back home

we made it back on this red-eye from LA this morning, and after a few hours of sleep are trying to figure out whose bracket is busted the worst. in between the wedding (which was at the Trump National Golf Club in Palos Verdes) and seeing family (terri's parents and sisters and then chris and kids came yesterday), we did watch a bunch of bball. also played some family two on two at the park (emma and doug versus terri and ben seems to be the best matchup).

on to state!

just back from regionals at minnesota history day. ben and wyatt's documentary "football, the forward pass, and muscular americanism" was selected to move ahead to the state competition (at the U) in May! they got medals and everything. congrats guys, great work. we're technologically challenged here but maybe we can see about getting it posted here on our site or on youtube or something like that. it features teddy roosevelt and is pretty interesting and definitely educational.

p.s. the temps yesterday (and again today) were record highs for the dates.

first signs of spring

sunny and temps in the 60's today--we took a walk around the lake, played catch, and drove by connie's to get ben's uniform while she was getting the creamy cone ready to open tomorrow. we even fired up the grill for the first time this season last night. it must be spring.

a big week ahead with a late week trip to SoCal for the wedding of terri's high school friend terri ann. an adult only affair so the kids will get some quality time with grandma and grandpa.

tomorrow, ben has regionals for his history day project with wyatt. if they win, they go to state (on the campus of the University of Minnesota!)

speaking of the U, did you see that the Gophers men made it into the big dance? be sure to get your brackets in. we're assuming uncle den-o is the commish for the hartmann clan's annual pool.

Contexts and Aging

so the new winter issue of the sociology magazine doug edits, Contexts, should be in your mail boxes and out on newsstands by now. it has several excellent pieces on aging in America--including a feature on age discrimination, a review of Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino, and a piece by our colleague Phyllis Moen called "Redefining Retirement." if you are interested, in fact, there is a whole special package of materials that have run in the last several issues under the title "Aging in Contexts" taht you and anyone you tell can download for free for the next two weeks at "www.contexts.org."