Axel was determined to get the garage cleaned out, and I was thrilled. The messy garage was something that had weighed on me at different moments of my life the past year -- when Little L's school was closed, when I was on strike, when we found out we would be working until the end of June.... du... Read More »

Two adults and two children, dressed in snowpants and rainboots, walked towards us as we paid the parking machine and headed towards the path. "That's right," I said to Axel, Megan, and Little L. "They said to wear boots because it's muddy." Little L was in tennis shoes. I had almost told her to... Read More »

Believe it or not, they are predicting a high of 75 here in Minneapolis today. There is no snow on the sidewalks; I definitely didn't almost slip on the way to work because of a thin layer of ice that no one, including me, is willing to shovel anymore. The sunny weather is just a backdrop for a p... Read More »

Last week Little L washed out the new reusable sandwich bags I had gotten her - we were going to stop sending her peanut butter sandwich in old bread bags. I went to put the new turquoise bags in the middle drawer next to the oven, and I stopped. This had gone on too long. Pretend this drawer wa... Read More »

On a frigid January morning, Little L hopped down from the cream-colored armchair where we were snuggling and informed me that Oso was going to go to the store. “It’s Oso’s Christmas!” she said. “He wants to get presents at the store!” She put Oso inside her doll stroller, put the stroller outsi... Read More »

Well, we had a month. November was a month of transition and, well, anger, in our house. Things were just not going Little L's way. I would guessing that the end of the nap had something to do with it. Now, I never would have taken myself for someone who would be anti-nap. When parents of three-... Read More »

Last year, we did four Zoom Thanksgivings. We were stuffed. This year, it's not back to normal. We're still not flying to California, where the annual Thanksgiving gathering won't take place anyway. But we aren't having ZoomsGiving, either, which we felt compelled to do last year based on case co... Read More »

Did I tell you Little L's school shut down for two weeks? Well, not her entire school - Just Little L's class. Luckily she tested negative (three times) and we were able to enjoy the imposed at-home period. Kind of. As well as you can imagine. I had been texting with a mom in Little L's class pre... Read More »

"What's that, Mama?" Little L asked as she threw her body on the floor of my walk-in closet, rolling on her back and waving her feet in the air. Seriously, I do not know where this child gets her energy from. "It's a dress I'm going to wear to work tomorrow," I told her. I was getting ready for O... Read More »

"Hi!" My in-laws came out to greet us as we got out of the car. I was carrying a paper bag in each hand - their birthday gifts. "Happy Birthday Observed!" I said. We were celebrating theirs and Axel's birthday today. "We've been looking all over for Grandpa J's mug!" my mother-in-law, who we'll c... Read More »

We were at Bush Lake, and so were the wasps. It was the last Mama-Little L Adventure of summer. I knew, but I didn't tell Little L. I learned my lesson when I focused so much on online music class ending with the teacher she had for three years. Better to just go enjoy the day. Little L made san... Read More »

Just do it, Nike said. But when it comes to home projects, or at least my role in them, it seems like I need to amend that tagline a bit. A couple weeks ago, Axel and I had a child-free afternoon while Little L spent some time with her grandparents. "What should we do?" I asked Axel. On the list... Read More »

We were sitting at the table together, little bowls of olives and nuts spread around. We had dished up spinach pies and scooped quinoa onto the plates of those of us who didn’t say, “What is that? I’m not trying it!” But Little L wasn’t eating. Axel was downing the Brie cheese, as was Grandpa J.... Read More »

Well, Kole sure showed us. "It's gonna mold," he texted me, the day I posted about the Stages of Mulch. "Wait, what?" I responded. "Are you talking about the mulch? Did you read my post? Aren't you proud we got mulch?" Kole and his son ran a lawn maintenance business for years. He's a house guy, ... Read More »

At the condo, Little L’s table often sat unattended in the corner of her bedroom, where her changing table had been when she was a baby. At the house, we rebranded it as her “art table” and placed it in the living room. Soon, we needed a place to put all of her art supplies. An “art center” was ... Read More »

Mama and a pile of mulch.Ignorance - Huh? What is mulch? Why do I need more?Enthusiasm - Sure! Let’s get some mulch!Confusion - Wait, how much will we need? What color? Desperation - Where will we get it? How much is a cubic yard? Will it fit in a Honda Civic? Can we have it delivered?Denial - No... Read More »

When I was eight, I collected hundreds of little green helicopter seeds that fell from the neighbor's maple tree onto our driveway. I put them in a glass jar and made a sign. "Seeds for Sale: 50 cents!" That's right. Did your jaw drop? Only fifty cents. What a deal, right? From one single glass j... Read More »

This morning, I found Wolfy on the kitchen counter eating a hot dog out of a bowl. It made me smile. That's a tomato on Wolfy's head. I've been wanting to write something lately. But what do I say? That we've been at this a year now? That at first I found a small win every day but petered out aft... Read More »

This post was originally published on Thanksgiving Day, 2018. Little L is three and a half now and I haven't thought to check the shape of her head in years. For all of you who haven’t seen any photos of Little L recently, she’s not rocking her purple star helmet during the daytime anymore. It i... Read More »

Note: This article was originally written for the April 2020 issue of Minnesota parent. As the pandemic ramped up, they drastically reduced their print space, and my article was postponed. Then at the end of 2020, Minnesota Parent went out of publication. With the permission of their editor-in-ch... Read More »

Leading up to their inauguration, Good Work Great Life sat down with Baby and Foxy (and their press secretary, Little L), for an up-close look at the new Co-Aminals-in-Charge. Baby and Foxy: Leading together, on their own. Baby Baby arrives to her Inauguration in style. GWGL: Who helped you beco... Read More »

Imagine yourself last New Year’s Eve: What about what you were doing then seems unfathomable to you now? What would you have done differently if you’d known what 2020 would bring?Where did you imagine that you would be on NYE 2020? How did you envision your life? Compared to what you had imagine... Read More »

There’s a lot to be thankful for. That’s what I tell myself, what I told Axel yesterday as we were doing laps back and forth in our basement during Little L's naptime. And yet I’m having a hard time mustering a gratitude post right now. Maybe what feels more truthful is that there’s a lot of gri... Read More »

Thank you to all the kids who voted today! After the polls closed at 7PM CST, it took virtually no time at all for Google Forms to tally the ballots and proclaim that the winner was... Well, it was a tie. However, rather than holding a run-off election, the two Aminals-in-Charge have decided to ... Read More »

This may sound shocking, but five days before election day, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Minnesota absentee ballots arriving by mail after 8PM on election day will be "separated from" the rest of the ballots - going back on a decision allowing a week after the election for the ball... Read More »

For all of you out there who have not yet voted, I hope you have a plan! You can find out more for options here in Minnesota right here. For those of you who have already voted and voted by absentee ballot, I encourage you to follow up online to check if your ballot was counted. You should see th... Read More »

One Saturday a couple months into House Living, Axel announced that it was time to clean out the garage. The garage was where we had dumped everything from our storage locker, which although it had been a fairly tidy place, was still filled with stuff we didn't know what else to do with. The gara... Read More »

School is starting, ready or not. Kind of. You may be sending your child to their first day of kindergarten - online. Your college sophomore may be at home with you rather than returning to campus. You may have opted for your preschooler to forego school entirely and you're trying to come up with... Read More »

When I was pregnant with Little L, everyone in our condo building asked if we were going to move. “Move? Why?” We loved condo living. “But you’ll want a backyard eventually.” A backyard? The parks were our backyard! Free public space that we didn’t have to maintain - what could be better? Well, ... Read More »

When Little L was a baby and started crawling, we switched our condo set-up. Previously we'd had a living room area by the window where we liked to watch the sunset and passersby. This area had been an area for relaxing and reading - a strictly laptop-free zone. But then Little L was on the move... Read More »

Last night on a Zoom call with my writing group, I described how I have come up with a small win that makes it feel a bit more like summer vacation despite still being largely quarantined. “So Little L has this green light that comes on when she’s allowed to get up” — there were nods on the scree... Read More »

The other day, I needed a new tube of chapstick, so I went into my work bag where I was sure I'd left one. I hadn't used that bright red backpack since March 13, the last day that I'd been at school teaching. I found a Punch Pizza gift card I'd bought for a birthday party that never happened. I ... Read More »

This week's Post from the Past is the original post when I first started my Loft Living column for The Journal, which later morphed into my very own Good Work Great Life blog. I thought it would be fun to revisit, especially because Axel's current desk set-up closely resembles the long-ago one ta... Read More »

Today is the last day of school for students and teachers in Minneapolis as well as other districts. Yet today doesn’t feel like the exuberant, locker-slamming, teachers-running-after-the-buses-waving type day that it often does. With a pandemic sending our education system online, and then with ... Read More »

Everyone says, have a back-up lovey. What’s a “lovey,” you ask? It’s the new-fangled parenting lingo for a stuffed animal or other item that is particularly special to your kiddo. It could be Baby Fox, a dirty pink blanket, or in Little L’s case, a polar bear named Oso. On Little L’s first day ... Read More »

"I got all of the ingredients I needed to try a new recipe, and now I can't find the recipe!" I texted Meghan. "Hahaha, that's so funny," she said. "I mean, too bad for you, but it's funny." Little L's Wednesday naptime was coming to an end, which meant that I would soon need to start preparing ... Read More »

This week’s Throwback Thursday is sponsored by Martin, who says, "Doesn't count unless you post the whole thing.” Clouded by the sands of time, I had forgotten that I had given more than an inch on this important matter Martin thought that my readers would "probably enjoy his witty retort.” I be... Read More »

One of the first weeks of the quarantine, Little L and I planted some seeds. Well, maybe that's not true. First we had to eat the food and save the glass jars to plant them in. Then we planted the seeds. And they're growing! Apparently pickle, sauerkraut, prunes, and olive jars work great for gro... Read More »

“Up or down?” Axel asks, his pointer finger hesitating above the screen. He’s about to spin the Vitality Wheel, thanks to all the steps I took this week. Axel always concentrates when he reaches the moment of truth. Through my work, I have this cool wellness program called Vitality where you can ... Read More »

This Throwback Thursday is sponsored by Joanie, who, when I texted to ask her about her favorite post, told me, “The one about the shelfie?” Originally published on November 17, 2016, here’s the one about the shelfie. Martin, hope you enjoy too... When is a shelf not a shelf? And why does it a m... Read More »

Does Little L need some new toys?  Yes, she greatly enjoyed the extra Duplos that we got her at the beginning of this thing - for about a week. Then, inexplicably, she stopped playing with Duplos, except in the bathroom… We considered getting her a mat to tumble on. But you know what she really l... Read More »

"It pays to have a good partner," Axel said to me as I walked into his office/our bedroom the other day. "Oh, what did I do?" I asked, feeling pleased he'd noticed. "My research partner for this class," he said. Oh. Well, I'm sure he likes me too. He and his research partner were working on a p... Read More »

In honor of Mother’s Day, here is a favorite post of my mom’s. I think it might be the fact that the found item was one she had given Little L that made the story so memorable to her. Originally published June 14, 2018. And it was definitely a small win! Little L didn't say anything or even seem ... Read More »

Happy Mother’s Day to the moms. The stepmoms. The mothers-in-law. The foster moms. Happy Mother’s Day to the mamas of the little ones, trying to work at home and manage their kids and second guessing their choices. Trying to get their kids to engage in online learning. Texting their mom friends f... Read More »

We have a fridge. And it keeps food cold. This was not the case last week at this time, so… small win. Turns out it’s not great to have your fridge break during a pandemic. But a lot of things are not great during all of this, so it’s kind of just par for the course. What started with a mysteriou... Read More »

Another small win: I’m ba-aaaack, and it’s Throwback Thursday, folks!  This week’s Post from the Past was a request from Karen, who wanted to reread the post where she was first given her alias. Here it is, Karen - enjoy! And just to be clear, this was written in October of 2016, back when, you k... Read More »

I’ve heard from multiple readers that they’re enjoying my small wins. That in itself is a small win! I’m glad you are reading and liking them, because sometimes it takes a lot of effort to find them these days - though it does give Axel and I something to be out the lookout for. However, as Kare... Read More »

Air flow is not great in our condo. We don't have that many windows, and even when we open them, the train usually goes by and is so loud that we end up closing them soon after. But there aren't as many trains right now. And we're really in the mood for fresh air. On a few occasions, I cracked L... Read More »

Happy Throwback Thursday. I've discovered a way to lessen my writing load just a bit - that's right; I'm going back into the archives. Small wins! This first Throwback Thursday is brought to us by Megan. Per her request, let me (re)tell you the story of the Half-Sock, originally published on Goo... Read More »

Megan rushed into a story. "I got this email about sending recipes..." I immediately started laughing. But because of the video chat lag, I didn't interrupt as I would have if we were in person. I let her go on. "It's like chain mail!" she said. She told me who it came from, a family member of h... Read More »

My recent video chat with Megan had her laughing as I told her a story of what happened to me when I went to the local vegan butcher to collect a no-contact pick-up order of packaged not-meat that would be placed in my trunk. What I love about my friendship with Megan is that we save up funny sto... Read More »

This post is dedicated to Megan and Cameron, whose house I am not staying at today. That's right, folks, I had a trip planed to Portland to see them - my first solo trip since Little L's birth and my first trip to visit them since I was out there three springs ago when I was pregnant with Little... Read More »

Yesterday I texted two friends, "I washed my hair for the first time since last Thursday!" "Yes!! Self care!!" replied Karen. T responded, confessing that she herself hadn't washed her hair since Thursday. Karen wasn't saying how long it had been. What pushed me over the edge towards hair-washi... Read More »

I went to get gas for the first time in a long time. It was a stressful experience. I must have picked the wrong station. It seemed like there were people everywhere! As I watched the numbers increase on the meter, I noticed that there was an "unleaded" handle next to the handle I was using. Wait... Read More »

The other day, I stumbled across something surprising in my drawer: earrings. Remember those? You wear them on your ears? When you, you know, go out in public? I remember when Little L was a baby and I returned to work after my maternity leave. For the first time in many months, I rediscovered t... Read More »

Yesterday, just as I had finally gotten Little L's coat and shoes on and we were about to head out onto the balcony with a notebook and pen, rain started splashing at on the balcony door. "Oh!" I said, surprised and thinking of how the paper would fly away and crinkle in the wind. And then, "Litt... Read More »

Yesterday, I didn't wear the same black leggings I've been wearing every single day of the quarantine. It was Sunday, so I didn't need to dress up. I needed my casual pants. But these weren't just any comfy pants. Back when this all started, I was video chatting with my brother David and he was ... Read More »

If you're like me, maybe you're finding yourself feeling a bit stressed today. Stop. Take a moment. And take a page from Oso's book. Find time to relax. Even if you're bear-ly hanging on. Take a load off. Small wins. If you enjoyed this post, you might also like Our Lucky, Rainy Day and Relaxat... Read More »

A treadmill desk? Sounds nice. Dancing in place while chopping onions? More doable. But maybe this is the best way I've found for upping my steps while getting stuff done. Step 1 - Grab an Item of Clean LaundrySteps 2, 3, 4 and up to 14 - Walk through apartment while folding shirt/towel/etc Ste... Read More »

It has been apparent to me for quite awhile that the sponge we’re using to wash the dishes is past its prime. Yet day after day, as I scrub the breadboard after chopping some apples for lunch or the rice cooker after dinner, I just keep using it anyway. It may not be pretty... or sanitary... but ... Read More »

Yesterday Little L met my suggestions to go out to play with the snow on the balcony with an agreeable, "I wear my grey snowpants." I was pleasantly surprised. Until I went to the front closet to retrieve what I now call the Balcony Bag. If you're wondering, dealing with the Balcony Bag while a ... Read More »

Sitting at home with nothing to do? Or know someone else with spare time on their hands?Tell your life story! Or ask your aunt to!Sign up for this FREE special six-week online course starting Friday, April 17!Get weekly emails with interview questions that you can:*Answer and send to your family/... Read More »

Sunday Fun-day? Yes! If you like things clean! Last Sunday, we instituted a Family Cleaning Day. Little L loves cleaning. She regularly does laundry with her grandma and cleans the bathroom with her nana and grandpa (thank you, family! – I think the saying goes, "Teach a kid to fold socks and you... Read More »

Last week when I was cooking penne pasta, I set a small amount of uncooked noodles aside, thinking that Little L and I could use them to make some necklaces. A week went by. Little L asked to eat it several times. It does look tasty, doesn't it?Finally, after much procrastinating, I got my act to... Read More »

"Little L, I have a job for you and Mama," Axel said as I carried Little L into the kitchen, still in her sleep sack**, clutching Oso and sucking on her left hand. "I need you to look for the drain cover to the bathtub. I can't find it! I looked everywhere!" Last night before Axel went to bed, he... Read More »

I woke up to the sound of thunder this morning. I was elated. A rainy day, made famous by the Cat in the Hat. As Dr. Seuss famously said, "we sat in the house all that cold, cold, wet day." On a rainy day, it's okay to stay in. It feels normal to stay in. Rain, rain, please don't go away!Yet, on ... Read More »

I showed up late to online yoga yesterday evening. If you know me, you're probably not surprised. As calendar-oriented as I am, it's still a challenge to make it places in a timely manner. Luckily, the virtual door was still open. We began with four different laying-on-your-back poses that laste... Read More »

I don't know about any of you introverts out there, but if you're sharing space with others during this stay-at-home time, maybe you're beginning to feel a bit... crowded? Axel and I have set up a system for who stays where so that we don't get too much on each other's nerves. He usually works in... Read More »

When Life Gives you Peas… This morning I inventoried the groceries from last week. They had been sitting in the fridge long enough that I figured it was safe to start using them. Two containers of green beans. Two of spinach – much too much spinach. And some fresh peas in a bag. A slimy smell ema... Read More »

When I was out for my early morning run this morning, I noticed that there is only one car parked in our building's guest garage. Not to mention the usually crowded streets are deserted – there is parking everywhere! And I thought... what better time to have a party? Hear me out. Sure, our party... Read More »

"You know where they could be?" It had just come to me as I was reading before bed. After spending most of the day searching pockets, both mine and Axel's. "My white jacket! That's the one I wore out on the balcony this morning. And I was carrying my headphones!" Places I had already searched: My... Read More »

As I stood in the bathroom, scrubbing foamed-up soap between my fingers and under my nails, I glimpsed a moth on the bottom of the mirror. Was it even alive? Its location on the bottom of the mirror made me think maybe it had met its fate long ago and just now fallen from the light fixture above.... Read More »

After two weeks of not going anywhere, there was finally a need to replenish some supplies. But when I turned the key in the ignition of the car, it made some noise… and the car did not turn on. I got Axel to help me. “It’s almost starting!” I said. “It’s so close!” A few weeks back, we experie... Read More »

This time, Little L and I made broccoli barley soup. There were leftovers, just like last time. This time, I put them in the fridge. We've been eating the soup for lunch all week. Small wins (though truly, this felt huge). Read More »

For several days as Little L and I strolled down the street, trying to avoid crossing paths with anyone on the sidewalk, we passed this as we turned left at the bottom of the hill: Looks nice. Do you think it would fit me? "Mama! Why is a shoe there?" Little L asked. "It's so silly!" I said. "Do ... Read More »

Last night as I was finally in bed in my pajamas, ready for some relaxation before drifting off to sleep, I eagerly reached to open the drawer on my night stand to grab my Kindle.  The drawer moved about half an inch and no more.  It was stuck, and so was I. I can get it closed... but I can't get... Read More »

I don't have a reputation for being much of a cook. Yet I received two oven mits in the past year, one as a birthday gift from Little L, and another as a Valentine's Day gift from a student. If you've ever shared a meal with me, you know just how much I eat!I've had hot pad holders before, as I g... Read More »

Last month, my writing group met in Northeast Minneapolis. Three of the four of us made it. One of us left late and another left early. The month before, a different combination of the three of the four of us gathered at a café in South Minneapolis on a snowy night. The drive was a little dicey; ... Read More »

Yesterday, Little L and I were walking through the leafy section of the park where no one was within six let alone 30 feet of us when– My eyes spotted a big pile – someone hadn't cleaned up after their dog last fall, and now the snow had melted and there it remained. Right where my foot was abou... Read More »

I've been trying to keep these posts amusing and lighthearted, but I'm going to be honest. I didn't have a great start to the day yesterday. I was boiling water for my morning coffee (a theme, perhaps?) when I realized that I had turned on the wrong burner... And something else was bubbling. Thi... Read More »

Monday at home. No music class for Little L, not that we would be going anyway. She's awake in her crib –I am lucky she's a rather cautious two-and-a-half-year-old– and I open the cabinet to get a mug for a cup of coffee before I go in to get her. A fruit fly flies out. I sigh, looking at the not... Read More »

"A-HA! This hose comes off!" Axel exclaimed, a metal hanger in hand. "Can you bring a broom handle?" For the past week, we'd been making half-hearted efforts to get the vacuum working, to no avail. Just the night before Axel had cleaned out all sorts of different vacuum parts that I didn't even k... Read More »

“Hey! I have the day off today!” Zahara texted. “Any chance you can meet up this afternoon for coffee?” I was shocked to see this text as my lunch hour was wrapping up. I had been texting with Zahara about setting up a coffee date for months; we had at one point settled on getting together on a w... Read More »

The cashier handed me my receipt. "Have a good day."  Where was my bag?  Luckily I was wearing Little L's diaper bag, so I opened it up and stuffed the wet wipes and prunes in. When my niece K got out of the bathroom, I asked her what had happened. "Oh, they don't give you a bag in California. Yo... Read More »

Last Friday night I turned my phone off at 6 p.m. and didn’t turn it back on until Saturday around noon. Do you know what I missed in those 17 hours of not checking my texts and emails? Not a thing. When I turned it back on, I didn’t have even one new text, voicemail, or email. I’m not suggesting... Read More »

It’s too far away, I told my friend. He wanted to rent us a room in his house. Too far away from what? From where we live now, I explained patiently. We decided to be long distance friends. I call him when I’m in South Minneapolis, and he does the same when he visits Northeast. We see each other ... Read More »

“What? YOU went to Costco??!?” Ana texted me back. Which made me realize that I haven’t yet outed myself as a megastore shopper. Yup, for all of my talk of minimalism, I’ve been walking around with a CostCo card in my wallet for the past ten months. It all started because my brother David and his... Read More »

This morning Little L and I saw her***! At least we thought we did. We saw a shadow near the door right before the lights went out. Was it Woof-Woof? Or a new sofa? Now that the leaves have fallen, we can see the house across the way. Aren’t they pretty much asking us to keep tabs on their dog? ... Read More »

“Want to play something else?” New Friend asked. We decided to play gin, though I wasn’t quite clear on the rules. Later, I realized it was just like Mah Jong. You can make runs OR threes/fours-of-a-kind. But how to organize my cards? Put all of the twos together or put all of the hearts together... Read More »