Author Archives: Erin

On Sunday evening Sydney received a call from his brother, Nelson.  Their mother, Dora, had just died after a battle with cancer that lasted nearly two years, and that involved surgery, rounds of chemo, and trips to Mexico for further … Continue reading →

I went to Pennsylvania this past weekend for a conference.  $118 for a three-day car rental got me to Pennsylvania and back (and some driving across Pennsylvania in-between, to pick up a cousin).  I put 1450 miles on that car … Continue reading →

Me: “Nathaniel, you have a lot of Lego airplanes!” Nathaniel, looking concerned at my ineptitude: “No.  I have three.  One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, [murmur murmur] fifteen.  Now that’s a lot!” Erin

In the past few weeks, I’ve had a couple of colleagues I’ve known since my grad-school days tell me that they’re expecting their first child.  They know that Sydney and I did a lot of juggling of school and baby … Continue reading →

Both kids are doing really well right now.  Both have made great strides at reining in tempers, helping with household chores, and taking care of each other.  Katherine is quite proud that she can make her bed by herself (since … Continue reading →

If you’ve been wondering at our silence recently, I have a few thoughts that might help clear things up: – Both Sydney and I have been working hard to keep up with new courses (oh, yes, and in his case, … Continue reading →

I teased my dean that he needs his own assigned table in the cafeteria, since he’s always in a lunch meeting with someone, and then he said, “When else can I meet with faculty?”  I warned him that I would … Continue reading →

I called the local kindergarten this morning and learned that registration is in March.  Okay, Katherine, here we go! Erin

I’m gearing up for some massive reading alongside my students this spring.  First up is Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which presents me with an interesting (and complex!) discussion opportunity: an Iowa native (with more than a whiff of the East Coast … Continue reading →

“And the woman was crying, ‘Ugh!’ because the dinosaurs ate her.  No, she couldn’t get into the ark, so the shark ate her.” This is what I heard through the door while I was working in the study this evening.  … Continue reading →