Westmoreland Asays

Meg began a project three or four years ago, one that seemed to linger on and on without an end in sight. Nobody knows for sure of its origins, but it definitely hatched before Ian was seeded. Not that I have any room to brag, as I have clearly failed to complete many a task (e.g., running the Boston Marathon despite qualifying three times, earning that scholarship to Stanford to play baseball (I still have four years of eligibility), and writing an episode for The Simpsons) that I had set out to do oh so long ago. But this story isn't about me. As part of a father's day gift, Meg had offered to make a quilt out of my old race t-shirts. I was impressed with her bravery at such an undertaking, for I would race in said shirts, which soaked up my sweat and foul stench and the blood of the rivals I crushed, and which I would then immediately strip off and store in an air-tight plastic bag, thus preserving the physical essence of my over-achieving effort. I admit that that last se

Meg was so anxious to kick off summer vacation and excited to have the boys home all day every day that she booked us a hotel room in Newport the day after the boys finished school in June . I told her this new-found excitement would last about a week (she probably blew me off, but I can't remember what happened three hours ago, let alone three months), and then she would be longing for September and school. I think the later proved to be true, but maybe not until a few weeks. Well, September finally arrived, and the two of us walked Aaron and Ed to their first day of classes. Aaron could probably pass for a fifth grader, but he is stuck in third grade. And Ed began life as a full-time student in the first grade ( but don't expect this full-time status to last forever ). We arrived 10 minutes early to a chaotic crowd that felt like the Rose Garden on Blazers bobblehead night: people were swarming everywhere. When the bell finally rang--the official notification that kids

Today was one of my six company-observed holidays, and our family took advantage of this and the sunny weather. The day began with Ian sitting happily in the bike trailer for 50 minutes while I ran 5.5 miles through quiet and cool city streets in SE Portland (the sun had yet to rise high enough to bake us). After lunch we, along with Aaron, went on a 10+ mile bike ride along the Springwater and the Willamette Greenway trails, with stops at Sellwood Pool (it was the last day we could use our membership, and it was PACKED), where we met up with Meg and Eddie, and Dairy Queen for cool treats. Ian napped for part of the bike ride, as he usually does, and a lady complimented Aaron on his good cycling skills. In the evening we grilled some thick and juicy steaks and some hot dogs on the back porch, which stays pretty cool for most of the day, in addition to some edamame picked fresh from our garden. Perhaps the best part was putting the kids to bed early, as school starts promptly at