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Nikos moved his factory sixty miles from Northfield. Back to commuting but nothing compared to driving forty hours round trip monthly. Going on a trip even for one night, helps with these cold days of endless snow. We left this past Saturday just as soon as we tidied up the house, had thrown some clothes … Continue reading »

It would be extremely difficult if not impossible to find a born and raised West Virginian who did not have familial ties to King Coal. I had a great uncle who had perished in the mine explosion outside of Fairmont, WV.

I went to a father daughter dance last week. I really didn’t want to go, but my mom insisted, so I went with Katerina and Daddy. I’m more into school dances than this kind of stuff, but I went because I didn’t really have much else to do. My mom was overly excited; as peppy … Continue reading »

Being Minnesota newbies we were exploring the must-see things to do and I was asking lots of questions to find out what these were. Naturally,  we’d been advised to check out the Winter Carnival and had also promised Nikolas a trip to Groth Music.  I thought it would be a fine day to kill both … Continue reading »

MN residents have a strong resilience to the harsh winters, regardless, the bitterly chilled wind eventually creeps into the bones and can make life seem dull. We are a museum going family, something my dad instilled in me as a child. Nikos (my husband) is never as inclined to go, sometimes even Elizabeth needs some … Continue reading »

This January has been the longest, coldest and bank account-draining month of the year.   Elizabeth and Katerina are ten years and five days apart.  This was not an easy month on several levels with  Nikos’ business,  rarely getting out for walks, knowing that some people outside of our family are going through serious issues in … Continue reading »

Christmas moved in so swiftly before I could even wrap two presents. I didn’t even get half of my Christmas cards sent out, and I’m sorry if you didn’t receive one because I don’t even remember who I sent one to. I also lost the cards until the day after Christmas.

Nikolas was too excited for Christmas, claiming that it was close to painful that the days took so long to pass.  Teacher’s gifts were fun this year.  I gave each huge platters with a pistachio cake, baklava, and cookies.  On top, they each received cozy socks and a hand sanitizer.  I love giving cookie platters … Continue reading »

Pre-Christmas activities can  feel like a big cram session, our attempt to make Christmas memorable and magical for the kids, school concerts, cookie-baking marathons, Christmas traditions, watching twenty Christmas movies, enough popcorn and butter to make our bodies appear like one big popped piece, and I didn’t even mention the shopping and wrapping.

Autumn had been whisked away by the ever-roaring wind. I had quickly grown used to layering Katerina and Nikolas, so many layers, and threatening Elizabeth to add more. I wondered how they could even move.