http://www.phillyburbs.com/The latest headlines from phillyBurbs.com, a Calkins Media Incorporated company.en-ushttp://www.phillyburbs.com/http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/images/default/template/pb_logo05.gifCopyright 2008 Calkins Media IncorporatedWed, 09 Jul 2008 05:00:21 -0500This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/KateFratti/~3/328804633/257-07072008-1559537.htmlMon, 07 Jul 2008 05:17:41 -0500http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-07072008-1559537.htmlThe other day, a friend in his 40s asked me what I thought it meant to grow old gracefully, and I wasn't sure how to answer. Grace never has been my thing. So I asked Jessica Strom. She's making a career of helping others cope with age and all the changes that come with it.http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-07072008-1559537.htmlhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/KateFratti/~3/328990184/257-07072008-1559643.htmlMon, 07 Jul 2008 10:38:10 -0500http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-07072008-1559643.htmlMost grown-ups avoid grease stains. Tom Massa considers them badges of honor.http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-07072008-1559643.htmlhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/KateFratti/~3/329111635/257-07072008-1559715.htmlMon, 07 Jul 2008 13:30:13 -0500http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-07072008-1559715.htmlRecently, I scratched my head to see listed among county nonprofits eligible for $400,000 in tourism promotion grants the very-much-for-profit Bucks County wineries.http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-07072008-1559715.htmlhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/KateFratti/~3/324828795/257-07022008-1557498.htmlWed, 02 Jul 2008 05:10:58 -0500http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-07022008-1557498.htmlJane Parr never met Doylestown's Heather Schmidt or Cara Blake of Bensalem, but she'd have liked their style. Same for Daniel Sepsy of Doylestown. All are smart, accomplished and driven to coax a little beauty out of their corner of the world. They share those qualities with Jane.http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-07022008-1557498.htmlhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/KateFratti/~3/323175112/257-06302008-1556464.htmlMon, 30 Jun 2008 04:26:00 -0500http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-06302008-1556464.htmlFor the second summer, Tom Oliver of Washington Crossing is accepting donations of locally grown produce. He'll deliver it to the Trenton Soup Kitchen and Lower Bucks food pantries.http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-06302008-1556464.htmlhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/KateFratti/~3/319928630/257-06252008-1554137.htmlWed, 25 Jun 2008 04:14:27 -0500http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-06252008-1554137.htmlI read recently that researchers at the University of Cardiff in England calculate the time that an individual spends in nature to help determine his "happiness" quotient. The English rarely make sense to me, but this little bit sounds about right.http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-06252008-1554137.htmlhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/KateFratti/~3/318040912/257-06232008-1553067.htmlMon, 23 Jun 2008 04:47:21 -0500http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-06232008-1553067.htmlWhen in the wake of an alleged sex-party sleepover in Lower Makefield involving teen boys and two adult women, I suggested the only way for a parent to keep kids safe is to keep them confined to the basement - no school, no TV, no Internet, no cell phones, no radio, NO SLEEPOVERS with friends - I expected to hear from at least a parent or two who'd tell me I was overreacting. It didn't happen.http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-06232008-1553067.htmlhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/KateFratti/~3/316149713/257-06202008-1551992.htmlFri, 20 Jun 2008 05:02:51 -0500http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-06202008-1551992.htmlWith school out, kids from Pennsbury's Walt Disney Elementary School finally have the time to comb through a social studies project they lugged home on the last day of fourth grade.http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-06202008-1551992.htmlhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/KateFratti/~3/314549009/257-06182008-1550792.htmlWed, 18 Jun 2008 05:01:57 -0500http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-06182008-1550792.htmlI like the way Bill Clark thinks. "Hey. Can I get you a glass of wine-" he asks as I settle into his cheerful home nestled just off Delaware Avenue in Middletown. It's only 2 p.m., but it occurs to me that it's 5 o'clock somewhere. Still - rats! - I'm on the job.http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-06182008-1550792.htmlhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/KateFratti/~3/312963780/257-06162008-1549765.htmlMon, 16 Jun 2008 05:18:52 -0500http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-06162008-1549765.htmlContinuing their investigation into ways to reduce costs in Morrisville School District, Bill Hellmann and Al Radosti met with a Delaware Valley High School representative Tuesday afternoon.http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-06162008-1549765.htmlhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/KateFratti/~3/311143295/257-06132008-1548574.htmlFri, 13 Jun 2008 06:31:14 -0500http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-06132008-1548574.htmlThis week, you could hear a distinctive and collective gnashing of teeth among parents of teens. It was different than the routine gnashing.http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-06132008-1548574.htmlhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/KateFratti/~3/309569051/257-06112008-1547289.htmlWed, 11 Jun 2008 04:56:18 -0500http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-06112008-1547289.htmlYou may be worrying your bored teen will put down roots in the couch this summer, but Mike Bradley and Cynthia Lawn of Northampton have another problem entirely. Their son Ross, a junior at Council Rock High School South, has a hankering for some serious travel. Really serious.http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-06112008-1547289.htmlhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/KateFratti/~3/307965607/257-06092008-1546225.htmlMon, 09 Jun 2008 05:37:03 -0500http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-06092008-1546225.htmlMy mail last week was full of thank-yous and blessings. You can't ask for more than that on the job.http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-06092008-1546225.htmlhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/KateFratti/~3/304478973/257-06042008-1543804.htmlWed, 04 Jun 2008 05:08:31 -0500http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-06042008-1543804.htmlIf it's true that life's challenges are master teachers in disguise, then Danielle Fleming is going to be one smart cookie after she gets through this brief period in her life. At just 30, she's working full time, caring for three children and managing two homes, all to hold down the fort while her husband, Mike, is serving with the U.S. Navy in Afghanistan. She wouldn't have it any other way.http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-06042008-1543804.htmlhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/KateFratti/~3/302914586/257-06022008-1542652.htmlMon, 02 Jun 2008 05:50:28 -0500http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-06022008-1542652.htmlNews from Son in Iraq last week unsettled me some. Seems he'll participate in some large operation in the desert, and I have no idea what that means.http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-06022008-1542652.htmlhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/KateFratti/~3/301193905/257-05302008-1541491.htmlFri, 30 May 2008 05:52:35 -0500http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-05302008-1541491.htmlEach of my kids' first words included the utterance "Uh oh!" They were mimicking me whenever I saw their father about to open a bag of Kingsford charcoal.http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-05302008-1541491.htmlhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/KateFratti/~3/299780384/257-05282008-1540260.htmlWed, 28 May 2008 04:05:21 -0500http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-05282008-1540260.htmlIs it more important to take your elderly father to his routine doctor's appointment or to take him out to lunch- Should you use your work lunch hour to shuttle your 84-year-old mom to her hair appointment or should you use the time to help her plant her garden over a cup of tea in the kitchen- Tough call- Not really.http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-05282008-1540260.htmlhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/KateFratti/~3/298322624/257-05262008-1539439.htmlMon, 26 May 2008 04:28:35 -0500http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-05262008-1539439.htmlYou could argue this national day of remembrance shouldn't be spent lightly on a golf course or splashing around at the swim club or washing down grilled hot dogs with cold beer. But as a daughter raised by a career Marine who served two tours in Vietnam and now the mother of a Marine potentially in harm's way in Iraq (if you don't take into account the enormous protective bubble I've petitioned for all of Delta Company), I disagree.http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-05262008-1539439.htmlhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/KateFratti/~3/296508982/257-05232008-1538396.htmlFri, 23 May 2008 05:40:36 -0500http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-05232008-1538396.htmlIn e-mails and phone messages last week, many of you shared tales of your own family vacation and dysfunction and malfunction after I told you about mine.http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-05232008-1538396.htmlhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/KateFratti/~3/294973176/257-05212008-1537223.htmlWed, 21 May 2008 05:12:14 -0500http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-05212008-1537223.htmlOver the years, I've run into a lot of people who dedicate their entire lives to the care and rescue of animals, but who frequently aren't so good with humans. Cindie Kura, a longtime rescue volunteer and now owner of Hidden Valley Veterinary Hospital in Falls, seems to be a good example. I've been talking to plenty of humans who want her hide.http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/257-05212008-1537223.html