When we bought our house, one of the little things we were excited about was that the yard seemingly had the capability of growing strawberries, which are Kalen's favorite. In the middle of the concrete patio by the garage, the small garden bed was full of strawberry plants. We had rented various places up until... Continue Reading →
Easter Egg Hunting for Nerds
A few months ago, Kalen ordered some UV flashlights off Amazon. He needed them for work to check some kind of coating on specialty circuit boards they were making, but he has often found that it is more efficient to order things for work from personal accounts and have the company reimburse him. So of... Continue Reading →
Be Still and Grow
I've been busy getting ready for our big trip coming up, which is finally beginning to feel real, but that means I haven't been writing much here. I've done a little writing on other things, and I watched a webinar about writing science fiction, but I've been a little bit stumped on blog material. I... Continue Reading →
A Bittersweet Discovery
Kalen left for work after lunch and I watched out the window for a few more minutes, thinking about how the bees were a much more compelling blog topic than the New Year roundup I had planned. I knew I would never get any good pictures from my living room, though, between Pippin's nose art... Continue Reading →
Make Like a Tree
It's after Thanksgiving now, which means it's officially acceptable for me to upgrade autumn things for winter things, but it also means that I'm in that post-holiday turkey-induced slump where I don't have much energy or motivation to trudge up to the attic and dig out the Christmas decorations, so I'm just going to write... Continue Reading →
Day Trip to Crystal Bridges
Since we moved to Southwest Missouri, Kalen and I have heard numerous people talk about Crystal Bridges. It took us a while to grasp the idea that one could make a quick day trip to another state, but we've gotten used to that (almost), and now, after having lived here for almost eight years, we... Continue Reading →
No Participation Trophy for Me, Thanks!
I've never considered myself particularly athletic, and I recently began to wonder if that was an unusual assessment, since I spend about five hours a week at the gym on top of daily dog walks and the occasional yoga practice (and this summer, a few paddleboarding trips). Those seem like the pursuits of an athletic... Continue Reading →
The Beautiful Union of Nature and Technology
Okay, that's a pretty grandiose title for what I'm sure is a pretty middle-of-the-road post, but here we go anyway. I enjoy the plants I grow in my yard, but gardening has been a learning process to be sure. Adding basic irrigation to our landscaping with a DIY kit was a real game changer. It... Continue Reading →
I Guess We’re Lizard People Now
No, not that kind of lizard people. Our house has a basement. It's not a nice finished basement where you might host Super Bowl parties or movie marathons, but it's a basement, and that was a requirement when we were searching for a house in an area known for devastating tornadoes. The basement gets damp... Continue Reading →
Summer’s Sunset
We went to the lake again this weekend, probably for the last time this year. It was a quieter trip, but still enjoyable, and it was evident that summer (actual seasonal summer, not calendar summer that dictates school and fashion and craft store decorations) is winding to a close. There were fewer boats on the... Continue Reading →