- Creative
- Super smart
- Funny
- Beautiful
- Energetic
- Adventurous
- Curious
- Clever
- Enthusiastic
- Driven
- Planner
- Kind
- Empathetic
- Word-wise
- Competitive
- Loving
- Teacher
- Mama
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
Twenty Five
Things I Actually Said to My Son When He Was a Kid
- (At age 2) “Put down that crowbar”
- “You’re the best kid ever. Except for Jesus.”
- “Don’t be on fire.”
- “Go chainsaw nine more people and see what happens.”
- “Call your dad and tell him he has to come home because I’m stuck to the carpet with a fishing hook.”
- “No, it’s not an umbrella. But it is a raincoat.”
- “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
- Famous People Whose Name Starts With X, Y, or Z (2012)
- Flowers With Difficult Names to Spell (2013)
- Acronyms I Will Be Teaching in the Lifeguard Course That Begins Tonight (2012)
- Animals That Start with the Letter I (2013)
- 19 Reasons to Celebrate My Son’s 19th Birthday Today (2012)
- Favorite Orange Flavored Things (2012)
- Best TV Shows of the 90s (2012)
- Presidents With the Letter Y in Their Names, More or Less (2012)
- Twenty One Reasons to Smile Today (2015)
- Favorite Types of Village Inn Pie, in Order of Preference (2012)
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
Love You Forever
A Picture List for My Son’s 24th Birthday
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)
Twenty Three Ways My Kid Is Amazing (in honor of his 23rd birthday today)
- His sense of humor is unmatched.
- He’s smart and conceptual and thinks deeply.
- He never gets embarrassed. About anything.
- He taught himself to play guitar.
- A headbanger from the start, he now headbangs in his own heavy metal band.
- He’s hilarious.
- He is deeply compassionate and empathetic.
- He desires to make the world a better place.
- He works ridiculously hard.
- He desires experiences more than things.
- He sets goals and works to achieve them.
- He’s been “adulting” since the age of 19, paying his own rent and bills and way.
- He married his high school sweet heart and loves her with his entire being.
- He has a global outlook and cares about the world outside of his own.
- He laughs with his whole body.
- He carries things for me, (which is to say that he helps me any time I need it.)
- He programs electronics for his grandparents.
- He still loves old school video games.
- He has an inborn gift for music.
- He hugs his mama and tells me he loves me.
- He is never afraid to show affection to people he cares about.
- He has been through some things that would cripple lesser men, but the fires have forged him into a resilient and capable man.
- He is the best thing I have ever had a part in creating.
