for my plan of

hiking and reading everyday.

i feel like i’m

busier now than

ever before.

let’s get right into it…

on august 11th

the goodmans arrived

for our third

annual trip to celebrate

my wedding anniversary.

while we waited

for them to arrive

i watched maddy

try to drive

my car,

play with some

bamboo sticks,

and pick the flowers

in our yard.

as she played

i thought about

liz

and the fact

that i had two

wedding anniversaries with

her, and now

three without her.

it just didn’t

seem possible.

there was our child

playing in the yard,

just as

liz

pictured it.

fuck.

***

the next day

we were all on

our way to central california.

maddy entertained

us the entire way

her new favorite thing?

to hear stories

with her as the

main character.

we all laughed

our asses off

as she would yell,

“talk about the maddy”

at the end of

each story.

grandma candee and

grandpa tom tell me

that this is

in the genes…

liz

used to sit on

a swing, yelling,

“somebody push me!”

let me translate both

phrases for you.

“pay attention to me!”

i love to see

those personality traits

coming through, even

though the only

time they had

together was

while maddy was in

the womb.

along the way,

we made an

unplanned stop.

as soon as we

turned into the

lookout point,

i recognized the place…

we had been

here a few years earlier.

almost exactly four

years ago.

i had just returned

from india,

just in time for

our first wedding anniversary.

and we headed up

to the santa ynez valley

to visit the wineries.

along the way,

we had stopped here.

in this very place.

instantly recalled from

the depths of

my mind,

the photo of

liz.

double fuck.

we were parked

and we all needed

to stretch our legs,

so we did.

and we took some photos.

soon we were

back in the car

and on our way,

but i couldn’t

help but think of

that time

four years earlier.

i just wish i could

remember more of it.

***

after a few more

hours of driving,

including a nice drive

along a very dark

pacific coast highway,

we finally found the

place that candee

had booked for us.

candee and debbie

offered to hang out

with maddy while

tom, brooke and i

went on a search

for food.

as it turns out,

there are no grocery

stores or restaurants open

past 10:00 on a week

night in that

part of the world.

so that night we

ate food from

a gas station a few

miles south of

where we stayed.

and it was awesome.

***

the next morning

we headed to san simeon

to check out

hearst castle.

we took a tour

that was shortened

for some of us

because madeline decided

she liked hearing her

voice echo in

the huge rooms.

we rejoined the

rest of the group

and madeline fell

in love with the

indoor pool.

no trip to

any historical monument

would be complete

without a stop

in the gift shop.

brooke (or “brookie” as maddy calls her)

picked up a

toy for maddy

that had both of

us reliving our childhoods.

soon we were back

at the house…

while the ladies

slept, i went on

a short photo

excursion with tom.

after nap time,

we went to visit

the elephant seals…

that night we had

an even better meal

than the night before.

this time from

a grocery store,

and not a gas station.

***

the next morning

we jumped in the car

and headed north

toward monterey so

we could take in

one of maddy’s

favorite activities…

checking out an aquarium.

we had a lovely

drive up the pch

and after a short

stop at pebble beach,

we found ourselves

at the aquarium,

where maddy’s mind

was officially blown.

and then she

got a little confused.

after an early dinner

in monterey, we

drove home,

enjoying the sun set.

once it got dark,

the lovely twists

and turns we experienced

on a well-lit

pch became a little

too much for

some of us to handle

(i won’t mention any names here).

the next morning

we explored the back yard

then checked out of

our place and stopped

to see maddy’s new

favorite animals.

brooke took control of

my camera for

a few minutes,

and got some of

my favorite photos ever.

soon we were

on the road

back to los angeles,

but we made sure

we stopped along

the way.

first, in morro bay,

where maddy thought

for a few seconds

that she didn’t want

her feet to

touch the sand

then decided she

didn’t care.

later we stopped in

san luis obispo

and i almost threw

up in bubble gum alley.

(so, so gross).

we had a short

stop for lunch

(and coloring)

then got stuck

in some awful traffic

on the way

through santa barbara.

while we waited,

brooke and i

settled on a destination

for her birthday trip

(which was the next tuesday).

a couple of hours later

we were back in

los angeles, and after

a quick unpacking/repacking

of our bags,

we were in the

car and on our way

to vegas while

maddy stayed back with

grandma, grandpa and auntie debbie.

we made it to vegas

in record time, and

got checked into

our hotel at 1:30am.

we went out for

a couple of hours,

and i watched as brooke

won a few dollars.

(i lost $20).

the next morning we

caught up with

my friend mark

who was in town from

the mn.

the three of us

hit the pool at

mgm, doing our best

to stay cool in the

awful heat

(we probably should have just stayed inside).

after a long day

at the pool,

we had

a great dinner

at the belaggio.

the next day

we walked through a

couple of casinos

and had lunch

before brooke found

a slot machine

that just called

her name.

within minutes

she won $120.

from a penny slot machine.

birthday girl’s luck.

i lost $40.

and like total

tourists, we had

to get a photo doing this:

and this:

soon we were back

in the car

and on our way

back to maddy.

i insisted we stop

and take a photo here:

four hours later

we were back home.

it was important

and necessary

for us to get away

(as it is for any couple),

but we both missed that

little girl so much,

and were happy to be home.

***

the next day we

said goodbye

to the goodmans

and it was back

to our everyday lives.

i’m pretty damn lucky

to have such

great people in

my life…

such understanding in-laws,

and an understanding

woman in brooke.

***

something i failed to write about (at least on my blog) was my experience at camp widow. you can read more about it here.

my favorite part of the weekend (besides getting to hang out with new and old friends), was fulfilling a life long dream of giving away a giant check (on behalf of the liz logelin foundation).

the recipient of this grant, emily morgan, is the 43rd llf grant recipient. it’s primarily readers of this blog that made this possible, and i wanted to make sure that you all got special thanks.

also, i wanted to remind folks that the llf walk run hope 5k and celebration of hope gala are coming up. we’d love to have you at both events, so sign up as soon as possible to beat the deadline for the 5k and to get discounted tickets for the gala.

please help us give out more big checks.

thanks,

m.

(oh…and a book update coming soon. seriously. like, on or before this friday).

one of the main reasons we were so successful last year was because of the 5k and gala.

over $40,000 was raised over that weekend and hundreds of you from across the country came together to support these families.

the board members and volunteers of the liz logelin foundation cannot thank you enough for the support you have given us. we hope that you will continue to help us give hope to these families in need.

i’m excited to announce that the planning for this year’s events is well underway.

“celebration of hope” (as the gala will be known this year) will take place on friday september 17 (liz’s birthday)

and the “walk. run. hope 5k” will be saturday september 18, 2010.

we hope that you will consider attending one or both of these events.

for more information on each event or to find out how you can donate/sponsor these events please go here.

also, kristine lazar and the cbs 2 news here in los angeles did a follow up story on us and the foundation. check it out here.

finally, here are links to sponsors/donorsservice providers, and the names of individuals who donated items to the silent, live, and online auctions at the 2009 liz logelin foundation gala (please make sure to patronize their businesses):

Hobo International

Tina Steinberg Designs

LUG

Silpada Jewelry

Teal Chimblo Designs

K Kay Designs

Solo Vino Wine Shop

Doubletree Park Place Hotel

Steve Kjelland Photography

Lion’s Tap

Marquette Hotel

Millennium Hotel

Minneapolis Hilton

Radisson Hotel

ForestHaus Photography

Hell’s Kitchen

Hennepin Theater Trust

MacPhail Center for Music

Jason A. Cook Photography

Tastefully Simple

Litzky Public Relations

Stub and Herbs

Blip Toys

Razor USA

Serendipity Photography

Baby Love Designs

3M

Alison’s Cleaning

Andrew Zimmern

Cheryl Neuharth Photography

Jasper Stone Co.

Impressive Windows & Interiors, LLC

Papa Nicholas Coffee Co.

Garden of Weedin’

Allison Pottery

Jen Taylor Photography

Pampered Chef

Rachael Ray

Rustica of Nisswa, MN

Prairie Dental Group

Southern Living at Home

KL Upholstery

Good Earth Shop

General Mills

Spring Valley Vineyard

Uppercase Living

Rocco Altobelli

Green Leaf Homeopathy

Beau Monde Salon

Salon Intrigue

Salon Lili

Thymes

Arbonne

HBO

Lauren Farmer Photography

Burrito Loco

Lifetime Fitness

Heartache to Healing

Nystrom Inc.

Summit Brewing Co.

Mendakota Country Club

David Fleck/FCGM Marketing

Midnight Market, Hopkins

Chambers Hotel

Park Tavern

Oscar Meyer

Luna B. Tee

Pepsi

ABC Studios

Forgotten and Found

Hatchette Book Group

Hotel Biba

Kalahari Resort

KM Horsepower

Peace of Mind Jewelry

Norwex Enviro Products

Repeat Products

Sew Sarah

Just Jenn Designs

CBS/Paramount

Jennifer McKinney Photography

Stationary Shop

Microsoft

Rebel Ink

Hyancinth Events

Creative Cakes by Alyssa

Uber Baby

Caribou Coffe

Manduka

Glamour Magazine

Delta Vacations

and individual donors:

Arlene Tharne
Mary Taylor
Elizabeth & Julie Gay
Jennifer Silvera
Jennifer Gadient
Lisa Villa Snelling
Debra Haigh
Rebecca Grothe
Charlie & Mary Aydt
Jeffra Gay
Debbie Mirau
Gayle Cortez-McKinney
Sara Shoberg
David Laurion
Robert Henry
Dan & LeAnn Dow
Anthony Downs
Amanda Rettke
Maleeda & Kevin Holmes
Abigail Carter
McCubbin-Jones Family
Alice Miller
Bev Logelin
Amy Lipovac
Camryn Manheim
Candee Goodman
Christine Janty
Christi Hawk
Jackie Gulbranson
Jillian Bennett
Matt Sammons
Michele Hetland
Nicole Kofoed
Seth Green
Whitney Smith
Mark Rose

Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2010!

in the mean time i wanted to share a few things…

a few months ago i was more than a little surprised when i was asked to contribute an essay to be published in the shriver report: a woman’s nation changes everything, a study by maria shriver and the center for american progress.

i found a copy of the book in the middle of my mail mountain when we returned from our trip. i had no idea whether or not they planned to use what i wrote, but as i flipped through the book i ended up on page 368 and was thrilled to find my essay.

you can read it here.

i’ve read a bit of the book and it’s great. it appears that you can read most it online, but if you’re anything like me, you may want a hardcopy of the thing. if that’s the case, you can buy one here.

enough about me.

i wanted to alert you to a couple of events that benefit some great causes, including the liz logelin foundation…

The week of December 7, a group of bloggers, including Buried with Children,Mayhem & Moxie,7 Clown Circus, Scary Mommy, Adventures in Babywearing, The Extraordinary Ordinary, & Mama’s Losin’ It, will be working together to promote an event entitled, Blog, Bid, Hope. By hosting a three day auction, their goal to raise money on behalf of the Liz Logelin Foundation, as well as Anissa Mayhew, a 35 year old blogger who recently suffered a stroke. The auction will offer a variety of items, including blog designs, accessories, baby gear and art. Do some good over the holiday season and donate to the members of the on-line community who need our support. Because different items will be available for bidding on all seven sites, you are sure to please anyone on your holiday list!

finally, one of my best friends in the whole wide world, anthony downs, has offered to donate a portion of the proceeds from his annual holiday party to the liz logelin foundation.

if you’re in the minneapolis area, the following invite is for you:

Join us in celebrating the Holidays by dressing up in your favorite holiday attire. Wear your ugly Christmas sweater, your sweet red/green outfit, or maybe your best Kwanzaa Kaftans. Feel free to bring friends, the invitation is open to all.
Donations will be accepted for The Liz Logelin Foundation and Youth Frontiers. We hope you can join us in supporting these two very worthy causes.

Location: The Local – 931 Nicollet Mall Downtown Minneapolis
Time: Saturday, December 12th 9:00pm

Facebook members can view the event page here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=166473189314

i wish i could be there.

finally, today is the 7th, so here’s my monthly reminder about the liz logelin foundation’s 7th on the 7th campaign.

please consider donating

via a network for good:

Donate Now to The Liz Logelin Foundation

via paypal:

more soon…

taking a break from showing my daughter and rachel the wonders of north india (we’re going to see the taj mahal tomorrow morning) to share a message from the liz logelin foundation.

as you know, we’ve been raising funds for a few months and we plan to distribute some of these funds to needy families in the near future (more on that when we do). we have a board meeting tomorrow morning (india time) during which we’ll be finalizing our first round of distributions. we’d like to help everyone, but at this stage, it’s impossible to do so. someday we hope we can give money to everyone who applies, but in the mean time, we have to make some rather tough decisions. here are just a few of the 50+ stories we’ve read during our selection process:

…a 47 year old mother of 4 who needs help caring for a daughter with special needs…

…a 39 year old father of 3 girls who would use the money to pay for the girls’ school, Girls Scouts, piano and dance…

…a 29 year old mother of 4 whose husband was killed by a drunk driver who would use the money to pay rent…

…a 34 year old mother of a 3 year old who would use the money to help pay medical bills…

…a 33 year old father of 2 girls who would use the money to save his home that is in foreclosure…

…a 30 year old mother of 3 who would use the money to buy groceries…

…a 49 year old father of an infant daughter who would use the money to pay for medically necessary items…

…a 42 year old father of 3 who would use the money to pay for funeral expenses…

the great news is that we’ve done in an incredible job with our fund raising.

our $7 on the 7th campaign has been very well received.

the gala, 5k and online auction events were a huge success…just check out what you all contributed:

5K: $8,814.83
Gala: $27,071.69
Online Auction: $5,091.69

for a grand total of: $40,978.21

but to help the maximum number of families, our efforts must continue. and to make this easier, we’ve made a significant change to our donation platform. the liz logelin foundation has partnered with network for good to securely process your online credit card donation.

why did we do this?

well, paypal has been great (and if you’d prefer to use it please do so. honestly, we’ll accept anything: checks, moneyorders, or even well-concealed cash), but we wanted to use a donation platform that was designed specifically for non-profits. one of the biggest advantages of the switch is the ability to schedule automatic payments (something many donors have requested, but recurring payments are not required). you can now schedule your payment for $7 on the 7th, $24 on the 24th, $2 on the 2nd or any amount at any time. you can also donate in memory or on behalf of someone else. it gives you the option of telling us who you are or making your donation completely anonymously. we want every dollar that comes in to really count and this will help us make the most of all of the generous donations.

and to give you an incentive to sign up for recurring payments, we’re going to be giving away prizes to the 50th, 100th, 250th, and 500th persons to sign up. in addition and we’ll randomly choose someone to receive a very special gift from india, a gold bangle, picked out by me.

so…get signed up for recurring payments.

or make a one-time donation.

either way, you’ll be helping families in situations none of us could imagine. as you know, i’ve had the great misfortune of living many people’s worst nightmare. but thanks to the help of folks like you, my daughter and i are thriving. let’s work together to do the same for others.

Donate Now to The Liz Logelin Foundation

(don’t forget, all donations are 100% tax deductible).

(oh, and here’s a video of madeline dancing to a puppet show at our hotel in jaipur).

first, go here to help the foundation win $10,000, $5000 or $1000, depending on the number of votes we receive. i pledge a 20% match on any amount we win. when added together, if my math is correct, and it may not be ’cause it’s 5:00am here in bangalore and because i suck at math, that could be an $12,000, $6000 or $1200 for the foundation. voting ends on oct. 15.

second: check this out. apparently i got nominated for “best daddy blog” over at the bump. now, i normally wouldn’t promote this kind of thing, ’cause i don’t write my blog to win awards (and i frankly, i dislike being labeled as a daddy blogger), but in this case, if i get enough votes to win “best overall blog” then the award comes with a $1000 prize. i find it almost ridiculous that i was even nominate, but if i somehow win this contest, i’ll donate the $1000 prize to the liz logelin foundation, plus match it 100%. this math is easy on this one. when added together, that could mean an additional $2000 for the foundation. voting ends on monday, october 19th.

so help a foundation out.

it just takes a few clicks.

oh, and here’s a photo of maddy to keep you busy until i finish up a blog post about our first week in india:

(you can also follow the photos and very small bits of writing by clicking here, updated almost daily).

A.J. here.

Matt asked me to give you an update on this weekend’s events.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

The Gala last night was a huge success!

Thanks to everyone who came to the event and donated to help families in need.

Thanks to everyone who donated merchandise or services for the auction.

Thanks to all of the volunteers who worked tirelessly over the past weeks and months to ensure that it would be a success.

We couldn’t have done this without everyone, and so we thank you!

If you didn’t get a chance to come to the Gala last night, you still have a chance to bid on some awesome items. We have an eBay site set up, with an auction running through this week. All proceeds go to benefit the foundation.

In addition, there is a story about Matt and Maddy on the front page of the Star Tribune today, A Father Alone Spreads Help to Others Like Him

Matt and Maddy Logelin were in the Twin Cities this weekend for two events to support a foundation Matt established earlier this year in memory of his wife. The nonprofit “Liz Logelin Foundation — for the love of Liz” offers financial support to men and women whose partners have died and left them with dependent children.

“I could have easily sat back and said poor me, poor me, please continue to send me clothes, send me gifts for my daughter,” he said on Sunday as Maddy played at his in-law’s house in Minnetonka. “But that’s not the case. I know there are other people way worse off than me. I see that as a big responsibility.”

The second annual 5K walk at Lake Calhoun on Saturday drew 300 people and raised more than $9,000. A gala Sunday night at the Calhoun Beach Club with a silent, live and Internet auction was expected to raise even more. An original painting by Maddy had a high bid on eBay of $400 as of Sunday afternoon.

Help us spread the word about The Liz Logelin Foundation! Send the article and the foundation website to your friends and family.

A.J. here.

Matt and Rachel have been all over the local media for the past few days to promote The Liz Logelin Foundation and our 5K and Gala events

Rachel was on WCCO yesterday to talk a little about the foundation and our upcoming events. Check it out!

Matt was interviewed on Twin Cities Live this afternoon. He talks a bit about his blog, the foundation, and there is a special appearance by Maddy!

Here’s the video:

Matt was also on Kare11′s EXTRA segment, first airing yesterday. From their site:

Over the last 18 months Matt’s blog has become, literally, famous. More than a million people hang on his every word. A book is now in the works.

The life he leads with Maddy has become so inspiring a foundation was formed to help people just like them.

The Liz Logelin Foundation works to grant money to men and women who lose their partner to death, and are left to parent alone.

The video segment up on their website, and it airs again this evening at 6:30pm.

Finally,

We just got some news from Becky about the fund-raising totals for the 5K.

You raised over $9,000 for the foundation today.

We are overwhelmed by your hard work and generosity.

Thank you.

we’re working on a few changes around here on the blog. please excuse the mess as we get a few things back into place. matt and i are pretty excited about it, and we hope you like it!

update: the changes are mostly complete. we have a few more things to get back into place, but I think you’ll find this new layout a bit easier on the eyes and easier to navigate.

matt is going to fill in some additional info about a special project…

(Sep. 19, Update, I made some fixes so that the site displays properly on Blackberries…)

after.

the beard is gone.

(the mustache stays for 24 hours and an extra $100 for the foundation).

go ahead and make fun of me.

i don’t give.

to those of you who wanted the beard to stay, well, so did i.

and i’m already growing it back.

but (almost) anything for a good cause, right?

(and for the record, i nearly vomited when i saw myself in the mirror. maddy didn’t care a bit).

thanks to everyone who purchased a ticket during the last 7 days.

you raised $6095 for the foundation.

and if you haven’t purchased your ticket to the liz logelin foundation gala, you have until september 13th to do so.

please do it.

it will be fun.

i promise.

and it’s for a great cause.

***update***

within two hours of me publishing this blog post, some of my twitter peeps were so disgusted by my sweet ‘stache, they decided to raise an additional $200 for the foundation, just to see it go away.

i was so eager to get rid of it that i threw in $50 of my own money.

so here i am.

clean shaven for the first time in like, 9 years.

(thanks to @VDog and for the idea (and for donating) and @childsplayx2, @redneckmommy, @mamaspohr, @SnglMomSurvives and@moburns67 for donating. you’ve all made my mother happy).

***update #2***

maddy’s reaction: