It’s hard to appreciate independence as an American in the 21st century. We are still benefitting today—July 4th, 2013—from the courage and bravery of a people whose chosen leaders pledged their “lives, [their] fortunes, and [their] sacred honor” two hundred and thirty-seven years ago. Well over two centuries of time has passed since that particular…
Family
DOMA Arigato
Just about a week ago, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) was in the news for two rulings in regards to same-sex marriages. One was specific to California (Proposition 8), and I won’t address that here, but the first was regarding a case challenging the constitutionality of section three (§3) of the Defense…
Find The Fun
I am an optimist. I tend to pretty easily see the good, or the potential good in nearly every situation and circumstance. I am generally also very trusting of others—their motives, agendas (or lack thereof), and actions—which seems to stem from my general outlook on life. Was I born this way? I don’t know. Sometimes…
Handling Disappointment
There are more than a handful of individuals living here, under this roof. That’s a lot of opinions, a lot of wants and needs, and a lot of expectations. And, it’s also a lot of disappointments. Lately, those have come sharply into focus for the two youngest inhabitants of this home. At ages three and…
Empathy
Earlier this week I told the story here of how one thought led to another, leading me to the interesting conclusion that we are so self-focused that even when we are actually thinking of others we are thinking of self. Incredible, and brilliantly designed by our Creator, I might add. Another thought that has been…
House-i-versary: Ten!
April 25th is the day that we became home owners. The year was precisely one decade ago: 2003. Ten years of mortgage payments, tax payments, home owner’s insurance payments, home improvement and maintenance projects and cost… Yippee! 
But, it is still a fun day to celebrate. This home is the only one that four…
The Real Value of Stuff
I love visual truth. Even though I am a person who loves words, and communicating thoughts, emotions, questions, and experiences through just the right word or phrase chosen to build a vivid picture of truth in one’s mind, there is nothing quite like a visual “object lesson”. Tonight mine came in the form of a…
Maple Sugarin’!
We’re trying something new this spring: we’re sugarin’ our maple trees! It’s fun to see how things are made, and in my opinion the best way to see is to do. The process began a while ago, when we talked about doing it. We live on a small, quarter-acre lot in a somewhat urban-ish setting….
Ian The Goalie
We have a hockey player in the house. Actually, we have two—or more—but only one who plays “professionally”. Ian participated in a 3-on-3 tournament this past weekend. Generally, hockey is 5-on-5 with a goalie, so with fewer skaters, I was actually a bit concerned for Ian. As the goalie for one of the four teams,…
It’s All Fun And Games Until Somebody Loses… the iPad?
Mondays are video game day at the Campbell Household. We, the parents, try to limit the hours (and days) of video game entertainment here. (This is a learned behavior; after seeing that much less stringent limitations on video game time producing mean-spirited, selfish children, if not mindless automatons.) As it so happens, today whilst I…