As is the tradition, right after the days of fall rolled into December, my wife and I got out the Christmas tree. After it was set up, we began pulling the ornaments out of a box and placing them on the branches. Continue reading
Fall, my favorite time of year, is coming to a close. As opposed to most of the other seasons, fall encompasses every one of the senses. You can see it in the trees and feel it in the air. You can smell it and hear it as the withering leaves drop and skitter around on the ground. You can taste it in candy and pies and turkey. I know it doesn’t officially end until about a month from now, but with the first snowfall hitting last week, I can feel it slipping away fast. Continue reading
I went outside this morning to get the paper, only to find that the worst possible thing had happened: At some point yesterday, someone had planted a tree on the city-owned strip of land in front of my house, directly on the property line between my neighbor and me.
Some people might take this tree’s appearance as a good thing. In fact, most people would probably think it a good thing. I am not one of those people. Continue reading
One of my wife’s favorite games as a child was the Game of Life, so when she found out I had never played it, we immediately went to the store. After we set up the newly purchased game on the dining room table and my wife went over the basic rules with me, we began to play.
All was going well at first. I had successfully made it through college, was debt free, married, and had begun a successful career as a doctor. I had even just bought my first home—not exactly the one I was hoping for (the farmhouse), but a home nonetheless. I decided firmly against the family path and had chosen to focus on my career on the life path. I was happily cruising down life’s road, taking in the scenery with my wife at my side. Until everything fell apart.
When I was younger, one of the most exciting parts of each holiday season was all of the holiday-specific candy and desserts that only came out that time of year. For me,
But there’s been a trend in recent years ruining the magic of the anticipation of these treats. Continue reading
Part of my 30th-birthday road trip was a one-day stop in New Orleans’ French Quarter. Neither my wife nor I had ever been there, and it’s something we’ve wanted to see. We both love history, and I love learning about haunted locations, so it was a natural choice.
I heard parking inside the Quarter was an absolute nightmare, so we parked on Canal Street and walked in. Our main goals for the day were to learn a little history, do a little shopping—especially antiques and oddities—and take a ghost tour we read about online. We were unsure of where to start exploring, though, so we decided on Bourbon Street, the area most commonly associated with the neighborhood.
As soon as we turned the corner from Canal to Bourbon, it was like we entered a whole different world. Continue reading
I moved to Iowa almost a year ago and have fallen in love with it. The scenery is beautiful. I love my new house and neighborhood. My job and coworkers are great. And I’ve had a lot of fun discovering my new city. Some things did take getting used to, though. And one of those things, as crazy as it might sound, is how nice everyone is. Seriously. Continue reading
I’ll be turning 30 in less than a week, and it’s starting to hit me how many goals I’ve still yet to accomplish. My aunt reminded me of a big one when she came to visit me a few months ago.
I apparently declared to her when I was younger that I would be a millionaire by the time I turned 30. She said I didn’t know how I was going to do it but that I knew it was going to happen. When she brought this to my attention recently, I asked her if I still had to hold myself to that statement since I’d completely forgotten about it. She informed me it still counted. Crap. Continue reading
The Procrastinating Writer 