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    Lylah M. Alphonse

    Lylah M. Alphonse

  • How not to treat your coworkers

    When I started working at my main job, I was younger than some of the interns, and perpetually worried about being taken seriously. So I made sure to dress a little more formally than I had to, kept my long hair up in a severe-looking bun, and was extra-careful about my work. But still, if I had a d

  • More people use savings from coupons to buy necessities, survey finds

    I carefully organized my coupons and remembered to bring them with me when I went grocery shopping this week. My reward was about a 10 percent savings off my total bill, and I was pleased with that. A couple of years ago, I would have taken that savings and treated myself to a little something -- a

  • Ditching the end-of-the-week baggage

    While I was driving home from work on a recent Friday, my husband called and suggested I meet him and the kids at a little local restaurant we used to love. Money is tight, so we rarely go out to eat now, but we've been in a bit of a rut lately and it seemed like just the kind of treat we all needed

  • Should the Bible be taught in public schools? Texas says yes. I say... maybe

    Starting this year, public high schools in Texas will be required to teach students about the Bible.Texas House Bill 1287, which passed back in September 2007 but was not enforced because of problems with training and funding, stipulates that the Bible must be taught in an objective way. The goal, a

  • The John Edwards affair: Should Elizabeth Edwards accept her husband's love child?

    This comes as a surprise to no one, except maybe John Edwards himself. According to North Carolina TV station WRAL, Senator Edwards is set to admit that he actually is the father of his former mistress's 18-month-old daughter. The National Enquirer, which initially broke the news (or "news"?) of his

  • Octomom puts herself -- and her kids -- back in the spotlight

    The ink is barely dry on the multi-year reality TV deal Nadya Suleman inked with U.K. company Eyeworks last month. Now, Fox TV has announced that it will air a two-hour special on the single mom of 14 as soon as next week.Why do we keep extending her 15 minutes of fame?

  • User post: Bringing your lunch to work (without resorting to PB&J every day)

    One of most basic ways to do more with less is to bring your lunch to work; if you usually spend just $7 a day on lunch, bringing it four days a week (splurge and buy lunch on the fifth, if you like) can easily leave $100 or more in your wallet each month. Though you do end up spending a little more

  • Flu Shot? No thank you. I'll just keep working

    I knew I was in trouble the instant my 2-year-old rubbed his face and then laid his damp little hand on my cheek. No symptoms yet, but the sign was clear: Cold and flu season is in full swing. A few days later, he was streaming from the nose and I was wishing I'd bought stock in Purell. A few days

  • My family reminds me to work to live, not live to work

    I'm gearing up for another too-quick trip to my parents' and brother's houses, where we celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas just before or just after the big dates. There will be plenty to eat and, of course, cake, though all of the kids will mostly feast on icing and then work the resulting sugar

  • Is anything off-limits in this economy?

    Our toddler has been clingy lately, at school and at home, and though I chalked it up to his being barely 2-years-old, I did wonder whether there was something else going on. One of his caregivers left his daycare recently, an it ocurred to me that I haven't seen several of his classmates in a while

  • Tipping the scales of work-life balance

    Last night, I fell asleep while putting the little ones to bed. When I woke up (in my preschooler's room) nearly three hours later, I was totally useless. I stumbled downstairs, thinking that at the very least I needed to wash the dishes so they don't linger overnight, but my husband had already don

  • Working women wear the pants in their families, survey finds

    Who is in charge in your household? The typical American home has seen a major change since the 1950s and 1960s, researchers say, with the majority of the important decisions now being made by women.

  • Sales pitch at a gas station? That's not networking

    I was filling my car up with gas a few weeks ago (and having a minor heart attack because, my God, $55 to fill up the beater Saab I was driving that day? It's like adding insult to injury) when the woman approached.

  • Being stressed out might be good for you

    I realized something the other day that took me by surprise: I do some of my best work when I'm stressed out of my gourd.

  • Has your career been affected by your race?

    We're nearing the home stretch of the presidential campaign, and things are getting ugly. Or uglier, depending on your point of view. On Saturday, Democratic congressman and civil leader John Lewis accused the McCain campaign of "sowing the seeds of hatred and division," essentially playing the race

  • 10 tips for preventing identity theft

    Imagine having worked hard for years in order to save up enough money for a down payment on your first home. Then imagine walking in to the bank to secure your mortgage and finding out that you've been denied because someone else racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in debts under your name.

  • 5 ways to do more with your money (without investing it)

    With Wall Street in turmoil, taxpayers will be feeling the pinch even if they don't have enough money to invest in the stock market.I'm not a financial expert. I don't even play one on the Internet (or anywhere else, for that matter). But, like most people out there, I worry about money -- how to ea

  • Is housekeeping the Achilles heel of working mothers?

    With five kids, two parents who work full-time, a 75-pound black lab who sheds hair like he's desperately trying to clone himself, no housekeeper, and my tendency to clutter, I don't need to tell you that my house isn't pristine. It's not filthy -- in terms of the National Study Group on Chronic Dis

  • 5 quick ways to recharge your batteries at work

    There are times when you're juggling work and parenthood and more balls end up on the floor than in the air. When that happens to me (like it did today), these are a few of the things I do to try to pick those balls up and keep juggling:

  • In politics, are kids truly "off limits"?

    On Monday, when Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin confirmed that her 17-year-old daughter Bristol is five months pregnant, leaders of both political parties agreed that the situation was not for political consumption, with Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama saying outright t