northern life
I didn’t realize the depth of my unmet need for outdoor adventure until I hastily concocted a winter tent camping trip over lunch one day with a co-worker. While I love exploring with my family, I read Pacific Crest Trail and Appalachian Trail thru-hiking memoirs all winter, and I am consumed by a longing to hike to […]
When Beatrice was little, people said to us all of the time, “She’ll sleep well tonight!” And we always laughed, but inside we thought, “Nope, she’s going to sleep the same as she does every night, because she’s always this active.” Since then I love to ask other parents what comment they hear most […]
Like we often do, because great minds think alike, Jen and I decided independently to get standing desks this year. If you’ve read any of the research, they are calling sitting the new smoking, and saying that even if you exercise regularly you cannot overcome the adverse affects of sitting at your work all day. I’ve […]
Forget filling your car with hand warmers and signal flares, true winter survival is about keeping your spirits up and your eyes on the prize (i.e. spring). Here’s a foolproof recipe to help you survive winter a.k.a. enjoy our fourth season. First, get comfortable. Head to your favorite pharmacy/co-op/Amazon and fill your cart with Vitamin D, a […]
It is one of our family traditions: an October afternoon at the pumpkin patch. In the car on the way to Afton Apple Orchard today, the boys were counting up how many times they’d been there: Owen figured nine times, Noah had seven (counting his kindergarten field trip a month ago, of which he is […]
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I’ve been hitting the to-do list really hard. Too hard. I don’t know why I feel so anxious about Getting Everything Done this time. Maybe it’s a mistaken belief that if I get everything done, everything will go well? The revamping of our basement (thanks to water damage) and guest room/nursery shuffle kicked off a […]
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Jen and I have both confessed how satisfying we find it to have our kids properly outfitted for the cold. When I was pregnant and then when Bee was little I felt like something was wrong with me because I wasn’t really into buying clothes for her. Then her first winter came and I found […]
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In 2005, a few years after we graduated college, my husband Adam decided to train for the Twin Cities Marathon. I didn’t think much of it and it didn’t affect our lives too much — he did some long runs, and I grudging cut some weekend gatherings short to get him home early enough to […]
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I have boys. When I embarked on this motherhood project I didn’t really think one way or the other about how boys and girls were different or how I would parent them. Six years later I had two children of the male gender and have since learned to “get” boys. Fortunately, this is pretty easy. […]
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So yesterday was not a very good day for me. Heart disease has forced its way back into my life. It is taking things I wanted. It is reminding me I’m not in control. Most days I can manage that. Some days I can’t. Yesterday was one of those can’t-manage days. My friend Kristen came […]
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I haven’t been around much for a few weeks, so I thought I’d share some of what is going on in my life. My brother, just 32, had a heart attack one year and two weeks after mine. Then three weeks later I found myself back in surgery getting a new stent. So heart disease […]
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Me and my brother (who is older by 27 months). First there was “So you’re going to have a baby! Advice from seasoned moms.” Then we had “So you’re going to have a toddler! Advice from moms of one-to-two year-olds.” And now we have advice on having a second child! For this post I went […]
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