It’s quiet right now. The air conditioner is humming. Chris just left for the grocery store to get food for the week. Forest is taking a nap on the couch. Leo is…well, I’m not sure where Leo is at. The house is a mess from the mess we left it in when we went out for camping on Saturday and from all of the post-camping unpacking that needs to happen. Laundry just ran in the washing machine and need to get switched over and the coolers and storage containers with food from the weekend need to be put away before Chris gets back with more food to put away. And…

Thinking: View this post on Instagram Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. May all of our daughters grow up without her trauma but with her strength. A post shared by Jessica Dolan Clarendon (@jessicaclarendon) on Sep 27, 2018 at 10:03am PDT I’d like to add that may we raise our sons to assist us in dismantling the patriarchy and misogyny that currently guides our society. What the fuck — Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) September 27, 2018 Basically my same response when Lindsey Graham went down his spiraling tirade today. That is all. I spent the afternoon listening to NPR and I wish I hadn’t. I hadn’t planned on listening to any of it…

My cousin Elizabeth used to do Sunday Morning Coffee posts (bring them back, Elizabeth!) and I used to do variations of something called ‘Sunday Reads and Listens’ but that just seems too long and cumbersome so in a nod to Elizabeth I’m changing it to Sunday Sips–a few things for you to read, watch, or listen to on your Sunday morning or afternoon. Watching: +Nanette on Netflix. When it came out back in the summer I saw several people and news stories talking about Hannah Gadsby’s stand-up act but I didn’t have a chance to watch it until last week. It is thought provoking while also funny because: comedy, but…

Chris and Forest left around 1pm to run errands: Lowe’s, Target, a haircut for Forest, grocery shopping. That left me to several hours to do what I needed to do around here and for the most part that has been chores. Last weekend was a weekend away and next weekend is a weekend away so that leaves me to cram into this weekend all, or most, of the things I need to get done. Cranking up the “Romeo and Juliet” station on Pandora—that would be the Dire Straits song—I’ve been jamming my afternoon away to not only Dire Straits but plenty of other good music that puts me into a…

Thinking: About the passage of time…my niece Zoe turned 10 a few weeks ago and my nephew Grayson turned 7 on Saturday. We went up to Fort Worth for their birthday party this weekend and I can’t believe they are that old already! I can always mark Grayson’s birthday and age with my work anniversary (the office version–the field version is about 10 months longer that) since I started here a few days before he was born. It feels like yesterday that we were wrapping up our period of vagabonding, settling into our tiny rental, exploring local flavor, and Grayson was born!. But nope, 7 years ago y’all! And I’m…

Hey there! I’m around but July has been a busy month at work and the last week and a half even busier—which has meant working from home after hours, something I am extremely averse to do unless absolutely needed. Once I emerge from the fog of all of that I promise to return and wrap up posts from our trip to Florida, summer gardening, and continued writing here. In the meantime, I wanted to write a quick update and to let y’all know I was on two podcasts recently. The first was back in May on The Beginner’s Garden Podcast with Jill McSheehy. That episode is here: Organic Gardening in…

Thinking: Elections have consequences. I’ve mostly stopped writing political things here because there’s only so much I can handle. Of course it seems pitiful to say that when others are going through some right shit while seeking asylum in this country. “Misti, you can handle the political BS because you are in a perfect position to do so. Suck it up, read all about it. You sit comfortably in a house you bought, with a child who goes to his room every night, and you aren’t fleeing political discourse and violence in your country (yet!). No child has been ripped from your arms and flown to who knows where with…

+In My Head We just had a great long weekend with all of my family down to visit. It’s been a long time since we’ve had both my parents and then Curtis, Stephanie, Zoe, and Grayson all over at the same time. Having a three day weekend made it worthwhile to have everyone down. Often if we try to cram everything into a typical weekend it feels too rushed and there’s not enough time to enjoy everyone. This weekend we had plenty of time to go to the splash pad, the plant nursery, plenty of time playing in the kid pool, running around the yard, and loads of other things!…

+In My Head Stopping to just look at the garden, to see where the light falls. Enjoying the funny and interesting things that Forest says. The ERA is Back: That would be really damn awesome! There have been other people writing about this thought I’m about to say—-as much as I’m still bitter we didn’t end up with a female president in 2016 I think some of the fall out from that (as sucky as it has been) has triggered some things into our general conscience and awakened a new revolution of pushing forward some issues with equality I think we all got complacent with. And if we can *crossing…

+In My Head Social media, internet privacy, and tech companies jacking with our brains. I’ve loved the internet since we got out first home computer sometime around 1996. Ah, good ol’ AOL chat rooms! And then later, Geocities websites, Blogger, blogs, forums, and on. I’ve met a lot of great people over the internet, some I’ve met in real life and others, just turning into good internet friends. I remember when at one point in time that last statement would make the people in your real life give you a concerned look but now it isn’t uncommon at all to meet up with people you’ve met on the internet. That…