The Audacity of Hope

It's June--almost July, actually--and I've decided that summer is for blogging. Truth be told, I've been using some of my time off to catch up on friends' blogs, and I've realized that my own attempts have been less than ... frequent.
I started this blog shortly after Hattie was born, just about a year ago, and my hope for this next year is that I'll contribute more. Sarah, too.

Overheard in San Luis Obispo

One of my favorite Websites is Overheard in New York. If you've never seen it, it's basically a regular collection of quotes that people, you know, overhear in New York. San Luis Obispo is a far cry from the Big Apple, but I hear things. Today, for instance, I passed a homeless woman I see around town sometimes on a bench outside of my office. She was holding a Bible close to her face, fanning the pages, but looking around shiftily. As I passed her, she looked at me and said, "If your name is Satan, begone!

Happy Mother's Day!

Hattie and I worked hard to put this sign-card together for Mother's Day, Sarah's first since Hattie was born. Actually, I worked hard to hold Hattie still enough near the sign for a picture, and Hattie worked hard at squirming away or grabbing the paper and throwing it over her shoulder.





Happy Mother's Day to an amazing mom, my wife, Sarah. And to our moms, Hattie's grandmothers, LaVona Miller and Sue Simonson.

Happy Birthday!

March 1 was Grandma Miller's birthday. Here are some of the fun times Hattie has had with her recently ...

Hattie learns to type

A couple of nights ago, Hattie managed to cruise across the hearth and discover Ryan's vintage Underwood typewriter. She spent about 20 minutes carefully pushing a key, then reaching to touch the letter that popped up in response to her actions. She approached the typewriter with awe, curiosity, and respect, never banging on the keys or playing with it they way she does with other toys. She is truly Daddy's little girl.

Plastic bread and circuses

I really, really love Playmobil people. I have a Playmobil pirate and a Playmobil mummy that "unwraps" to reveal a Playmobil pharaoh.

Playmobil figures and sets are the bright paradoxes of the toy world. They manage to be detailed in their simplicity. Practically every character has blank, staring eyes, a fingernail crescent of a smile, and C-shaped hands--and women tend to sport uniform under-eye lashes--but the variety of "costumes" and snap-on accessories is fairly staggering. The themes range from the typical farm, zoo, and rescue team cliches to scaled-down sports arenas, sea ports, and a "leisure" category that boasts little plastic people sunbathing on a yacht (the Blue Marlin), racing around on jet skis and ATVs, and picnicking outside of a family camper. Anyone who's checked Commonplace in December might remember that we own a Playmobil nativity set, something that, I believe, Lego has yet to produce.

Tom's Toys, a shop in downtown San Luis Obispo, usually has a Playmobil set of some sort or another featured in its window. For the last month or two, the set-up has been sitting under a banner that says something along the lines of "The Triumphant Procession of the Romans."

Hattie's 6-Month Birthday

To celebrate Hattie's 6-month birthday we had our friends the Rookses and the Lundeens over to enjoy some food, wine, and my favorite Christmas movie, White Christmas. Natalie, Soren, and Hattie enjoyed crawling around and playing together (or at least near each other). In honor of the movie, I created an all-white menu. Sorry, no pictures this time. We enjoyed gorgonzola and carmelized onion tartlets, Italian white bean and sausage soup, bread, salad (technically that was green), white wine, and hard apple cider. For dessert: rum balls (which I rolled in powdered sugar), hot cider, and mulled wine. The food was not as striking as our all-black Halloween menu, but it was just as tasty!


Andrea made Hattie an adorable hat for her birthday. I had mentioned the other day that Ryan wanted Hattie to have a hat with ear flaps. My talented friend went home and invented a pattern for one, complete with ties that have become Hattie's new favorite chew toy. Thank you Andrea!