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It’s pitch black in the closet and there are five people—myself and four strangers—squeezed into a tiny closet that’s from the outside. It’s my nightmare as a later-in-life sufferer of claustrophobia. It’s made worse by the fact that if someone coughs, the dogs and king’s guards searching aggressively in the other side will find usContinue reading “Immersing Ourselves in London Life”

It’s amazing to see a 9-year-old who’s taller than you by a mile, as Lloyd now is. Okay, he might actually be 17 now, but in my mind’s eye, he’s still a fourth grader who makes fantastic structures given a box of magna-tiles. The highlights of our Kraków visit were many but chief among themContinue reading “Shawarmas and Champagne in Kraków”

Mrs. Tomlinson. Mrs. Hathway. That’s how we usually started our conversations. It’s funny for best friends to be so formal, but that’s what amused us. That was Josie and me, always looking for a way to keep it fun. We’re going to ride around the neighborhood on our bikes after dinner, smoking cigarettes and laughing,Continue reading “Talking with Josie”

We’re back already and it’s only Saturday morning. Teenagers have places to go and people to meet and privacy to protect, so we didn’t stay in Deep Creek very long but it was a full two days. Mostly full of mashed potatoes and pie: pumpkin, coconut, lemon meringue, apple, peanut butter, Oreo, and pecan chocolate.Continue reading “Feeling Thank Full”

I found out that Kamala Harris lost and Trump would be our next president at about 1 o’clock in the morning, when Tatum woke me up, crying. She fell asleep with me, inconsolable. I knew how she felt. While more than half the country clearly appreciates Trump’s vision for our future, I find it destructive.Continue reading “Election Reflection”

Hugh’s friends in Poland were baffled when he explained that the rest of his family lived in California, DC, Nashville and Copenhagen…simultaneously. “Do you not like each other?” they asked. We do, very much. And this is why having my mother live across the country from me, or vice versa, still kind of stinks. InContinue reading “The Older I Get, the More I Need My Parents”

It snowed yesterday, which was a cue that fall is about to slip into winter, and I haven’t shared fall updates in awhile. Highlights include Halloween and a visit from Grandoug Einstein and Mama Zombie; college applications dropped in the metaphorical mail box; I became a professional photographer; Kyiven signing the largest Bank loan ever;Continue reading “Bite of an Orange Fall”

And they’re off! Like circus cats in a clown car, the tiny green Mini rolled down the street with Tatum behind the wheel, Clara beside her, likely fiddling with the radio, and Finn, now the tallest among them, stuffed in the back like a folding chair holding a fat backpack. It’s a miracle they canContinue reading “Farewell Boat Rides, Hello Convertible”

“It’s really surreal. One minute I’m meeting with my team in the shelter and then I’m eating a $7 ribeye at this little European bistro on the sidewalk with some colleagues, and it’s beautiful,” Kevin said over the phone on his first night in Kyiv. What’s also surreal was hearing the missile alerts speak toContinue reading “Where in Creation is Kyiven? A Surreal Life in Cyrillic”

It’s hard to capture Clara smiling in a family photo this year—and her school photos could wither a spider (no offense)—but this girl in the middle of some little kids and she’s lit up like a hot tamale. They banded around this beautiful child of mine like fans to a rock star, which she is.Continue reading “Hugs, Hand Games and Plastic Sheets in San José”