Blowing & Drifting

Late last year, I was flabbergasted to discover that one of the cool little shoes-and-clothes shops in our fair city was carrying kromer hats, which are the the de facto official cap of the Upper Peninsula. I had many a kromer when I was growing up, all purchased from the company in Ironwood that’s been [...]

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All right, friends. This blog has been awfully quiet for a while now, but I’m going to break the silence with another post on Shannon’s book. As you know if you’ve recently read this blog or her own blog, you know that her book – The Essential Stay-at-Home Mom Manual – was published last month. [...]

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Over our lives together, Shannon and I have enjoyed some everyday accomplishments – buying houses, having kids – and some less-ordinary ones – earning doctorates. Yesterday was a day for a very un-ordinary accomplishment: the publication of Shannon’s first book. This is the culmination of a lifelong dream and a lot of hard work. It’s [...]

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True to tradition, Julia is making Christmas presents for the rest of us. She started making me a book – How to Be a Good Daddy! – but then abandoned it. This is a shame, given that the first page is GENIUS and because I would love to read the other chapters, especially number 6, [...]

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Here is a partial list of make-believe “games” that my daughters play, and what explanation of each that I can offer: Kitchen (cooking and serving food in the play kitchen) House (being a family) Old Fashioned (being the Ingalls family, or another pioneer family) Rich (being a rich family) Poor (being a poor family) Mrs. [...]

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Tonight the girls entertained themselves while I cleaned up the kitchen with the “Naughty or Nice” game at santaclaus.net. They laughed for literally a half hour straight, putting everyone they could think of into the game: themselves, their friends, classmates, fictional characters. And on and on. Santa’s a pretty soft touch; he hardly ever gives anyone [...]

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Uh, wow. Big honking news! Holiday Gift-Buying for all the Moms You Know (Including Yourself) Faithful readers! In just a few short weeks, in mid-December (exact date to be determined; I will update you!), my first book will be released by Booktrope Publishing. (OMG! Insert screaming and jumping up and down here.) A comprehensive handbook [...]

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Yesterday, Shannon passed a pretty cool milestone for her book, and wrote it up in her usual, wonderful way. As her biggest fan, I say, “Congratulations!” and ask, “Is it time to crack that bottle of Champagne yet?” Wondrous Life Yesterday I saw my book, The Essential Stay-at-Home Mom Manual: How to Have a Wondrous [...]

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With the opening of Carleton’s new Weitz Center for Creativity, the College gained several great new spaces for the display of art and other visual materials. The crown jewel is the Perlman Teaching Museum, which is right inside the front door of the Weitz Center and which has two excellent inaugural shows running right now. [...]

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Who’s with me? Meet at the corner of Spring Creek Road and Wall Street Road, and we’ll storm some turkey farms, or knock golfers off their carts, or something.

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Julia and Genevieve got sweet new beds and nightstands this summer. Vivi took the square foot of empty space on top of her nightstand as a challenge, one she has met with “treasures” – glorious, wonderful, crazy clutter. This is how it looked on Friday. I didn’t touch a thing.* (The blank spot at the [...]

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Thursday afternoon, the girls decided that they’d finish Shannon’s run with her. They duly changed into their own running skirts and tee shirts, then joined their mom for a lap around the block. They actually ran with her, every step, and enjoyed it. I managed to take this shot just as they finished.

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After sitting around the house all morning, I convinced the girls to go for a walk after lunch. Julia, being averse to nature, was reluctant to go, but Vivi volunteered to lead the way, so off we went. After a few sulky minutes, Julia came out of her shell and we walked along like a [...]

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It’s 7:30 on Friday night. I’m home with the girls while Shannon runs a couple errands. I’m trying to get the girls upstairs to start the bedtime routine. Julia: “Daddy, will Mama be home before we go to bed?” Me: “I don’t know, honey. She’s going to Target and to Cub, so it might take [...]

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What are they trying to do by digging up the sidewalk in front of my office building? Putting in a nice bed of begonias. Using up surplus “Warning! ¡Cuidado!” tape left over from other summer construction projects. Adding 5-10 seconds to the walk from the parking lot to our office. Finally winning the war against the [...]

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