Category Archives: Memories

Things I Absolutely Wanted to Do Since I Was a Child and Have Done as an Adult

  • Go to the top of the Empire State Building
  • Visit the Redwoods Forest
  • Swim in the ocean in the Cayman Islands
  • Swim in the ocean in Hawaii
  • Go on a vacation without worrying about how much money I spent (Because I knew I had enough, not because I’m an idiot.)
  • Take random road trips at the spur of the moment
Swimming at Grand Cayman

Things I Actually Said to My Son When He Was a Kid

  1. (At age 2) “Put down that crowbar”
  2. “You’re the best kid ever. Except for Jesus.”
  3. “Don’t be on fire.”
  4. “Go chainsaw nine more people and see what happens.”
  5. “Call your dad and tell him he has to come home because I’m stuck to the carpet with a fishing hook.”
  6. “No, it’s not an umbrella. But it is a raincoat.”
  7. “Good thing you’ll be filming it when you light your friend on fire. That way they can use it as evidence at the trial.”

Short Poems I’ve Written

  • a place of my own
    sunlight settling
    dappled on my deck
    pale drops puddling
    across worn wooden slats
    solace and solitude
    and peace
  • ABCDenial
    absolutely everybody (except for those who knew)
    believed the lie (even when forced to dodge the truth)
    choosing to turn an eye (blind, of course)
    downcast in humility (however false it is).
  • Shelter
    Do you remember that day
    bruised sky and
    us with no umbrella?
    Splash dashing to the treeline
    and huddled laughter
    while you reached your jacket over
    us like a soggy canvas cover
    to shield me from the unlikely event
    of a tree branch falling on my head,
    and even though
    we knew
    it was so silly,
    for those few moments I honestly believed
    that your love
    was all I needed.
  • Solitude
    solitude becomes me
    it calms my heart
    it slows my speedcar thoughts
    yellow flag flapping in the wind
    telling me to take it easy
  • Meanwhile
    I have intended for some time
    to get on with this thing called my life
    but meanwhile living
    keeps getting in the way.
  • Dessert
    hot sun breathing on my skin
    you, the sprinkles on my cone
    dripping delicious trails across my fingers
    i lick you up
  • Sentiment
    Dry those wasted tears
    Shore up your unstable heart
    Love’s horizon glows
  • Happy
    Laughter dances in his eyes
    Smile plays upon his lips
    Joy is heard in every sigh
    Happy words and clever quips
    He winks, he grins, his heart is light
    Just the way he used to be
    Loves shines forth and all is right.
    Too bad it isn’t still for me.
  • Red
    feasting on tomorrow’s steak
    with a gleaming bottle of History at the table
    and though it ought to be bitter
    it goes down smooth with a
    surprising bite
    right at the very end
    so pop the cork and pour the wine
    wrought from my own vineyard
    of experience
    each grape a drop of pleasure
    from a past i should regret
    but don’t
  • Road Trip
    in the center of my universe
    standing ground
    looking round
    full tank of gasoline to get me
    anywhere
    everywhere
    away from here and to somewhere
    but where is there
    and there is where
    so many roads snake out from here
    i don’t know
    where to go
    every road untraveled in my life
    but for the one
    i’ve just been on
    how do i know which one to take
    greener grass
    doesn’t last
    i guess the choice is up to me
    spin around
    moving ground
    pop a licorice stick in my mouth
    signal on
    and i’m gone

My Top Ten Most Viewed Posts of All Time

  1. Famous People Whose Name Starts With X, Y, or Z (2012)
  2. Flowers With Difficult Names to Spell (2013)
  3. Acronyms I Will Be Teaching in the Lifeguard Course That Begins Tonight (2012)
  4. Animals That Start with the Letter I (2013)
  5. 19 Reasons to Celebrate My Son’s 19th Birthday Today (2012)
  6. Favorite Orange Flavored Things (2012)
  7. Best TV Shows of the 90s (2012)
  8. Presidents With the Letter Y in Their Names, More or Less (2012)
  9. Twenty One Reasons to Smile Today (2015)
  10. Favorite Types of Village Inn Pie, in Order of Preference (2012)

Image result for orange

Places I’ve Traveled and Brought Back Magnets

  • Cancun (Mexico)
  • Casa Bonita (Denver, Colorado)
  • Charleston (South Carolina)
  • Colorado
  • Columbia River Gorge (Oregon)
  • Disneyland
  • Disneyworld
  • Ensenada, Mexico
  • Galveston, Texas
  • Haleakala, (Maui, Hawaii)
  • Hollywood, California
  • Idaho
  • Las Vegas
  • Maroma (Mexico)
  • Montana
  • Mount Rushmore
  • Multnomah Falls (Oregon)
  • New York City
  • Redwoods Forest (California)
  • Saint Louis Arch
  • Silver Dollar City (Branson, Missouri)
  • South Carolina
  • Starved Rock State Park (Oregon, Illinois)
  • Virginia City (Nevada)
  • Washington state
  • Wyoming

Places I Visited On My Road Trip of Awesomeness Earlier This Summer

  • Mount Rushmore
  • Wall Drug (Wall, South Dakota)
  • Gillette, Wyoming
  • Missoula, Montana (including dinner with 2 college roommates)
  • Spokane, Washington
  • Idaho (a gas station somewhere along I-90)
  • Columbia River Gorge
  • Horsetail & Multnomah Falls (Hood River, Oregon)
  • Portland, Oregon
  • Crescent City, California
  • Redwoods National Forest
  • A beach somewhere along the California coast
  • Trinidad Bay & Memorial Lighthouse (Trinidad, California)
  • Redding, California
  • Reno, Nevada (visit with the Lewis family)
  • Virginia City, Nevada
  • Lake Tahoe Overlook
  • Bonneville Salt Flats (Utah)
  • Salt Lake City, Utah
  • Casa Bonita (Denver, Colorado, with another college friend)
  • State Capitol Building, Lincoln, Nebraska
  • Huxley, Iowa (Aunt & Uncle’s house)
roadtrip2
Columbia River Gorge
roadtrip3
Multnomah Falls
roadtrip6
State Line

roadtrip1 roadtrip4

roadtrip7
Wyoming
roadtrip5
Salt Flats

roadtrip8 roadtrip9

roadtrip10 roadtrip11

roadtrip12
Casa Bonita

roadtrip13

Twenty Three Ways My Kid Is Amazing (in honor of his 23rd birthday today)

  1. His sense of humor is unmatched.
  2. He’s smart and conceptual and thinks deeply.
  3. He never gets embarrassed. About anything.
  4. He taught himself to play guitar.
  5. A headbanger from the start, he now headbangs in his own heavy metal band.
  6. He’s hilarious.
  7. He is deeply compassionate and empathetic.
  8. He desires to make the world a better place.
  9. He works ridiculously hard.
  10. He desires experiences more than things.
  11. He sets goals and works to achieve them.
  12. He’s been “adulting” since the age of 19, paying his own rent and bills and way.
  13. He married his high school sweet heart and loves her with his entire being.
  14. He has a global outlook and cares about the world outside of his own.
  15. He laughs with his whole body.
  16. He carries things for me, (which is to say that he helps me any time I need it.)
  17. He programs electronics for his grandparents.
  18. He still loves old school video games.
  19. He has an inborn gift for music.
  20. He hugs his mama and tells me he loves me.
  21. He is never afraid to show affection to people he cares about.
  22. He has been through some things that would cripple lesser men, but the fires have forged him into a resilient and capable man.
  23. He is the best thing I have ever had a part in creating.

wedding jump