A while (57 days, 3 hours and 12 minutes) ago my family and I moved into a small house. We are doing a total gut + addition on our normal sized house so we needed to find a rental. I was reluctant to move and asked the contractor if there was any way we could just make it work with staying put. "Well, we're ripping out all three bathrooms... but," he said with a glint in his ...
Stuck It Bucket
For the twelve years I had a real job I kept a running list of things I would do if I didn't have a real job. I don't know why purple hair and a nose ring seemed so alluring; I can only guess it was the appeal of the forbidden. Upon leaving corporate America in 2010 I wasted no time in knocking stuff out left and right. The first was easy - learn how to do a back spin and ...
Every Time A Bell Rings
Mystical creatures are big around our house, mainly because I leverage them to blackmail/terrify my kids into good behavior as much as possible. Santa, the Easter bunny, Elf on the Shelf... heck we even had a Stay in Bed Fairy who helped Nick and I finish Mad Men season 6. The tooth fairy isn't my favorite, mainly because she's a lot of work with little to no return. Her ...
A Masterpiece Out of Chicken Thighs
"Hey, come here a second," my mom said as she replaced the book in my hands with a wooden spoon covered in what I prayed was red sauce. Together, we walked into the kitchen and hovered over the skillet like we were peering into a crystal ball. Looking into my future, I saw me eating a lot of takeout. "Now see - first you brown your ground round," she said, soldiering on ...
Sinners Like Me
I was fifteen when my daddy's old man Caught me half way through my first beer He laughed so hard when my face turned green He said “You come from a long line of sinners like me” -Eric Church "Oh my goodness I just KNEW it was you," the nurse burst through my hospital door, rushed over to the bed and gave a gentle side hug, careful to avoid my C-section incision. "I saw ...