November, 2024, was---not great.

It started with the death of Matt's father on November 1. We knew he wasn't well; Matt and the girls visited him (separately) in the weeks before he passed. On Friday morning Matt received the call that he was gone. This is the first grandparent my kids lost, and it's hard.

Of course it was nice to see family and ( Read more... )

As I write this today, it's the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, considered to be the unofficial end of summer. The kids are back in school, or I should say, Piper is back for her senior year; Samantha is back to Grinnell; Rachel is back to teaching--2nd grade this year.

It was a nice summer. If it had an over-arching theme it might be "Herky Hunting ( Read more... )

My birthday was last Friday; we have Fridays off in the summer, so I was not required to go to work. The family and I went to Encounter Cafe for brunch, and then we walked around Iowa City, capturing pictures of Herkys--it's a year ending in -4, so it's a Herky on Parade summer.

In the afternoon, Rachel and I drove to the St. Louis area to attend a ( Read more... )

Just a few things I wanted to remember Piper saying ( Read more... )

Piper turned 17 yesterday, and we celebrated the way we often celebrate summer birthdays, which is "by driving somewhere." We were in Minnesota for Nora's high school graduation party on Saturday, and then on Monday the 10th we headed home. Our first stop was Minnesota's Largest Candy Store, which is indeed, really big. They only take cash, and we ( Read more... )

Last night I played clarinet in the Kirkwood Concert Band at the Coe Festival of Bands. I'm 3rd chair, or last place, 3rd clarinet--because that's where I seated myself. I am nowhere near good enough to play first chair, and that's okay! First chair is where "people who are actually band directors" sit ( Read more... )

Wednesday, February 28, 2024. Our kitchen ( Read more... )

Piper's usual bus driver, Bob, takes off the month of January every year to snowbird. A good choice this year, since we had about 20 inches of snow in a week ( Read more... )

This is just a journal to remember what we did on Thanksgiving ( Read more... )

The family went to the dedication of the Dallas County Veterans Memorial Wall in Minburn, Iowa this weekend. My mom arranged transportation for my dad from the nursing home where he is staying ( Read more... )