[go: up one dir, main page]

Friday, February 27, 2026

7 Quick Takes about Flying Home, Stupid-Looking Trees, and the Best Day to Sell Your Junk

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week? 

—1—

After the funeral, we stayed for one more day to be with family before flying home.

I learned to play a dice game called Farkle, and at the same time I also learned never to take up gambling because I'd be terrible at it.

As we played games and visited, the last of the Olympic events were playing on TV in the background. I thought it was nice to see that Caesar Flickerman from The Hunger Games had found work again.

Came straight from The Capitol to commentate on pairs figure skating. 

I'm currently working through a head cold that probably came from talking to and hugging so many people at the funeral in the middle of February, but it's not too bad.

—2—
Our flight home was at 5 in the morning. Which sounds early, but it felt even earlier because that meant we had to get up at 2:30, leave the house at 3, and be at the airport at 4 AM.

At least there was no line at security.

We had one connection and by the time we landed and drove home, it was only noon but it felt like bedtime. It took a full day of recovery, even for the kids.

—3—

Luckily, the kids had a snow day on Monday and a delayed start on Tuesday due to a snowstorm, so they got to ease back in to the week. Somehow, there was just as much complaining as on a regular 5-day school week, though.

—4—


I've never had this happen before when checking luggage, but I almost didn't recognize our suitcases when we saw them on the baggage claim because they'd gotten super-dirty. One had white streaks of some kind of powder on it and two others looked like they were smeared with grease, and they hadn't been that way when we checked them.

They looked good enough after a little scrubbing when we got home, but I can tell you from experience now that washing suitcases by hand is not my favorite thing to do after a long trip.

On the other hand, the bathrooms at the airport were amazing (marble everything, real doors on the stalls, and motion-activated automatic toilet seat covers.) So, silver linings.

—5—
I like putting flowers on our front and back porches in the spring and summer, but I don't like paying for them at the store. Last year I experimented with growing a few pots of annuals from seeds I bought at the dollar store, and had an 80% success rate, so this year I decided to expand the operation.

It doesn't look like as many planters in a picture, but it felt like I was starting a plant nursery as I was filling all of these with dirt.

I was going to do it at the beginning of February, but then my dad passed away and we ended up being out of town for the funeral, but they should still be ready-ish in time to go out when the weather turns nice.

—6—
The electric company has been trimming the trees along the edge of our yard near the power lines, and this time they were really aggressive. I wouldn't call it "trimming" so much as "lopping off most of the branches they could reach," and now our pine trees look like truffula trees. 

With our permission, they also completely removed two very large, mature, and unsafe white pines. Having the power company do it for free sounded great to us, since last fall an arborist quoted us several thousand dollars to cut them down, but I guess you get what you pay for. 

Because they also sheared off branches from any neighboring trees that happened to be in their way, which doesn't look very nice when all is said and done. In the spring, I'm getting an arborist in here to tell us what to plant in their place, because making this yard look nice is definitely outside of my skill set.

—7—

I like to keep our home clutter-free and that means I usually have at least one or two things for sale on Facebook Marketplace. And I've found that Friday is the best day to post new items or edit prices. Does anyone know why that is? 

Whenever I relist an old listing on a Friday, those items often get snapped up that very day. Even if they've already been on Marketplace for months. 

I don't know if this is the same everywhere, or maybe the vibe is more Tuesdays on the West Coast and Thursdays in the South, but FYI if you sell things on Facebook Marketplace: Friday is the day everyone is looking to hand over their paychecks for crap you don't want in your house anymore.

Click to Share:
Unremarkable Files
Read More »
No comments:
Labels: ,

Saturday, February 21, 2026

7 Quick Takes about Socal Finesse from a 4th Grader, Saying Goodbye to My Dad, and My Generational Parenting Style

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week? 

—1—

Well, this week we traveled to Minnesota for my dad's funeral. We flew out of an airport we've never used before (because last-minute airfare for 7 people is no joke), and commented on a sign we saw outside saying it had been voted #1 aiport in America by someone.

We had to agree that the airport was nice, with a clean parking garage that was even decorated for Valentine's Day. When we got inside, however, there was an unmistakable light sewage door in the terminal.

On the escalator, I leaned over and whispered to the 9-year-old: "This doesn't smell like the #1 airport in America.''

"Maybe it's #2," he whispered back.

—2—

On the plane, Phillip and I sat in the row behind our 9- and 12-year-olds, watching the flight attendants fawn over them. And then in slow-motion, watched a conversation unfold that was like watching a car accident happen.

The flight attendant, smiling and handing our boys their in-flight snacks, gushed "Is this a special vacation?"

"We're... going to Minnesota," the 9-year-old answered uncertainly. I think even he knew this was about to get real awkward, real fast.

"Oh, how nice!" She squealed. "Are you doing anything exciting?"

The 9-year-old thought again and said "We're..." (this is where Phillip and I were watching through our fingers thinking about how uncomfortable this nice lady was about to become) "...going to our grandparents."

"Well, isn't that nice!" she said, and rolled on to the next row. Phillip and I breathed a huge sigh of relief at this unexpected display of social awareness.

Well done, sir. Well done.

—3—

Once we actually got to Minnesota, it was nice. 

Meeting with the funeral director and the pastor gave me something positive to do with dad's death, when previously the other alternatives were to feel sad about it on my own or try to do other life stuff when I couldn't focus on anything. 

Even when we weren't doing funeral-related things, it was nice to just chill and watch the Olympics with other people who understood that things were really weird right now, but we're all just doing our best to adjust together.

On Thursday there was a visitation at the funeral home, and even though I was dreading it (being an introvert, three hours of forced socializing with people I don't know very well is not on my bucket list) it turned out to be nice. I actually liked meeting people from different parts of dad's life who I'd heard him talk about but never met. 

The memorial service on Friday was hard, especially when other people around me started losing their composure, but it was okay.

—4—
My 21-year-old spent her time at home sketching a picture of my dad for my stepmom, and since she's an artist I'm sure that helped her process her feelings in her own language.



My languages are writing — so putting together my dad's obituary felt therapeutic — and little kids — so when my 5-year-old step-nephew crawled on my lap and fell asleep after the service, it filled me up.

—5—

On the way back to my mom's after the service, I got pulled over. I didn't realize we went through a town on the highway and the speed limit went down, and I blew past a police officer at 65MPH in a 45MPH zone. 

To make matters worse, I hadn't brought my wallet with my license. The officer was confused about how we were from out of state if we were driving a vehicle with Minnesota plates, but he listened with suspicion to our explanation that I'd borrowed it from my aunt and uncle to attend a family funeral.

"I'm going to go look up your license," he said, after taking my personal information. "Please get the insurance ready for when I come back."

The only insurance card we could find in the glove compartment expired 6 years ago. This is way too much weird stuff, I thought. At best, I'm getting a fat ticket. At worst, I'm going to be seeing this guy later in court.

Unbelievably, the officer told us, "Well, your license checks out and I've got no reason to believe your aunt and uncle don't have insurance. I never give a warning for going 20 miles over the speed limit, but you guys are from out of town and don't know the roads and from your clothes it looks like you were just at a funeral, so just pay attention on the way home."

And he let us off with a warning. MINNESOTA NICE IS REAL.

—6—
The other thing I have to say about our week here is: thank goodness for kids at a funeral. They were all playing in the foyer after the service and reminding us not to be too sad, because life is still good. A world without kids is just not a place I would want to live at all.

Speaking of kids, I met my stepbrother's wife and kids for the first time. The kids, ages 2, 4, and 6, were the nicest, most mild-mannered kids I've ever seen in my life, probably because their parents were the nicest and most mild-mannered parents I've ever seen in my life. 

When we went to a dinner buffet, the 6-year-old was explaining to me that she didn't want to put more food on her plate than she could eat, because she didn't want to waste food. When I told her that she was pretty wise for a 6-year-old, she shrugged and said "My daddy teached me."

My 14-year-old is offended that I keep bringing up how well-behaved they were, but come on. I personally witnessed them break eye contact with a riveting episode of Paw Patrol and voluntarily get up the first time a parent called for them. I've never seen anything like it.

—7—

My stepmom put a ton of effort into collecting pictures and memorabilia to display at the visitation and the service, one of which was my dad's baby book from 1954.


This page made me laugh out loud, because all of the "notable" moments my grandma wrote down were my dad falling out of and off of things. And then, on Aug 8, "Got lost in cornfield" (my dad grew up on a farm.)

I admit to feeling inadequate about my stepbrother's gentle parenting approach and his perfect kids, but this is the stock I'm descended from. And I'm weirdly proud of it.

Click to Share:
Unremarkable Files
Read More »
1 comment:
Labels: ,

Friday, February 13, 2026

7 Quick Takes about Very Sad News, the Case Against Technology, and Being the Coolest Mom at the Library

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week? 

—1—

It's been a really long week, because we got some very sad news over the weekend: my dad passed away unexpectedly.

He was actually supposed to come visit us with my stepmom next week, and now we'll be flying there for his memorial service instead.

I've been asked to write his obituary, and although I've been writing for my whole life in some fashion or another this is definitely an intimidating assignment. I hope I'll be able to write something fitting. He was a great doctor, a generous dad, and a loving grandpa that the kids all adored.

—2—

The day after we got the news that my dad had died, we went to our Google photo album and used the face ID feature to comb through pictures and videos of Grandpa throughout the years.

It was actually not a sad experience like I thought it might be, it actually made me really happy to see all the fun things we've done together. 

The photo ID feature was surprisingly good, it even included pictures where my dad was half turned away from the camera or not even completely in the shot. I did have one question, though. And that question is: WHAT THE HECK, GOOGLE PHOTOS?


In this photo, it correctly identified my daughter, even though she was a toddler, but for some reason was like, yes, that person in the striped shirt is absolutely a man. (That person is me, for reference.)

I mean, I get that my dad and I have the same nose because that's how genetics works, but come on. He's got a goatee. That's just mean.

—3—


Phillip was in France for work this week of all weeks, and he was willing to come home if we needed him but I told him we could manage. The kids are older now, old enough to understand that they really need to pitch in so I can get through this really tough week, and they did. We did it. I'm proud of us.

There was also an outpouring of love and offers of support from friends in town or people at church, and I know I'm an introvert because two that stood out in my mind the most are:
  • My friend who hung a bag of sympathy treats for me on the doorknob without ringing the doorbell so I didn't have to talk to anyone
  • Someone at church who came up to me and said "You don't have to say anything, I just want to give you a hug" and then hugged me and immediately left 
To be clear, I do like to talk to people, I just prefer to do it when I'm ready and not necessarily when I'm approached in public unprepared.

—4—

The weirdest thing about losing someone you love is that life doesn't stop, so even though it feels weird to post about random takes that happened throughout the week, that was our reality: moments of grief mixed with moments of ordinariness, and I'm trying to get a handle on that.

I spotted a hawk landing on a branch in our backyard with some prey it had caught, and my boys ran and got a monocular to watch it eat.


Right from the comfort of our living room. It's like we live in a wildlife preserve.

—5—
PSA for the people who design everything in the world now: just because you can do something using technology doesn't mean that you have to. Or even that you should. Sometimes it's just annoying.

I used to be able to plug my headphones into my phone and music would instantly come out of them; now I have to troubleshoot the Bluetooth every time I want to listen to something. 

I used to be able to adjust the A/C dials in the car by touch, but then someone really smart decided it was a better idea for everything to be touchscreen so we have to take our eyes off the road all the time.

This week, I was in Walmart buying a replacement headlight bulb for the van, and for some reason they had the bulbs in a locked case. Of course, the "key" is now digital: they open the app on their phone, point it at the lock, and it opens. Unless there are technical difficulties and the employee tries to open the case looking like a wand-waving wizard for 5 minutes and nothing happens.

I was standing there staring at the lightbulb I want, 6 inches in front of my face, but I had to leave the store and just come back another day. What was wrong with the physical key? Nothing. Nothing was wrong with it! 

I was born in the 1900s and it shows.

—6—

My 6th grader sometimes walks to the public library after school and hangs out in the teen room. He recently stopped wanting to go, and a few days later he told me it was because the other kids started playing Grand Theft Auto on the Xbox there and it was making him uncomfortable.

Initially, I just sympathized with him and let it go. Stuff like that happens all the time: our family just has different standards for what we do on Sundays or what kind of clothes we wear or the language we use, and sometimes it's hard to be different but that's the way it is. So it wasn't until about a week later that I was sitting at a red light and all of a sudden realized: "Wait a minute. None of those kids should be playing Grand Theft Auto. Why is there a M-rated game in the room for kids 13-17?" 

So I went in to talk to the librarians about it. Apparently they had a Game Pass subscription but never enabled content filters. And now that I talked to them about it, they  did.

I'm sure the other kids will be thrilled when they head to the library this spring after the long-awaited release of Grand Theft Auto VI. #sorrynotsorry

—7—

If you have 17 minutes, watch this amazing TED talk:


It's about parenting for comfort (the kids' comfort, that is) versus parenting for confidence. The latter includes letting them be uncomfortable, sometimes on purpose. 

The speaker happens to work with kids who have specific phobias, but this is advice that's applicable to all kids: maybe you just don't get them a cell phone or the name brand water bottle or whatever it is that "everyone" has. Even if you could do it, sometimes you just... don't. It's good for them.

Raising confident kids is a topic close to my heart, so if you want more practical tips head over to this article next and pick out a few you'd like to try depending on how old your kids are!

Click to Share:
Unremarkable Files

Read More »
4 comments:
Labels: ,

Friday, February 6, 2026

7 Quick Takes about Losing My Patience with an Owl, Fitness Influencers, and Hanging Up My Piano Teacher Hat

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week? 

—1—

It looks like all the snow and ice this winter so far has exposed a weak spot in CVS's budget for facility maintenance. Or, there has been a zombie apocalypse.

If they can't fix whatever is happening with the roof, corporate could at least invest in some traffic cones instead of using upended shopping carts.

Update: I went back later and saw that caution tape had been draped around the shopping carts and the pillar to complete the appearance of an active homicide investigation.

—2—
I don't mean to be harsh on CVS, though. It's like that everywhere. The 14-year-old, who goes running around town every day after school to train for the indoor track season, reports that it's like "trying to run on a treadmill covered in butter."

—3—

After an especially annoying day with one particular child who was, as the Boomers say, "cruisin' for a bruisin'," I was definitely not amused to check my email and find this in my inbox:


Not my best week? NOT MY BEST WEEK?

The kids say I "crashed out," but I think yelling "screw you!" at the computer is a perfectly reasonable response when you're a grown woman with zero craps left to give getting scolded by a cartoon owl.

—4—
I found her. I found who I want to be when I grow up:


I've actually wanted to do a plank contest with my family for a while (that's probably why Facebook showed me this video, the sneaky little spy) so maybe I can convince them to learn this with me. It's going to be a hard sell, but I think at least one or two of the kids might take me up on it.

—5—
An item on my to-do list this week was scheduling an appointment for my 11-year-old, and I'll tell you about it in the style of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. 

If you want to schedule an appointment, you've got to look at your calendar. 

Looking at the calendar will remind you how crazy life is and you'll decide to schedule it during an upcoming school vacation week.

Since it's vacation, you feel like you should bring all the kids and make a day out of it, so you'll get online and start researching hours and admission prices for things to do in the area. 

You'll find a few museums, but some will appeal to certain children in the family more than others so now you'll have so many questions. Should you schedule the appointment on Wednesday while the teenager is at work so you can then visit the museum for the younger kids? Or should you do the other museum on Monday when you can all go? No wait, that one is closed on Mondays. Okay, but how about if we...

Two hours later, you'll check "make appointment" off your to-do list, and you'll also have completed an entire side quest of planning every day of a week-long school vacation.

And that is how you give a mouse a cookie.

—6—
I needed a rest day from lifting weights and it was too cold to go running outside, so I went to YouTube and searched for "fun cardio workout" to find an exercise video.

My results seemed a little weird, but I shrugged and kept scrolling the results until I hit this one with 4 ½ minutes of tactical lunges you can do while holding your rifle. 

At that point I was like, "What the heck?" and looked back at the top of the page to see that I had inadvertently searched for "GUN cardio workout."

—7—

We've been teaching the kids to play the piano at home, but lately our best efforts have been pathetic. I'm all for doing it yourself to save money, but even I know when it's time to admit defeat and give my money to someone who can get the job done.

The 11-year-old starts lessons with his new teacher next week, so he and I were at the piano trying to choose a few samples of music to show her what he can do. 

I kept getting this panicked feeling like "Oh, crap! He hasn't really been working on anything, I'm such a bad mom!" but then I had to remind myself that piano is an OPTIONAL activity. She's not going to think I'm a bad mom or call CPS on me for a lack of musical rigor at home. It's not like I've been forgetting to feed him.

Although he is our scrawniest child.

Click to Share:
Unremarkable Files
Read More »
No comments:
Labels: ,

Friday, January 30, 2026

7 Quick Takes about Not Conserving Electricity, Shoveling All Day Long, and Dinner Reviews Put to Music

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week? 

—1—

Phillip and I had a great time watching our 9-year-old's gymnastics meet on Saturday, but we did not enjoy getting up at 5:30 to be there. Neither did our son, and whatever you imagine that means, it was worse than that.

However, once we got there it was fine. I can't imagine being upside down nine feet in the air on the still rings at 8 in the morning, but that's what he did.


He placed first on pommel (his favorite event), and that's a great accomplishment but I really wish they would calm down with the awards. They divide the kids up into way too many age categories and give out a bazillion medals down to 5th, 6th, and sometimes even 7th place, so the room sounds like a herd of sheep romping around with bells on by the end of the awards ceremony.

It's a little ridiculous, in my opinion. But I don't think a campaign to give less medals to our kids is going to gain much traction so I will just continue to clap and be happy that they're happy.

—2—

At home, we’ve started calling the kids “environmental terrorists” when they walk out of a room and leave the lights on. 

It makes no difference in their behavior.

—3—

It snowed a ton this weekend, and we thought that snowblower was not working so our whole family kicked butt and cleared our big driveway of 15" inches of snow with nothing but muscles and shovels.

Front walkway.

We did three passes throughout the storm to clear the driveway, and then Phillip raked the snow off the roof and we had to shovel that, too. It made excellent heaps on the side of the driveway for forts.


You might have noticed that I said we thought the snowblower was broken, which I don't want to answer any follow-up questions about or talk about ever again.

On the plus side, it turns out that weight training has been good for something, after all. I don't notice a difference in my strength on a day-to-day basis: heavy things still feel heavy and I still struggle to open a new jar of spaghetti sauce. But my endurance is 500% better than it used to be. I think I shoveled for a total of about 6 hours, and I wasn't even sore the next day.

—4—
On the long car rides to and from the gym four days a week, my 9-year-old and I have started listening to a podcast called But Why? It's an educational podcast for kids and even though their target demographic is age 4-10, I think I love listening to it as much as he does.

I learned that Icelandic horses have a special kind of gait called tölt that other horses can't do. I learned that emoji were invented in Japan (e = picture, moji = letter) and that a nonprofit organization called Unicode approves new emoji and decides how they appear on different devices. I learned that horseshoe crab blood is blue and is used in the biomedical field for its antibacterial properties. I even learned how space toilets work.

Anyway, this is not a sponsored post but I love But Why? and recommend that you check it out, especially if you spend a lot of time in the car with your kids.

—5—
While driving, I saw a license plate with an American flag on it and the plate number was "GG 76". 

After some discussion with my 17-year-old who was in the car with me, we decided that it was a reference to the Declaration of Independence and meant "Good game. 1776. We won."

—6—
To everything there is a season, including reading. I regularly get really busy and don't read anything for 6 months, then pile a stack of books on my nightstand and plow through them in quick succession, then go back to another half-year of illiteracy. 

Right now I'm in a reading phase.

I just finished Reina Roja, my first for-adults novel in Spanish. I definitely used the Internet a lot to help me understand complicated grammar and unfamiliar Spanish colloquialisms (apparently slamming the door on someone in Spain is "closing the door in the noses"), but I did it! While I was looking online for the name of the sequel, I also learned it was adapted into an Amazon Prime series but I'll probably skip it. The book didn't usually dwell too much on the gory details of the murder mystery, but I imagine it might be a pretty graphic watch that I might not enjoy as much. 

I also just finished an oldie from the '70s called Love Comes Softly. It was recommended to me as a easy read that's not too complex and not too riveting, so I checked it out as my bedtime book. It delivered on all those promises, and what I loved mostwas being able to hand it to my 14-year-old daughter afterward. It was hands-down the most lovely representation of a healthy romantic relationship I've ever read, with absolutely no spice. It's apparently the first in a series of nine books, so I also checked out the next few for both of us to read.

—7—

First there was a viral video of a kid reacting to a new food he tried, and then some guy composed a song around it because the kid's voice had this slightly melodic quality to it. The Facebook algorithm decided that it was something I would want to see, and it was 100% right because I love it.


Catchy, isn't it?

Click to Share:
Unremarkable Files

Read More »
1 comment:
Labels: ,

Friday, January 23, 2026

7 Quick Takes about Snow, Not Having Dementia (Yet), and Pigs with a Sense of Humor

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week? 

—1—

Well, it's been a regular winter wonderland in New England this year. For the last few years, we've had brown Christmases and barely any snow, but this winter has been really different.

Taken on my drive to the high school.

Up until now, we have had several snowfalls under 4" or so, but this weekend we're supposed to get a foot of snow or more. It takes me right back to January 2015 (take #4 here).

—2—
With all of the new snow, we took advantage of the kids having Martin Luther King Day off and met some of their friends for sledding.

 
I was planning to go down the hill at least a couple of times with the kids, I really was. But there was a lot of powder flying up in everyone's face on the way down, and I just didn't feel like that was something I needed in my life. 

Besides, it was a little entertaining to stand at the bottom watching one kid after another flying past me with a literal facefull of snow.

—3—

Phillip came sledding, too. He was sick with some kind of sinus thing, but he just loaded up on Benadryl and went to make memories with his family whether he felt good or not. (Don't worry, I drove.)

He wanted to come because he'd had a grueling week at work during which he barely saw the kids, and he and I were just two garbage barges passing in the night. Then over the weekend he got sick - really sick - and spent all day Saturday and Sunday in bed. 

Now that he's feeling a little better (but honestly, he's still not 100%) I suggested that we do something together.

"Maybe we can sit down and buy new tires for the van," he said.

Not exactly what I was thinking of, but I'll take it.

—4—
My 11-year-old asked me to play a card game with him, and I chose a game called spit. I picked it because it's an extremely fast-paced game (here's how to play) and I know I'm not that old, but I've been thinking lately about keeping my brain active as I age.

After we were finished, I was Googling other ways to exercise my brain and read an article that said bilingual people develop dementia at a later age. I showed it to my 17-year-old who snorted, "Mom, you showed me this article 6 times already!"

Ha, ha.

We'll all know when I start to develop dementia for real, because the kids will finally be able beat me at Bananagrams.

—5—
We took the kids skiing for their Christmas experience gift, and ever since they've been asking when we can go again.

WHAT HAVE WE DONE?

Why we introduced our kids to one of the most time-consuming, expensive, faraway hobbies we could think of is a complete mystery to me. We certainly did not think this through.

—6—
Lately I've been taking a while to get to sleep and sometimes waking up in the middle of the night and sleeping poorly after that. Any tips for sleeping better? I mean, besides drinking enough water and not exposing myself to blue light at night and having a stable bedtime routine, because I don't like doing any of those things. 

For now, I'm managing by regularly taking power naps in the parking lot of my son's gym before turning around and driving home a few times a week. Luckily he's not old enough to be embarrassed yet, but I have a feeling there will come a day when he no longer wants me passed out and drooling in plain sight of all his friends and their parents.

—7—

Apparently my kids still read my blog, because after I indirectly called them pigs a few weeks ago (see take #7 here), this mysteriously appeared as our screensaver the next day and I kind of love it. Even though no one will admit to being the one who changed it.


Click to Share:
Unremarkable Files
Read More »
No comments:
Labels: ,

Friday, January 16, 2026

7 Quick Takes about Gratitude for Groceries, Texts for the Elderly, and What It's Like to Watch Sports When You're Me

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week? 

—1—

Phillip has taken over all food-related duties at home, which is turning out great because he likes cooking and I hate it. He's also doing the grocery shopping.

The rule in our house is that when someone comes home from grocery shopping, everybody has to drop what they're doing and come help put it away, so we were all in the kitchen unloading groceries. Pulling out a bottle of the hand soap I'd asked him to buy, I said, "Oh, this is the wrong soap. It's orange, and we always use clear soap."

My 9-year-old son looked at me disapprovingly and said, "I think you meant 'Thank you, Dad, for buying all the food.'"


This moment is brought to you by my 4th grader, Miss Manners.

Wait, does this mean that my 9-year-old is actually listening to me when I say that to him?? I mean, I'm thrilled, I just didn’t expect him to use my own words against me so perfectly.

—2—
I've spent a lot of time this week planning this year's bulletin board in our Primary room at church. Bulletin boards are like birthday party decorations: as a general rule, kids don't care or notice them at all, so unless they're involved in it somehow you're just doing it to impress other adults. So I wanted it to be something interactive.

Since we're studying the Old Testament at church this year, I had the idea to make a path where we stop once a month and add a picture of a Bible story to the path. We'll take a few minutes to talk about how we can be brave like Esther, or whatever the story is, and if they actually do it they can add a footprint sticker to the path the next week.


The part I'm proudest of is that I made this board without buying anything. I repurposed the burlap background that was already there, used lettering I found in the Primary closet, and made the border with tissue paper (also found in the closet.) I think I want my family to put on my tombstone: "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." That's what makes me happy.

—3—

We keep getting severe-sounding letters from our auto insurance company. Ones that come in official cardboard envelopes you have to sign for at delivery. Our car was totaled in October, and they keep pestering us to mail them the title. Which we already did, a month ago.

I finally got around to calling them about it, but they wouldn't tell me anything because I wasn't on the title of that vehicle. So Phillip had to call them. After he explained the situation they said to ignore it, they'll take care of it and we won't get any more letters.

We got another one by certified mail the next day.

—4—
I liked this article about 5 conversation-starters that might lead to gospel conversations with other people. These are ways to ask people about how they answer life's Big Questions in a non-denominational way. Kind of a guide to go beyond small talk. If you need that kind of thing. Which I do.

I really like to share my faith and talk about what's important to me, but most of my friends and acquaintances outside church aren't religious or particularly interested in talking about it, so it doesn't happen often. (My life is basically the opposite of my son's friend's missionary experience in Brazil, where he would just board a city bus and say "Who wants to hear a message about Jesus Christ?" and people would raise their hands.)



—5—
I recently got a phishing text that read: "Hey old man, how's it been going lately?" I laughed briefly and then deleted it.

Later in the week, I read a New York Times piece on a scam center in Myanmar where workers were punished for a low response rate to their "hi" texts, which made me wonder... did I just tank a stranger's performance review?

—6—
My 21-year-old daughter got a Pimsleur subscription for Christmas to learn the basics of Japanese before she does a research internship in Japan this summer, and you're allowed to add other users to your account so guess who's using it to practice her Spanish?

Seriously, my Spanish is so weird. I've been studying for almost four years so at this point, I can read anything and get the gist of it. I know the words for 'overbite,' 'stunned,' 'flint,' and 'kidnapper,' but I still struggle to verbally put together simple sentences without hesitation, so this is the perfect thing for me.

My daughter (who researches everything, which is probably why she got the internship) tells me that Pimsleur was developed to optimize the intervals at which you review a concept in order to commit it to memory. After a few weeks on Pimsleur, I can totally see that.

—7—

A few months ago, some football player sucker punched another player in a Bears-Saints game, started a big fight, and got kicked out of the game. Not giving one flying fig about any type of sport, I naturally didn't know any of this until my 17-year-old son showed me a video with a hilarious voiceover that put a whole new spin on things:


I thought it was funny, but probably for a different reason than my son did. I understand so little about sports that every time I watch it, it could have commentary that doesn't match at all and 9 times out of 10, I would have no idea.

I could detect the sarcasm in this one, but barely.

Click to Share:
Unremarkable Files

Read More »
No comments:
Labels: ,