardest posts for me to write. A dear friend's husband, L,  passed away suddenly, leaving everyone shell-shocked and heartbroken. There was no warning, no preparation. Most painfully, there was no time for goodbye. Everyone was, of course, wishing for an opportunity to bid a proper farewell, for time to say all that needed to be said. But such is life that we really don't know when our time is up.  We can only hope that when we do go, our affairs are in order. We want to prepare those around us for the eventuality of our demise. Everyone imagines the "last conversation" they'll have with loved ones, but how many of us do get that chance, and even when we have it, know what to say?

Family holidays - how to avoid the pitfalls

Travel has always held me in its thrall, whether it's been a spur-of-the-moment car ride out to the countryside, or an epic journey across the world that involved tons of logistical planning and saving up for. I've pretty much done all of the above at different times in my life with different family members and while it can be great fun, it can also be nightmarish.

Brush up on the best cleaning aid

I'm the world's laziest housekeeper. I choose not to see dirt in the house and avoid cleaning whenever possible. I can spend hours tending to my little garden, but ask me to sweep, vacuum or mop and I'll find every opportunity to put it off. I wear house slippers so that I don't feel the sticky floor in dire need of mopping. It's only when I see dust balls flying around or scum building up on bathroom walls that I finally bring out my cleaning supplies. Once I start cleaning, though, it's as if I'm channeling Martha Stewart and I can spend hours wiping, scouring and scrubbing. I turn into a cleaning dervish that gleefully attacks all kinds of dirt. Which is why I love, love, love my faithful scrubbing brush.

Don't be coy about soy

A friend sent me an article (in the Huffington Post, no less!) warning readers not to take too much soy, whether in its raw form like edamame, processed into tofu and tempeh or as soy milk. It goes on to present the darker side of soy as it contains isoflavanes which can disrupt the estrogen system. The article concludes by exhorting everyone to treat soy the same way you would sugar, alcohol and caffeine. I'm a lover of soy in any form, so is it any wonder that this article has raised my hackles?