Paper or plastic? Paper, if you can find it
Have you noticed a deficit of paper bags at your Publix store? My requests for paper bags in the checkout line over the past few months have resulted in employee sprints around the store to find the few that seem to remain.
The clerks tell me that customers were taking stacks of them to use as garbage bags, so the management began keeping fewer on hand in the checkout lines. I wondered if my store was the only one affected, so I visited a few others in Boca Raton and there seemed to be the same problem.
I asked Publix spokeswoman Kimberly Reynolds if there was a new Publix policy on paper bags. She said no. They do cost a little more than plastic, but the amount is negligible, she said.
"We see offering paper bags (and plastic for that matter) as a service to our customers and are glad to provide a choice that many customers still prefer," she said.
I try to bring a few green bags to the grocery store, but sometimes I forget and request paper, which do come in handy as garbage bags. I just hope my store makes them more easily available instead of making my request hold up the line.
Photo: Angel Valentin/SunSentinel
The Prom: A tradition that needs to evolve
So much has changed since we were growing up. So why hasn't the prom?
The boy still has to ask the girl. She has to stress out until she gets asked and be depressed if she doesn't get asked. The girl still has to buy an expensive, long, tacky dress. She has to get her hair and make-up done. The couples have to pose in pictures (that they will regret 20 years from now) and attend before- and after-parties that require hours of planning, debate and negotiation.
It's sort of comforting that these traditions have been maintained through all the dramatic changes we adults have lived through. But it's also sad. Why should a girl have to wait for a boy to ask her in this day and age? I know some kids go in groups, and I applaud them. There are some traditions that we should keep and some that need to evolve.
Photo: PRNewsFoto/Your Prom
SeaWorld makes me sign away my teen's life
Last night I had to sign a form saying I accept that my daughter may die during her upcoming youth group trip to SeaWorld.
Here's what the form said: "There is a chance your child may be seriously injured or killed by participating in this activity because there are certain dangers inherent in the activity which cannot be avoided or eliminated. By signing this form you are giving up your child's right and your right to recover from the released parties in a lawsuit for any personal injury, including death, to your child or any property damage that results from the risks that are a natural part of the activity."
The activity is a sleepover near the beluga whale tank. Are they expecting the whales to escape and attack?
I have had to sign similar field-trip forms before, but this one seemed especially blunt. A 2008 Florida Supreme Court decision says parents can't waive liability on these trips, but still we must sign these forms if we want our kids to go. Fortunately judges seem to understand that a parent does not send her child to SeaWorld in the expectation that she may never see her again.
Photo: Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel
Organic milk shortage: What milk should I buy now?
Have you noticed the little signs in the organic milk section of Publix that apologize for the empty shelves?
A national organic milk shortage has hit us here in Florida. According to the New York Times, organic milk farmers' costs are going up and they are decreasing the amount of milk they produce, thus creating not only empty shelves but higher prices.
I had been alternating buying organic milk with Publix's brand milk since Publix stopped buying from suppliers who injected their cows with hormones in 2007. I figure Publix's milk is almost organic now. Now I guess I won't have that choice anymore, unless I want to pay exorbitant prices.
Photo: AP/Pat Wellenbach
Yoga injuries: An unwelcome trend
What a cliche: I hurt myself in yoga class.
I visited a new class and the teacher had us doing up-dogs into down-dogs into up-dogs for several minutes, encouraging us to roll over our toes. I was able to do this for the first time, but I paid the price, with excruciating back pain that lasted about a week.
Now I see that getting injured is more common than I realized. A new book by a New York Times reporter, William J. Broad, is summarized in this article with a great title: "How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body."
So many people invite injury by doing the poses wrong, and teachers don't correct them. And since most of us are sitting at a desk all day, our bodies are not primed for the extreme angles of many of the poses, such as headstand and shoulderstand.
In a class I took a few days ago, the teacher said she was becoming more aware of yoga injuries and urged us not to push ourselves. The problem, though, is that you often don't know you're hurt until the class is over.
Photo: Karen Tapia-Anderson, LA Times
Jay-Z makes mad love song for baby Blue Ivy Carter
Word on the web is that new papa Jay-Z wrote this little ditty for his daughter Blue Ivy Carter.
He references a miscarriage Beyonce had and that their daughter was conceived in the City of Lights.
It's a sweet rap but doesn't top Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely."
Two-week winter break is too long
My three teenagers are loving this two-week-long winter break, which in Palm Beach County is actually two weeks and two days. They get to sleep late and hang out at home most of the day.
I, however, like to see them busier and more productive. So I can't wait until this second week of break is over.
Many school systems around the country end right before Christmas and come back right after New Year's Day. But in Palm Beach and Broward counties, the break lasts two full weeks, although Broward schools started again on Monday after the last day of Dec. 16.
The long vacation is hard on working parents, who have to find child care, and for stay at home parents, who have to keep the kids busy during a time when friends are out of town and lots of places are closed. Kids also start to forget what they learned the longer the break is. I vote for a shorter vacation the next time our school boards design their calendars.
Gretchen Day-Bryant has a son in high school and a daughter in middle school. She’s lived to tell about the struggles of juggling little kids and work.
Joy Oglesby has a preschooler...
Cindy Kent Fort Lauderdale mother of three. Her kids span in ages from teenager to 20s.
Rafael Olmeda and his wife welcomed their first son in Feb. 2009, and he's helping raise two teenage stepdaughters.
Lois Solomon lives in Boca Raton with her husband and three daughters.
Georgia East is the parent of a five-year-old girl, who came into the world weighing 1 pound, 13 ounces.
Brittany Wallman is the mother of Creed, 15, and Lily, 7, and is married to a journalist, Bob Norman. She covers Broward County government, which is filled with almost as much drama as the Norman household. Almost.
Chris Tiedje is the Social Media Coordinator and the father of a 7-year-old girl, and two boys ages 4 and 3.
Kyara Lomer Camarena has a 2-year-old son, Copelan, and a brand new baby. 
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