Category: Family
-
Strangers In a Strange Land, Part Three — Flying Things
I don’t know how long I’ve loved planes. Or rockets. And the reason I don’t know how long I’ve loved them is probably because I’ve always loved them. So back in high school, when I was in DC, I used just about all of my free time to wander through every exhibit at the Smithsonian…
-
Strangers In a Strange Land, Part Two – Washington, D.C.
This is the second installment in the series on our recent trip out east. I don’t recall the fine details of the trip out to D.C. when I was a teenager. I signed up for a program in high school called “Close Up,” which was designed to let us government nerds geek out on an intensive week…
-
Strangers In a Strange Land, Part One – Flying
This begins a few posts talking about our recently completed family trip to Washington, D.C. and New York City. Enjoy! You know that feeling of irrational paranoia and terror that’s welling up deep inside you while the rational parts of you are saying there isn’t a problem? That was going on inside of me over…
-
Sunday Thinking
Okay…Before we start the festivities, know this: mom, I love you. And that’s why I can laugh at (and with) you. I have decided that my mother does her best and most active thinking on Sunday mornings. And if I pulled my cell phone records for the last eight years or so, I could prove…
-
Coming Back
For those keeping score at home, yes, I’ve been gone for about a week. I blame the usual suspects: nothing to say, no desire to say it, a complete giving over to the desire to become a blob in a comfy chair at home and appreciate the American dream of total laziness. You’d think it…
-
Then and Now
We went to the fair on Friday afternoon. It was hot, crowded, tiring, but still fun for the five-plus hours we spent there. We’ve all gotten to the point where there are just a few things that each person wants to do, so we hit those, eat what we want to eat, and leave. No…
-
Back To It
Tomorrow’s Labor Day, which means that the day after that is the return to the normal schedule around here. We’ve had our three months of Summer freedom, hot weather, shorter hours, transitions, and the like. Now it’s time to get back to things. Like the blog, here. I didn’t mean to be away from it…
-
Yeah, So That Happened…
It’s not often that one hears about a nasty storm that hit the city you live in from one of your own kids who are far, far away. Yet it happened. Let me rehash this strange weekend for you, starting from the end: Our cable is out. Again. Which means that our access to the…
-
The Lesson Here…
It’s been a busy several days around here, so I’ll use that as the crutch when I place blame for not writing here for the last couple of days. I was up at the crack of doom on Saturday morning–4:30, to be precise–in order to make sure the rest of the herd was awake, fed,…
-
Updates–Late Edition
Sorry that this is appearing on Monday night instead of Sunday night as normal. But last night, I just felt like being lazy after dinner, flipped around on the TiVo between recorded shows and baseball and then settled down to watch Mad Men. By the time that was over, it was 10, and I was…
-
Memorial Weekend Musings
It’s an odd thing, that a fun weekend can really be relatively unremarkable. At least in the sense that there isn’t really too much to report from it. But first, the business end of the weekend: I’m down another .2 pounds, which is hardly worth reporting, except for the fact that it brings me to…
-
Mother’s Day
The entirety of the Lathrop clan gathered on Sunday for a brunch at the Campus Club at the U. We’d done that a couple of years ago, then last year at the top of the IDS center, but since that didn’t seem to be going this year, we went back to the Campus Club. But…
-
Food and Family
Last night, I went out to a dinner with my mom. It was a group dinner, through an organization that my parents belong to, the Minnesota International Center. They’ve been a part of that group since I was in high school, and possibly slightly earlier. For those teen years, the MIC was associated in my…
-
Catching Up
Yep, I’ve been away for a bit. Nothing much to say, no real drive to come up with something to write. So I haven’t. Just left this place vacant and old, like the plot of an Adam Sandler movie. And I skipped posting last night too, though for the same and more reasons. I didn’t…
-
Developing
There are certain moments in every child’s life where you get to experience your parents in a new way. Like the first time you learn they have a name besides “mommy” or “daddy.” Or when they tell you something that seems really grown up. Or the first time they swear in front of you.…