Tagged

With thanks to my fellow Katrina for the tag, I now present 5 strange confessions:
1) I have always nurtured a secret fantasy of being a real, live superhero. I would love to fly around in a cape, rescuing innocents and smiting bad guys with my super powers. Unfortunately, radioactive spiders and free-floating gamma rays aren’t [...]

T Minus 10, 9, 8, 7…

It’s September, which means that any day now, my friend Kelly will go into labor, check into the Kootenai Medical Center, and come out an unspecified amount of time* later holding a brand new baby boy.
She has read What to Expect When You’re Expecting and taken a childbirth preparation class. She’s had her baby shower [...]

Avast, Ye Scurvy Bilge Rats!

At last, the day be upon us! O’ course, I be referrin’ to that most swashbuckling of celebrations, International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Kick off yer boots, draw up a mug o’ mead, and let the “arrrrr”s roll off yer tongue like me ma’s buttered rum. Whether ye be swabbin’ the foredeck or hoistin’ [...]

Continuing Education Note #218

Maki sushi followed by an oreo milkshake chaser=Bad Idea.
The two do not get along.
***

Avast!

Arrrrr, matey! Thar be pirates on Lake Coeur d’Alene!
At least that’s what my son, Caleb, thought when he saw this mysterious white vessel parked in shallow waters along the city beach with the Jolly Roger run up its flagpole. “Look, mom! A pirate ship!” he shouted, eyes sparkling and finger pointed at the black flag.
I [...]

My 9/11

For our family, September 11, 2001 was already a day of mourning. Before the first plane hit the first tower, I was up before dawn and boarding my own flight from Kennewick, Washington, to Seattle, where I was going to catch a connecting flight to Michigan to attend the funeral of my young cousin, Aaron. [...]

Family Camp

The last dusty plastic dish has been washed. The ice chest has been emptied, rinsed, and packed away. All of the campfire-smoked clothes have been fumigated and the only remnants of our church’s annual family camping trip are our memories and the three dozen photos locked away in the bits and bytes of our Nikon [...]

One Year

I just realized that while I was camping this weekend, my one year blog anniversary came and went. On September 2nd, 2005, I sat down between changing a diaper and disentangling Katie from a nest of clean laundry to compose my thoughts and send them out into the ether. It’s some sort of literary miracle [...]

So Much for Traveling Light

A three day camping trip for four people:
4 sleeping bags4 foam pads2 camp chairs12 pairs of pants6 pairs of shorts12 t-shirts4 sweatshirts4 jackets4 bathing suits4 towels24 socks (plus extras)12 pairs of underwear (plus extras)pull-ups and wipes (because I am not cleaning up accidents without the ready availability of a bathtub and a washing machine)3 flashlightsextra [...]