I’m going to tell you a secret: something that you’d never guess about me: I’m not a big fan of exercising. I know. I hope you can recover from the shock. Okay, you’re not surprised. And you shouldn’t be. I’ve never claimed to be a workout nut. Now, ironically, if you’re a friend from my [...]

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There’s a science experiment that Charlie and I like to conduct every year around this time. We call it, “Study in Jack-o-Lantern Mold Formation and Decomposition.” Yesterday we concluded our study, coming to the conclusion that jack-o-lanterns do, in fact, grow mold. We also discovered that the addition of rain to the experiment yields an [...]

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My late father-in-law, Lt Col Charles Wetzel, Sr Air Force He served his country at a pivotal point in history. Navigated B26 bombers in WWII. Served in counterintelligence in Germany after WWII (catching Nazis). Navigated for Strategic Air Command. Worked on the Minuteman Project (world’s first ballistic missiles). My father-in-law worked on some important projects [...]

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I have loads of pictures of our dogs. Especially Callie (pre-kids), who actually had her own “Baby Book”. Even Tess and Scruff and Bob are in a lot of pics, but there’s one pose that I have NEVER captured any of our dogs in. I must remedy this as soon as possible. But in the [...]

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One thing I’ve discovered about myself and writing: I often do my best work in silence. At least with blogging, the only “background music” I usually have is the thud-thud-thud of the dryer off in the laundry room, dogs making licky-scratchy noises in harmony, and the occasional barking at a squirrel (by the dogs, not [...]

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Originally posted March 19, 2009 Reposted today because … I’m behind on laundry… Why, hello. Just checking in. What have I been up to? Oh, nothing much… Just a bit of laundry. Five or ten or 75 loads, give or take a few. I’ve spent my last few days on a suds-powered hamster wheel: gather, [...]

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Scene: Living room, Night. Man and woman on sofa, watching TV. On the TV is The Grammys / VMAs / any other musical award show. On TV, Scantily-clad presenter: And the winner is…. Singy McAutotune! Man on sofa: Who’s that? Woman on sofa: I don’t know. Let’s see if we have anything on DVR. Man: [...]

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We always knew we had a reason to call Tess Monster Dog. (And now the fact that she couldn’t see herself in the mirror makes so much more sense…) Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab! I heart JibJab.

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This past weekend we saw a sight for sore eyes: The kids actually playing in our treehouse. Well, technically, they were cleaning out dead leaves and bird poo and conspiring to sleep out there one night this fall. But after a summer of neglect due to an evil ant infestation and sweltering heat, the treehouse [...]

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As I might have mentioned before, I have two daughters. As I don’t think I did mention, we only have three bedrooms. Since we also have a son, this means that our girls share a room. This has always been a challenge: How do you get a baby AND a toddler to nap when the [...]

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