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Bali is the sweetest dog that ever did live. She can be a little spark plug, as Kevin says, but mostly she is sugar and spice and everything nice. Her birthday was January 20, and we brought her home at just shy of 8 weeks old, a little early due to the start of CrazyContinue reading “Puppy love”

Bali is the sweetest dog that ever did live. She can be a little spark plug, as Kevin says, but mostly she is sugar and spice and everything nice. Her birthday was January 20 and we brought her home at about 8 weeks, a little early because of Crazy Time. Her previous humans are friendsContinue reading “Bali puppy”

This dog is so sweet. She’s a little spark plug at times, but mostly she’s just sugar and spice and everything nice. She’s the classic pandemic puppy. Although I had ordered her from the catalog of perfect dogs through my friend Jacque the vet as a surprise Christmas gift to the family, who had beenContinue reading “Bali the Pandemic Puppy”

Her soft curls spring and bob with each wail as the 4-year-old Australian girl learns that all of her favorite restaurants are closed–the Chinese place, MacDonald’s, Nandos. All that’s left to eat now is Mummy’s cooking. Messy sobs everywhere. This is what I just watched on a shared video from a friend, and what canContinue reading “Standing on our wobbly two-legged stool”

Living in group quarantine is doable. Here’s what’s working for us. The neighborhood feels quieter than it did even a week ago. People are more cautious, more afraid. But no matter how seriously you take this, you have to laugh when you see certain things. “You laugh, but you will see,” said Hugh. We areContinue reading “Life in group isolation Chez Tomlinson”

Three months ago, I had one of my favorite outings ever. Dad, Mary Ellen, Josie and I attended My Fair Lady at the Kennedy Center. It was one of my favorite outings because it is one of my favorite performances and Dad’s, and we got to see it with him upright, wearing snappy shoes, onContinue reading “Living in Crazy Time”

I feel a well of anger. I have not used my voice for a multitude of reasons…I don’t know where to post, who I’m even speaking to, I don’t want to offend. But I feel sick. I open the paper and I see headlines and read about issues that are so deeply wrong. I don’tContinue reading “Smoke from my ears this morning”

My head always seems to be swirling around inside and it’s hard to slow it down without effort. Here are a few things things are keeping it moving. We are considering sending Finn to a private school, The McLean School, which has smaller classes than public schools can offer. The public middle school here isContinue reading “McLean, Afghanistan and a dog named Bali”

Hugh turns 50, Tatum sprained her ankle and Mom is having surgery. And the milk was put away…in the pantry. But reversing the order, things should only get better from here. At least the toilet didn’t overflow, which it did last week.

As much as we liked our Saturday Thanksgivings in Jakarta, there is something awesome about a Thursday family Thanksgiving with turkey instead of a complete roasted pig. We embraced the 11- hour drive to Seymour–well, sort of– and had a wonderful long weekend with Kevin’s family. Kevin and the children had been there in JuneContinue reading “The Turkey Overtakes the Pig: Mashed and Money in Seymour”