I swore for some reason I mentioned that Nate was going to be a co-emcee at his school’s Veteran’s Day assembly this past Monday. Alas, I did not.

How do we celebrate 23 years of marriage?

How is it that 12 years have passed since Nathan came bounding into our lives? A happy little kid turned precocious toddler turned inquisitive child and now a confident and involved tween.

Happy Friday the 13th, folks! I mentioned on Sunday that I’d be hosting my Jason Voorhees photo collab again all week long and I did. So here are my photos and the accompanying poetry I wrote for each…

One of my favorite holidays is coming up this week… Friday the 13th!!! And, of course, being me, I have to celebrate with my annual toy photography challenge… A Week of Victims!!!

How about a simple post of photos from our road trip to Indiana and southwestern Michigan that ended today just to put a little bow on the weekend?

You’re broken, bruised, battered, and you’ve been discarded on the side of the road.

And here are some random photos from in and around Vancouver this past week.

Here’s a load of photos from the various stops we made in and around Seattle this past week.

I guess there really wasn’t anything to worry about. Crossing the border into Canada at Blaine, Washington, was a breeze.

On Slack earlier today, we were discussing the weather in the Pacific Northwest and, more specifically, Vancouver given that our annual conference is there in a day or so.

Why do I feel so much more anxious about this trip we’re leaving for today than any of them in the past three years?

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms, stepmoms, mothers-in-law, guardians, and all the others I’m unintentionally leaving off the list. You’ll never understand how important you are to all of us.

Star Wars Day yesterday… Cinco de Mayo today… it’s a good weekend!

May the Fourth be with You!

That is all.

Yaaayyyyyyyy!!!! Tonight, Katie and I booked our flights to and from Vancouver in May.

I’ve been listening to Did I Ever Tell You This?, a memoir by Sam Neill, the actor behind Dr. Alan Grant from Jurassic Park and Cpt. Borodin from The Hunt for Red October, two of my all-time favorite movies.

I’m dedicating this post to the love of my life, Katie, as today is her birthday. Not gonna say which as I enjoy breathing. We’ll call it a random anniversary of her 25th birthday. That should do just fine.

Happy Mardi Gras, y’all! With today comes two things (if you’re not in New Orleans proper)… pączki and the fact that tomorrow is the first day of Lent.

Okay, so we were a few days late to the game with going to see the holiday lights at Brookfield Zoo this year. But we went and we clearly were not the only ones going after Christmas was over. It was jammed!

Merry Christmas, y’all!

This is not wrong…

We’ve almost always put up at least a decorated tree every Christmas. The day after Thanksgiving, we break out the fake one and all the ornaments and set it up.

Of course I say all that yesterday about a lack of cards and, today, we receive about eight more.

We have a clothespin wreath we hang on the back of our front door during the holidays that is used to display all the holiday cards we get. I think my mom made it.

This year, I was introduced to Whamageddon. It’s apparently a thing where you and others try to go as long as you can, starting December 1, without hearing the original version of Wham’s “Last Christmas.”

Let’s see what Artie the Shelf Elf has been up to since his arrival on Friday…

Yeah, this little gem – the KitchenAid peeler/slicer – made quick work of prepping apple pies this year.

Perhaps it’s time to dispose of the pumpkins.

While perusing Instagram, I discovered an online service that allows you to customize a Peanuts-inspired Christmas ornament.

For the second year in a row, Nathan opted to have his friends birthday party celebrated at Urban Air, a local, indoor adventure and trampoline park.

I thought I’d take a moment to throw some of our Halloween-related photos your way.

The three of us were planning on doing a Halloween theme cosplay of characters from Jurassic Park/Jurassic World this year. Katie was going to be Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), Nate would be Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), and I would be Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight).

22 years ago — under similarly downpouring conditions — Katie made me the happiest person alive by marrying me.