A couple weeks ago one of my kids was going out to her car and when she pulled on the door handle to open it, the handle broke off in her hand. You can imagine her frustration having to climb in from the passenger side. Needless to say “her” problems now became “my” problems!

Today I was screwing around at work, procrastinating on the things I really SHOULD be doing, and decided to google AAA (of course, that was after googling myself, dwarf goats and a recipe for peanut brittle.) I was a little surprised because I don’t work for:

a)  The Association of Autonomous Astronauts or...   b)  the American Anthropological Association...though that would probably be cool…  c)  or even the American Academy of Audiology..again, probably pretty cool…

While these are legitimate organizations and, I must admit, I kind of  gravitated toward the autonomous  astronauts,  it makes me wonder about things that use similar names (particularly  in food) to give their own products credibility.   

Labor Day weekend (Sept 4-6) marks the unofficial end of summer and, for many Americans, the last chance for a family vacation before cooler weather arrives. A wide array of choices in family-friendly hotels makes it easy to find suitable accommodations. AAA polled its professional inspectors to name their favorite places for family getaways. Discover the top 10 picks below and, for even more great ideas, here’s a complete list of their favorites.

This blog is by Jay K, who is originally from Thailand. She recently had the opportunity to go home for a visit.

Part III: Although I grew up in this fascinating country, I returned home with friends determined to see the country as a tourist, not as a native. After visiting the colorful floating market, we headed to Ayuthaya, which reined as capital of Thailand from 1350 to 1767. The gang and I climbed into our rented van for the 2-hour trek to Ayuthaya, passing rice paddies, water buffalo and small villages along the way. Ayuthaya is fascinating because it’s modern city that’s home to these beautiful ancient temples.

Last week when I flew from Tampa to Atlanta to present our AAA Exclusive Vacations to a group of travelers, I got to experience the new body scanner at the Tampa airport. After showing my boarding pass and driver’s license, I ended up in the new body scanner line. I had read all about the controversy over this new machine so it was even more interesting to see it in action.

I’m really more of a “dog” person, but I like cats and have even owned a few over the years. Yesterday I was listening to National Public Radio (NPR) and heard a story about the cats that are allowed to wander the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia, one of the greatest museums in the world. The cats were first introduced by a daughter of Peter the Great and have been a part of the Hermitage ever since. The story prompted me to think about the many cats I’ve seen during my travels.

While doing research for the next book, I stumbled across a story in today’s Brandweek magazine about a clever new campaign by Chef Boyardee. They claim that by adding a small amount of whole wheat flour to the pasta in its canned products suddenly makes them incredibly nutritious! It’s great for your kids. Hence, the new tagline: “Obviously Delicious. Secretly Nutritious.”