Dana Daily

It's hard to believe May has come and gone. Here is our month in pictures. Out came the summer jammies: We celebrated Mother's Day Then came our roadtrip to Maryland Sarah went to "move-up day" to meet her new teachers and classmates at St. Ursula's. We went flower shopping at Hahn's Nursery on Memorial Day Disclaimer: Yes, the girls do have other dresses. Yes, said dresses were washed in between wearings. Yes, you will probably be seeing more of these dresses in coming entries. Oh, and a shout out to Aunt Doris who celebrated her 29th birthday (again) today!

Sarah, Emily, my mom, my sister, my nephew, and I enjoyed a weekend trip to Maryland. We rented a Traverse, not a great vehicle for 6 and the assorted sundries required for a weekend away. Two suitcases filled the trunk and a duffle bag took up residence between the second row captain chairs. A portable potty, a bag of stuffed animals, a cooler of snacks, and a book bag (literally a bag full of books) took up all available floor space. Note to self - next time, rent a minivan. . .or a bus. . . .and we're off At any rate, with my sister as co-pilot we arrived at our intended destination in record time. We were pleased to see the  Residence Inn  was literally a home-away-from home. With a bed and bath on each side of the common area, a kitchen, dining area, and living room of sorts, it was the perfect layout. My sister and I quickly decided to put all three kids in one room, she and I would share another, and our mom would have the rollout bed in the living room. Note ...

As followers of my blog know, I am taking graduate courses toward a Professional Writing for Web Content Development Master's Degree. Obviously we discuss traditional print media and new media such as the internet, blogs, and electronic newspapers. The subject came up in this course, and in other areas of my life as well, about the possibility of television and cable going the way of The Pony Express. We still get mail, but by different means. Television and cable as nothing more than another piece of Americana? Television and cable conjuring up periods of nostalgia that will cause our grandchildren to stare at us (half in disbelief and half in boredom) as we talk about settling down on the couch to watch a box for a few hours every night at a prescribed time (we'll forget to mention DVRs; it detracts from the story). It seems as though more and more people are opting to do without cable. I can't promise your children will turn out "normal" if you choose to ...

Do you ever play this game with yourself? For both the good things in life and the challenges to you ever think, a week (day, month, whatever) from now I'll be __________________? Or there's the flip side, a week ago, two days ago, a month ago, I was _______________? Maybe not. Maybe I'm the only one who tracks the events in my life down to the hour. But, at any rate, a week from today my children, my sister, my nephew, my mom, and I will have piled into a rented SUV and be on our way to the Gaithersburg, Maryland for the weekend. What's in Gaithersburg you ask? Next weekend, May 21-22, is the Gaithersburg Book Festival at which Matt Logelin is a keynote speaker. At first just my sister and I were going to go, but then we thought, why not take the kids? We can handle one 4 year old and two 2 year olds for a four hour drive. No problem. Then one of us thought maybe Grandma would like to come along too. We asked, but didn't really give her the opportunity t...

I have wondered what May 7, 2011 would be like from the day I made the decision to leave. I've felt both an anxious curiosity and dread, often waffling back and forth between them in the same five minute window of time. But, here we are, May 7, 2011, the 6th anniversary of my wedding. Here's what I remember, it was a gorgeous Spring day. It was warm, not hot, and we felt a sprinkle of rain early in the afternoon. A little behind schedule, I rushed into the church to change into my dress. My mom, my sister, one of her friends, and I squeezed into a closet to get me dressed. Later, I remember being tucked away on the choir loft stairs, listening to all of our guests arrive. Many of my friends and relatives had to drive two hours to attend and some even flew in from out of town. I remember thinking "these people are all here for me, for us". It was exciting and special and memorable, for all the right reasons. Just as it was in 2005, Mother's Day is t...

You might enjoy reading my NEW book blog:  http://bookblogbydana.blogspot.com/ In addition to posting my most recent reads (I just started The Canaan Trilogy by Marek Halter), I’m uploading books I’ve read over the past year. I hope you have some time to peruse my blog and comment, as well as make suggestions for books you think I would enjoy (or not). I try to read a variety of genres and I’ll give anything a shot so everything is fair game. I am going to include some of Sarah and Emmy’s favorites too. We’ve recently discovered “Fancy Nancy” and I may love her as much as my children. Such a cute concept and so appealing for little girls. Plus, there are all the children’s classics to consider - The Berenstein Bears, George and Martha, and Olivia (thanks for suggesting these Kimberly). And last but not least, take note of the “word cloud” posted at the bottom of the book blog screen. This is the new media version of the traditional index. I tag each of my entries and the sum o...