Matt & I flew down to Tucson for his mother's surprise 80th birthday party. I love his family, and it was great to see them, including some new ones who had shown up for the big event. I finally met cousin Sabrina, a charmingly quirky girl who not only speaks Knitter (yes, she's on Ravelry!) but is ...

Filed under: Arts and Culture, Hiking, Learning, Skiing, Festivals and Events, Stories, Ecotourism, Budget Travel, Travel Deals When I think of Maine, I think of leaping off barnacle covered rocks into the ocean and eating clams dipped in butter in Ogunquit like I did one summer when I went there to...

My kids are going to kill me for what I’ve done to their spring break. A week from tomorrow we will be heading to Greece. A few days ago I scoured the internet looking for tickets that would get us to the Galapagos Islands  and somehow ended up with tickets to Athens. Sorry, giant tortoise, m...

Want to know how we got engaged on Valentines day, February 14th 2009? I present a two-part blog covering it! Just to be clear, it was a very elaborate setup starting nearly 8 months before I popped the question on Saturday the 14th (Valentines day). I had to arrange for vacation travel, pick the pe...

I know I haven't done much with the blog recently. There are many reasons for this, but they all just sound like excuses right now. Except for this one. I have pneumonia, and it's kicking my ass from here to next Sunday. I got sick after helping to clear out part of my late sister Mary's living room...

Max Mutchnick is the co-creator of that little show called Will & Grace. He's also a gay dad: He and his husband Erik Hyman (newlyweds!) have twin girls. Adorable! So what's it like to travel with your same-sex partner and have to explain the makings of your not-exactly-typical family...

Very interesting article on Alternet about the parrallels between the octuplet-mum in the news recently and Angelina Jolie. Caught my eye because I'm currently on my hols in China and observing the one child policy in action. Aside from the use of resources issue* I have to say the one-child family ...

afternoon view I really thought that the week was going to calm down a little bit. That was before #1 Son’s computer started having what we in the vaguely techie business like to call issues. When in need, #1 Son always calls Mom’s Tech Support. This particular incident ended up requirin...

For a few weeks now — since I got back from Chicago, really — I’d been planning to make a short trip up to New York City specifically to see mom. Today is her birthday, and she has no clue I’m coming. Of course, last night I nearly spilled the beans what with calling her and ...

How was the recent trip to Orlando? No, it was not warm.Yes, I did get one of the seriously worst colds I've had in recent years that I'm still not over.Yes, I did have fun. My nephew Cody and I decided to compile a listing of the, uh, "bad luck" we had over the course of the vacation. I also drew a...