End of week updates...

It's been a busy week 'round here. Stew's been taking up space at the computer desk downloading and editing vacation photos, as well as pictures from Claire's 1st birthday. Plus, Momma had to fly to Long Island on business Wednesday - Thursday (no doubt for a meeting with Joey Buttafucco). Thursday (yesterday) was Momma's birthday, and she didn't get home from the airport until 9:00pm. But, she didn't have much to rush home to (other than Claire) because Pops doesn't have any money to get her a birthday gift... so, he made her a scrapbook of photos from their trip. Between you and me, based on the looks of the scrapbook, I think Stew hired the 4-year old kid from down the street to put the thing together. The price = one (1) Yoo-Hoo drink.

Anyway, as you might recall, Claire had her 1st birthday last week. She received books, toys and clothing. Unfortunately, she wasn't too interested in posing for a photo, but I did my best. She received lots more clothing than the little sweatshirt she's wearing, but I didn't think it was appropriate to pile the clothing on the floor. Apparently, that's Momma's job judging by the continual pile of her clothes that can be found on the floor of the master bedroom.

And... some might recall that Stew submitted a short story to Minnesota Monthly magazine for its annual Tamarack Award contest (winning prize = $10,000 and the story published in the magazine). Well, Stew did not win... not even an honorable mention. Here's a bio of the winning author (followed by Stew's bio):

The Winner: Eric Braun, 36, grew up in Reno. Eleven years ago, he moved to Minneapolis, where he works as a nonfiction book editor with Free Spirit Publishing. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of Nevada–Reno and a master of fine arts in fiction writing from Minnesota State University in Mankato. “I wrote my first short story when I was in the second or third grade,” Braun says. “I’ve been writing seriously for the past 10 years.” He is a former participant in the Loft Mentor Series, and his writing has been published in Green Mountains Review, the Great River Review, and the Adirondack Review.

Stew: Brett Stewart, 39, grew up in Pierre, SD. Ten years ago, he moved to Minneapolis, where he sits around all day in his underwear complaining about not having a writing career. He holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of SD, which he put to good use marketing and selling extraordinarily high-quality furniture at a modest price for the past five years. He hung up his selling shoes last December to pursue writing while being a stay-at-home-dad. "I wrote my first - and only - short story when I was in the fourth grade," Stew says. "I basically plagiarized an Encyclopedia Brown story and called it my own. I don't consider myself a short-story writer, but I can spin a helluva yarn if I have an adequate amount of beer in my belly." He is a former participant in the Pierre Area Punt-Pass-and-Kick competition (1981), in which he placed Third. "I couldn't throw or kick a football," says Stew. "But I could punt one like nobody's business." Aside from this blog, Stew's writing has yet to be published, most likely because he only blogs and hasn't been writing. But, we're all confident he'll continue complaining about it until the time comes when his children are school age... at which time he'll need to dust off his selling shoes and get a job, thereby pulverizing his dream of ever becoming a serious writer.