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Rather than trying to cope with Silicon Valley's fast-paced, stressful life alone, some people take advantage of the support offered through counseling or therapy. Sometimes support groups can be helpful – they provide awareness or consciousness, followed by education, growth and acceptance that help in the healing process. Such groups addressing many areas of need are available in South Valley. The Morgan Hill United Methodist Church (17175 Monterey St.) hosts several (free or with sliding-scale fees) that are focused on common, everyday trials and tribulations.

You will love this production if you are a Green Day fan, and you will likely take it as a feast of Green Day music. If you are not a fan, you will be exposed to the wild and unrepressed music of the ’90s and have an experience to wonder about.

Ryan was defiant, angry and was dabbling in an abundance  of risky behaviors.  He wandered the streets when he should have been in school. He had little motivation and less self-esteem.  Ryan was sixteen years old and headed for trouble.

Back in early March, I was invited to be one of the featured speakers of a local “farmer to you” direct sales marking group called Country Crossroads. The topic of my presentation was called “Creating Branded Recipes.” I presented a list of steps, ideas and inspiration to help guide the members of the group towards creating their own recipes with their name as part of the title. One of the presentation bullet points led to the inspiration of this week's column.

Almost daily we read about a new Ponzi scheme or fraud that's perpetrated against a friend, relative or neighbor. The sad part is that most of these schemes are carried out against our seniors and it is happening at an alarming rate. Sadly these victims are people who are the most trusting, and who don't have the time to recuperate from these losses. They have saved diligently and lived prudently, but end up losing allot of their retirement savings which was intended to support their golden years.

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