The Blog: Spellbound by our own imperfect lives...

And his mama. I think there are resemblances...

6 pounds 12 ounces 19.25 inches Elliot Kleo

Tiffany called just after 1 to tell us Elliot had been born. I think I remember 19.5 inches long but I can't remember the weight. I'm going to see him today so I'll post pictures tonight. Hurray! Another baby!

Tiffany calls every three hours or so to let us know that she is fine and things are moving along nicely but slowly. Elliot is just not in a hurry to join us on this snowy, late winter night. Maybe he likes it where he is. Regis has had two sleepless nights so I'm trying to stay awake waiting for the phone to ring one more time. We had copious amounts of snow today. As I was driving back to school about noon, I could hardly keep the car cleaned off enough to see. I think we had about 8 inches of snow, Miles, and most of it came in a three-hour window. It just dumped snow from the skies. The wind is blowing now; I can hear the chimes in the apple tree clanging madly. Except for working, I haven't done one productive thing all day. I curled up in bed for a while late this afternoon, read, dozed, listened to the wind blow. Sometimes I feel guilty for being so lazy, other times I don't care. I'll post a baby update in the morning. I think I have to go to bed.

Sherry, the circle of life again. A rousing rendition... Tiffany and Eric's baby, Elliot, appears to be ready to make an appearance today. He's in no big hurry, though. They went to the hospital at 1 a.m. this morning and things are progressing very slowly. Stay tuned.

Bill Holm is gone... By BOB VON STERNBERG , Star Tribune Last update: February 26, 2009 - 2:21 PM Picture worth a thousand words I did not know Mr. Holm, nor have I read any of his works (I will now), however, the photograph of him is one of the most wonderful photos … read more I have ever seen! Bill Holm, a larger-than-life author from Minneota, Minn., died Wednesday at a hospital in Sioux Falls. The Rehkamp-Horvath funeral home in Marshall announced his death this morning. Holm, 65, divided his time between his birthplace of Minneota and Iceland, the country of his forebears, was a longtime English professor at Southwest Minnesota State University and the author of several books of poems and e...

This is my paternal grandmother, Elsie Saum. Some of you may not be surprised that I am the direct descendant of a woman who would hold a firearm and a dead skunk in a photograph. (At least I hope the skunk is dead. It looks like it might be on tip-toe and they're shaking hands.) This picture was taken in North Dakota in the early 1900s. Imagine this landscape in the winter. I feel like my nerves are sticking outside of my skin tonight. I don't know why. I saw a guy with a computer today that was about as big as a file folder. Then on the Daily Show, we saw the kindle2. Amazing. It's like an iPod for books. I love books aesthetically but the idea of having 1500 books on a thing the size of a small magazine is just amazing. I appreciate technology but still don't get twitter. I have a gift card for Barnes and Noble from my sweet husband. It's quite a routine to decide how to spend it as I have rules: it all must be spent at once, I have to have a list, and I always ...

A Winter Storm Watch has been posted for a large portion of the state, including Albert Lea, Mankato, Willmar, Red Wing, Rochester and the Twin Cities starting Wednesday night and continuing through Thursday evening.

Signs of spring: It was 46 degrees when I drove home from school today! It's almost sandal weather! My feet are crying out to be liberated from shoes and socks. We've started thinking about the patio. I called Karl today to ask about the river birch because I don't want to do anything to harm the tree. There is mud everywhere. And dripping water off trees and roofs. The car looks like a salt heap. It smells outside. When it's way below zero you can't smell anything. Even unpleasant smells are pleasant in the spring. The car warms up from the sun. I turned off the heater in the car and almost opened the window this afternoon. Windows look like hell. The streaks and crap I didn't notice all winter because I left in the dark and came home in the dark all of a sudden looks like the dog's been licking the glass. It might be true in some cases.

I finally found some gumption today and did a few things around the house that weren't looming emergencies...recyclables spilling out onto the floor for example. I cooked a lot. Most of it went over to Bob and Em's house to feed the new family. Alex wants to eat every two hours and that takes a lot of nourishment on the part of the mama. I got to hold Alex for a while...he's tiny, his eyes are mostly closed, and he sleeps and frowns when he hears noises. Ella sat by me and said, "What have you and Popop been up to today?" So grown up. When we were going to leave she said, " I don't want you to go; I want to hold you." She's so sweet, she makes your heart ache. Betty fell down on Friday night as she took Gonzo for a walk in the snow. I've been sort of preoccupied with worry that she'll venture out again, in bad shoes, with no cell phone, and Regis, Tom, and I will be....unreachable to help her home. She had to flag down a passerby to get a...

We had about six inches of lovely, fluffy snow last night but it made for a sleepless night. I woke up at midnight and couldn't fall asleep again. About 2, the snow plows started going by what seemed like every 20 minutes. I suppose I heard them in front and on the side streets. Then some damn fool that my neighbor has hired to do his driveway showed up 3. Bill's driveway is about 18 inches from my pillow so I was awake again. Long night. I took a nap but it's not the same. I don't feel very witty and urbane today. The image above is from the google search for witty and urbane. What a hoot. We've discovered a new place to eat in Mankato called the Northwoods Cafe and Grill . It's in the building where the Timber Lodge (ick) used to be. This place actually makes real food, not the dumped out of a plastic bag and reheated food. Here's my review: Lots of help so you don't have to wait forever. Nice mashed potatoes...baby reds with a light gravy. Hearty sal...

Alex tries to escape the process. Look at his tiny hand grasping the scale. It must have been hard on him; he doesn't look thrilled. He does look a lot like Ella when she was little. They took Alex down to have his hearing tested today (is this the way they do it???) and Ella said, "Where did they go with my baby?" Bob took her down to watch.

Alexander Robert Bob, Emily, Ella, and Alex Ella gives Alex a kiss Regis, Teresa, Ella, and Alex

I realized today that a guy gets tired of winter tasks. I haven't filled the bird feeders for weeks, the grit is piling up on the sidewalk, the dog poop is accumulating in the back yard again, and the house looks grubby. When I can open the windows and wear sandals, this will all get better. I was doing dishes on Saturday and spotted a large bird on the fence in the back yard. It was tearing something so it looked like a raptor and it was way bigger than most birds we see that close. Regis took some pictures, we dug out the Minnesota bird book, and identified the sharp-shinned hawk, rarely seen in winter. We usually only spot hawks from the car when we're whizzing past on the highway. The picture is not the actual bird we saw as we don't have leaves on our trees, this being the damn arctic tundra. Regis and I had Betty and Tom's famous salad on Saturday and we're hooked: we've been experimenting with different greens and dressings (not the bottled stuff ack) thi...

Regis and I were so tired tonight we picked up a bruschetta pizza from Godfather's. We watched the news as we ate in our easy chairs. Holy shit that's a habit I don't want... watching the news, that is. Nothing but bad crap that a guy can probably easily go day to day without knowing and be just fine. We both read a lot of news online but there's something about it being said aloud right there in your living room that frankly sucks. The last few days were so busy and went so fast that all I could do was post the photographic evidence. Be sure to scroll down, though; there's a lot here. A couple random notes... Tom made popovers on Saturday night. Oh my. Betty called us over to the oven every few minutes to have us watch them rise, bubble with butter, then poof up in golden splendor. I think it added to our appreciation of them in the end. We had a piece of fish (can't remember what) that Mary Rogotzski , nurse friend from Minneapolis, brought us late this fall...

Here's a link to the Free Press site where you can find a video and a slide show with audio of the Polar Plunge. Here's the slide show of Sunday's festivities. Jane and Dick had planned to leave on Sunday but how can you pass up the Polar Plunge and a Blastfest?

Jane and Dick came to visit Friday. So far, we've done all our favorite things: dinner at Patrick's, party at Tom and Betty's, lots of silliness, lots of laughing. More stories to come as we'll attend the Blastfest and the Polar Plunge today. I'll explain the mourning costume and the hatchet later...

I had a Citi credit card that I paid off in November , then canceled after I called to find out the pay off amount. This week I got an email saying I had a small balance and I might want to pay it. Since I had shredded the card and had no password or any account information, I knew this was going to be tricky. It took 20 minutes and 4 customer service people and that was not because they couldn't find me in their system . Apparently, even after you cancel a credit card and pay off what they tell you the balance is, they can still assess finance charges, the blood-sucking vampires. This small balance was $4.57, 12 cents of which was a 3 cent a month credit protection fee for the last four months. On a closed account, they charge me 3 cents a month for credit protection. WTF seriously. I tried very hard to be nice to all these people only because Regis does customer service and I know it's a miserable, ass-bite of a job. One man saw the irony and said he couldn't believe th...

And yuck and ack. It rained all morning, then the sun came out long enough for us to get our taxes done. Marie's cat Nick is a hoot. He sits on the back of the love seat and nuzzles my ear until someone else walks in, then Nick better deals me in a heartbeat. The tax news was good so we celebrated with a dark beer at Patrick's. We always go there after getting our taxes done (it's right next door) whether the news is good or not. We love going to Marie's...where else can you go to have your damn taxes done and get nuzzled by a cat whose name you know? Now we're going to watch the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. La dee da. My favorite is the, get ready for this...Dogue des Bordeaux. I've been saying it for two days. It sounds like a dog the Pink Panther would have. Here's the youtube clip.

I just had a little fit in that last blog post. I'm not depressed or hostile. I was cranky for a minute but I'm better now.

Most of this day sucked. I went to the chiropractor and he said my neck issues are from locking. Or something like that. He adjusted my mojo and told me to ice my neck a few times today and come back tomorrow. I felt better almost immediately; that mojo is powerful stuff. This part of the day didn't suck. There's a blog I check regularly called shazam. The woman writes about baking and lately she's been really obsessed with cupcakes. Apparently, it's big on blogs now to have contests and give stuff away. She gave away this cool stuff in the picture and I won! She's going to send me this stuff! Of course, maybe this is like my old cell phone company that said it had nation wide service but no towers in South Dakota. I asked if they had service on Mars, too. So if you're looking for a give-away here, hey, I've already offered bottles of wine and a list of ice creams named after the former president. What more do you want? Speaking of wine, I haven't had an...

Great article on grammar and spelling snobs. Roger Ebert's review of the movie Doubt . Review of the book by Michael Greenberg, Hurry Down Sunshine . Article about local pigeon show judge who was my geography instructor at MSU in 1970. Police log from Dutch Harbor, Unalaska. Latest ultrasound pictures of Alex. There you have it.

We had the family over Saturday to celebrate the coming of the two boy babies the end of the month. There are pictures of the mamas and the rest of the usual suspects in a slideshow at the bottom of this post. We had a wonderful time. Everyone said the food (standard family dinner fare: sloppy joes, cheese potatoes, and cookies) was good and there was a lot of laughter. You can see in the picture that we're happy. As the party was winding down, Emily said a couple times to Bob, "We should go." Ella was snuggled with me in a bla n ket in the rocker and she whispered in my ear, "Tell her we don't want to go yet. Tell her you miss me." Ella and Betty and Tom played pretend cooking for a long time. They made carrot cake and lizards which is quite the festive combination. Peter got a tattoo which you can also see in the photos. It says Lovelife which apparently is a title of a rap song but sounds like something sort of sweet and new agey. I don't think that...

I came down with a bad case of the woozies last night and it's continued today. This is not related to beverages consumed in honor of the parade in case any of the smart asses in the audience are having that thought. My team of crack diagnosticians, the doctors Wessel and Smith, believe it could be related to my neck nerves. I feel best when I'm upright and worst when I bend over or get up too fast. Whoa! Jill sent an email this morning that was hilarious. Ben & Jerry's made an ice cream in honor of the new president called Yes, Pecan! The story is that they asked people to suggest ice cream names in honor of the for mer president and they're a hoot. I can't print them here, this being a family-oriented blog, but I would drop the list off at your house (with a bottle of wine) if you really want to see it. We're having the off-spring over for dinner tonight. I managed to get the meal made but I'm not cleaning. We'll have to keep the lights low and spr...

I had to write that down quickly before I forgot it. I've been intrigued lately with lines from sit-coms. They may not be great literature but they make me laugh out loud. The food network doesn't have a news show. That's another one. We had a good time at the parade. It started at 6:00 and I was home in the living room by 6:28. I got a bouncy ball that lights up when you whack it on something. There was a blow-up snowman in the back of a convertible that honestly scared the crap out of me. It looked like something from a Tim Burton movie. Tomorrow will be a busy day: groceries, massage, liquor store, house cleaning, cooking. Why do I leave everything for the last minute? I have a menu, a grocery list...but that's it. No plan. Sycophant is one of my new favorite words. Along with ennui. If you can use both in a sentence, leave a comment.

I meant to clean tonight but I didn't get very far. I went swimming at 5 this morning and that tends to kick your evening plans in the ass. Besides, I'm not a very good cleaner. Not that I don't have good intentions; I do. But it seems less and less important the more time that goes by and I finally give it the old lick and a promise and forget about it. I read once that if you spray Pledge around the doorways, it will give the illusion that you've dusted. Or if you boil cinnamon sticks on the stove, people will think you bake. I'd be more inclined to bake than clean. Dirt just doesn't bother me very much. The festival of winter (google avoidant, you know) starts tomorrow. I don't know how I missed it but I did. I love love love the parade. It's as much fun as the St. Patrick's Day parade only it's cold and thank God the temperature might be above zero tomorrow night. Some of the other events include a hairly legs contest, rock/paper/scissors con...

I was floating in the pool this morning, waiting to get out, when a woman rushed in and pushed on the door of the only bathroom, which was occupied. She turned to me and said, and I quote, "I have the runs and I'm wearing white pants." Curious. How would the runs be better if one were wearing, say, brown pants? This was clearly a dilemma for her and way more information than I wanted. So, another cold day in Minnesota. It got up to, let's say, a balmy 18 degrees which might be tolerable if it weren't for the wicked assed NW wind. This is a god forsaken state this winter. I see on the television that you can fly to Las Vegas for 55 dollars. That would be good if you could get a job as a poker dealer at a casino and never come back. Who wants to live here? Honestly? I went to Target after school with my friend Joanne. She's a more efficient and accurate shopper than I am. While I'm squinting at labels and trying to figure out the details, she's honed in ...

A weather man (person, I mean) doesn't have to be accurate and we all understand that but hell they don't even have to be close. One of them predicted 22 degrees tomorrow but it's going to be ten below tonight. I don't think so, Tim. I could predict weather like that by throwing darts. Fifty percent chance of partly sunny to partly cloudy. What the hell. My friend Nancy said today she doesn't think she'll thaw out until June and that's true of a lot of us. The liquor stores in the midwest are doing a crackerjack business this winter is all I have to say about it. My neighborhood liquor store had a wine of the month pinot noir that I really liked in January. I was there Saturday as they were dismantling the display and I couldn't resist. So, if you live in the area and would like a bottle of wine, leave a comment. I'm not selling it, mind you. That would require a liquor license and I don't have one. Regis wanted me to mention that his personal Te...

Regis was ecstatic about the football game yesterday. I'm not a fan and usually only pay attention during the breaks, but it was a good game and I even cheered a time or two. Let's see...the Steelers won, right? Betty and I were fascinated by the rump factor; trying to figure out the ratio of thighs and butt to running speed. No real definitive answer but it was a pleasant study. One of the best jokes of the day was mine (bowing to the right and left)...I said I was going to write a book about ennui(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ennui)but I was too apathetic. I crack myself up. The link thing doesn't work so I had to do it the old-fashioned way. What the hell. After 47 degrees on Saturday, the weather turned and it was about 8 degrees with a stiff and ugly wind today. There was an article in the Trib last week about how people from other parts of the US don't want to move here. No shit. I bet that took a lot of research dollars to determine. My cousin Deb sa...

We had a busy day yesterday for all of you who keep track of my productivity. I got down on the floor and cleaned the bathroom surfaces that don't often get cleaned. Where does all that fuzzy stuff come from? As a person who does not (or has not) spend much time on the floor due to the complexity of getting back up, it was comical, even to me. I stood for some time, half hunched over, wondering just how to lower myself to the floor. I finally got on my knees, then went to the sitting position. It's been so long I couldn't remember. Now that was a tantalizing start. The rest of the day was just busy. We went to Kohl's and bought a rug for our dining area. I don't spend much time in the choosing of things like this. I had found one in the catalog that I liked but when they didn't have that one, I picked another one in five seconds giving little thought to matching. Then I bought towels. Same process. These, these, and these. Not much thought. I came around the cor...