This one should go without saying and yet, it still needs to be said. Pick up after your dog!!! As you may remember, I love dogs and I spend a lot of time walking them. In the many miles that I cover each week, I sadly come across piles left by dog owners who haven’t…
Virginia has been home to 8 American presidents. I’ve been to George Washington’s estate (Mt. Vernon) a few times, visited Monticello a few years ago, stopped by Woodrow Wilson’s Presidential Library (and birthplace home) last summer, and finally checked James Madison’s home, Montpelier, off my list this summer. Who was James Madison? James Madison…
Another summer, another Big Trip… Here’s a brief rundown of where we went this year and a return of the daily videos. (Don’t worry – each video is less than a minute long!) Day 1 We didn’t even leave the state of Virginia on Day 1. The beauty of a shorter distance to cover in…
“As our boat touched sand and the ramp went down I became a visitor to hell.” Private Charles Neighbor, 29th Division, Omaha Beach On June 6, 1944, thousands of Allied troops were tasked with the mission to jump, swim, run, and crawl ashore to the cliffs at Normandy and drive the Germans back. The Germans…
Stuff You Should Know is part of my regular podcast playlist. One recent episode caught my eye, moving it to top priority. Emu Wars. That’s right. I said Emu Wars. You want to know more, don’t you? I sure did! What were the Emu Wars? Technically, the Emu War wasn’t actually a war. It was…
Are there any other thesaurus lovers out there? I have been using thesauruses (thesauri is the preferred plural of the author but thesauruses is definitely more fun to say!) for many, many years. When I’m writing something, I want to use the perfect word to get my meaning across. Or sometimes I just need to…
One of the many jobs of a parent is to teach our children good manners. Manners in general seem to be in decline but elevator manners in particular don’t seem to be commonly taught anymore. Or maybe I’m just jaded because most of my elevator use comes in hotels with vacationing families and children running…
Welcome to Day 5 of the 20 Days of Me series… What’s in my purse? Apparently this was a challenge going around on the internet back in 2010. I’m only a decade late to the party! But better late than never, right? My current purse is an Overland Equipment Donner Bag. I bought it to…
I’m so excited to announce that I am on an episode of This Indulgent Life, the Podcast! I spent an hour talking to Mary all about our annual Big Trip and could have kept talking all day long. I just love to talk about our trips. 😊 You can listen to the podcast on This…
We stumbled upon a land for giants in the cornfields of Illinois. We went in blind, as usual. I found a couple “World’s Largest” entries on Roadside America that happened to be in the same town. “Great! We can see two big things in one stop. How convenient!” What I didn’t realize was that this…
“You can choose your friends but you sho’ can’t choose your family.” Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird. The other thing you can’t choose is your nickname! Welcome to Day 4 of 20 Days of Me… What’s your nickname? My name is Mouse. This name was given to me in junior high by…
See the world as a data collector Stefanie Posavec and Giorgia Lupi are visual designers who both loved drawing, specifically drawing with data. In the introduction, they say that Dear Data was concieved as a “personal documentary” and that data can be used to become more humane and to connect with ourselves and others on…