the morning bull pen

When President Trump wants a Diet Coke, all he has to do is push a red button. That button signals White House staffers that he's thirsty right now. How do I get one of these red buttons?

Limited edition food seems to be all the rage lately. From a Unicorn Frappicino to watermelon Oreos to biscuit-and-gravy potato chips. Now Pop-Tarts have jumped on the limited edition bandwagon with Jolly Rancher-flavored Pop-Tarts. You can choose watermelon, green apple or cherry flavor.

Meet the newest member of my family: His name is Gaston and he is a sugar glider. My daughter Shaylee, 11, purchased a sugar glider during the Central Washington State Fair, not knowing that sugar gliders live in colonies. They will more than likely die of loneliness if there is only one of them...

A recent White House photo has not only me, but several others asking a question: Aren't you supposed to take off your hat inside? Not to mention that it's the White House of all places! Isn't it a matter of respect for the office? Or just a matter of respect in general? Not according to some of President Donald Trump's most recent guests, who included Kid Rock, Ted Nugent and former Alaska Gov. S

The fields are alive with tulips! Skagit Valley is home to tulips, daffodils and irises, producing the most of any other county in the U.S. The Tulip Festival in Skagit Valley is only around for two more weekends, so if you've been wanting to go you'd best get to going!

My heart sank when I found out that one of my favorite retailers was closing 400 of its stores! Would our Valley Mall location be among the locations that teen retailer rue 21 was closing?

Today is Tax Day, the deadline to file your federal income taxes. Those of us who wait until today to file usually know that we are going to have to pay money to the IRS. You can also file an extension. If you are one of the lucky folks who are getting some money back from the IRS, what are you spending that money on?

Recently, someone I love dearly posted this on Facebook:

Over the weekend Grandpa's green John Deere riding lawn mower was stolen -- it had been parked outside the garage due to Papa giving it the annual spring spruce-up before the start of mowing season. Plus, the little thieves helped themselves to whatever they could find in my sister-in-law's Jeep Wrangler...

Due to my job I make a lot of phone calls, and one thing that stands out to me is voice mails. What about voice mails, you ask? Well ... more and more of them seem to not be personalized. Is this too much to ask? I mean to the point there isn't even a name recorded. You know ... you get the robot message, "You have reached the voice mail box of .... (insert name)."

Rumors are swirling that Taylor Swift is in Nashville recording her next album, which may lean country this go-round. I LOVE me some Taylor Swift whether she's country or pop. Her songs either take me back to my first heartbreak or remind me to shake off the haters. So for me, I'm super excited to hear that she's recording a new album. It doesn't really matter to me whether it's country or pop. Re

A couple of weeks ago, I was struck by a minivan as I was walking across Yakima Avenue. Fortunately for me, a Moxee police cruiser happened to be at the stoplight, headed the opposite direction. You can read the complete story here. Moxee's Officer Jensen mentioned that his dash cam might have recorded the incident. The.