At LOG OFF, we call it "Sudz Up". It's the perfect ending to a perfect day. After everyone has had their last barefoot run across the glass on Balsam, the skis and life jackets are tucked safely away, and the boat is up for the night, in they go! One by one my little (well not quite so little anymore) cherubs head back into the water one last time. It's bath time. A little biodegradable shampoo goes a long way for these Sudz Up veterans. One guest arranges his do in an Elvis Presley style. His twin brother goes for the spikes all over the head look. My son Elliott, after 11 years of this ritual, just makes one giant Mohawk down the middle of his now teenage head. As he knows it brings a smil

As we made the trek from Minneapolis to Balsam Lake this weekend I noticed that I could in fact, suppress the pouting face that worked incessantly to rear it’s ungrateful self for the first 45 minutes of the drive. I stared at the road ahead debating whether or not to speak my mind. My husband was in his own world and I was somewhat reticent about interrupting his precious transition time from the world of work to the world of cabin living. And so I waited. I know the signs. His hands become more relaxed around the steering wheel and his shoulders lower themselves further and further from his ears. He no longer tinkers with the Suburban’s thermostat and he works to engage me in conversation

Perhaps what first caught my eye was the cover: a woman in her late 30's, wearing a v-neck sweater and jeans, holding a chicken in her arms, a basket of produce sitting at her feet. Truth be told, this is the image that gets the blood flowing in my veins and well, I know my husband cannot look away from me when I am approaching him in my worn pair of Red Wings (a gift from him for our honeymoon). At a time when so many are heading to the book store seeking fulfillment in 50 Shades Of Gray then later paying out $10 to sit in a cold movie theater watching Mike make some Magic...well, no wonder so many of us are depressed! What we really all need is... The Dirty Life. Kristin Kimball is the wri