That title is supposedly Gaelic for “home.” I had always known that my paternal grandfather’s family came from Scotland to Canada to the United States. But recently my aunt dug up more research about my great-great-grandmother. She was a McLeod from Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Read more…
It’s been a rough couple weeks for me since the government shutdown started. The first two weeks were pretty easy because the whole family was home for winter break. But now they’re all back in school and I’m just sort of floating around trying to get stuff on my task Read more…
Last year I tried to theme my year with three words rather than commit myself to resolutions that I knew I wouldn’t keep anyway. I first heard of the concept from Mike Vardy, who in turn took the concept from Chris Brogan. My words last year were Mindful, Endure, and Hygge. As I reflected Read more…
The wife, kids, and I decided to hit the National Arboretum this morning. Mother Nature obliged by giving us a cool, breezy, low humidity day. First time wandering around the grounds and it won’t be our last. We didn’t see the eagles nesting, but did see the bonsai garden, herb Read more…
It was a year ago today that my grandmother passed away. It was very hard to see her decline in her last few months of life, and the day before her death was very difficult for her and for us. I felt a huge relief for her when she passed Read more…
Like many people, I never fully subscribed to New Year’s resolutions and only halfheartedly created them. Since I never really took them seriously, I pretty much doomed them to failure. Rather than continue something that didn’t work, I just stopped the practice altogether. Recently I read about the concept of Read more…
I went to Arlington National Cemetery to visit my Oma today. She passed away almost seven months ago. I got much more emotional than I expected to, if I’m honest. But her headstone is complete now … so it was a very nice visit. There are things that keep popping Read more…