Stumbled upon a pot of gold under the Ohio snow this morning. Must have been because I was wearing a sweater made in Ireland! 🍀 So very very cold this morning!

60 mph wind gusts and I spent a day working from home wondering if the trampoline in the neighbors yard was going to blow over their fence across the street and smash into my office window. It didn’t, but man it was close to flipping! (Other portions of their fence were sadly blown over though). 💨

Went to Lego’s Brickfest in Columbus over the weekend and had a good time, but there were too many people and it seemed less about cool displays and builds and more about selling. Still, the Charmander display that evolved when you walked past it was a neat illusion! #Lego #Pokemon

Easing muscle stiffness and Pokémon? A Millennial must be in charge of the Costco magazine. (LOL, we did it!) 🤔 Also, a grandma is measuring her grandbaby in lengths of Costco hotdog. 👶🌭

This New Jerseyan who has lived in Ohio for 10+ years meeting a New Jerseyan who has lived in Ohio for 10+ years and we both immediately start asking each other “What exit?” and if we still have that Jersey accent (“Say ‘water!’, say ‘coupon!’”). Some things never ever change. #OH #NJ

Haven’t been able to watch sports since COVID - something about empty arenas killed my enthusiasm for hockey and it hasn’t returned. Normally I would have watched the gold medal game but I spent some time organizing my hockey cards from my childhood instead. Good job USA, and good game Canada, too.

First egg of the year from the littlest chicken, sweet Cloud. Thanks, little bird. Spring is on the way! #chickensofbluesky #backyardchickens

Love being an adult…large tax refund cancelled out by opening the mail and seeing the equally large property tax bill. And while doing that getting notice from the bank that my credit card was seeing $2k worth of fraudulent activity. So I’m +/- $0 on the day so far, and inconvenienced. 😬

Only complaint (super small!) I had about Bad Bunny’s performance last night was the lack of San Pedritos. The little St. Peters are super cute but I couldn’t get a good photo of one when I was last in Puerto Rico - they’re really tiny! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_...

After picking it up and putting it down, I finally finished Elden Ring and its DLC. Beautiful graphics, deep lore, and challenging at times (but not impossible) - lots of things you can do to adjust your difficulty against bosses besides grinding. Truly a 10/10 video game! #gaming

Still a little disappointed in the final season of Stranger Things, but I was snowed in and decided to make Boppers. As a kid of the 80s, I don’t remember them at all but they were mentioned a few times in the last season. Essentially peanut butter fudge covered in chocolate chips and granola. 👍👍

Wife’s mid-1990s lime green ruler says it’s 9 inches of snow so far, and it just keeps coming!

Logged into the garbage bag online portal to update my garbage bag subscriptions cause we got a high quality garbage that needs specialized garbage bags…and I didn’t do this last time within 24 hours so we automatically got shipped boxes of garbage bags we didn’t need at the time + still have. TGIF

Chickens enjoying some snacks from my hand recently - a little better weather in Ohio has made them happier cluckers. No eggs until Spring, but I still love em. We have five, but Emmy is behind her sister. It’s almost impossible for a good picture of all of them! #backyardchickens

Small tradition of mine is to finish a book on New Years Day - The Kite Runner takes place in 1970s-2010 Afghanistan and deals with the trauma that people carry with them through life and to new homes and let me tell you, there was a lot of trauma in here. Still a good read. #Booksky

I did hit 40 books in 2025 but I’m behind on posting about them. Here was a short one from Halloween about Halloween that is a middle school classic I never read before. It’s by Ray Bradbury, an author more well known for other works but this one was solid. (31/40) #Booksky

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! 🎅🏼 Wishing you and your families all the very best! Over at the Jolly house, we’re going to enjoy a cassata cake I baked yesterday … it’s delicious but not very healthy. I think it had at least three cups of powdered sugar and 30 oz of ricotta cheese. 😎 #baking

I’ve seen Adam Ellis’ work online so I bought his collection of horror comics/short stories. My personal favorite involved the moon and what is revealed about it after it is struck by a comet but all of ‘em were rather good! It’s Christmas tomorrow but I finished this in October. (30/40) #booksky

Overshadowed (understandably) by the Kennedy assassination on its date of release, this is my vote for Christmas album GOAT. 🎅🏼 Disagree? Be prepared to fight me under the mistletoe! (Phil Spector produced it and he has appeared on both Santa’s Naughty and Nice Lists over the years…)

Dropped off some toys for needy families - I would have loved these Legos and puzzles as a kid so I hope they are enjoyed by whoever gets them. If you can afford to, please try to donate to the charities of your choosing!

Saw a hairline crack in it this morning, so it’s got to go after 20 years of service. Saw me through grad school, five moves, marriage, first home, dog adoptions, death, COVID, several hospitalizations, and two layoffs. Thank you for your service, Caribou Coffee mug! 🫡

Yesterday, I finished the Thanksgiving apple pie, took out the Christmas decorations, watched the Netflix Frankenstein (excellent!!) and thought about 2026 goals - think there aren’t many days in the year you can cover so many holiday bases in 24 hours?

Shopped the local game store for Pokémon ZA for Christmas, and they had boxed NES games so I grabbed a pair at super sale prices (Romance was practically free!) My mom was awful at video games when I was young but the only one she was good at was Dr. Mario so this one is special to me. #NES #Gaming

What if the Byzantine Empire reclaimed the decaying Roman Empire…and there were vampires, Christianity never took off, and wizards wandered the land? The Dragon Waiting was endorsed by Gene Wolfe, and he was right - amazing alternate history/fantasy. Well worth reading! (29/40) #booksky

Made some sourdough pumpkin and chocolate chip muffins over the weekend and am happy with how they turned out. Went a little heavy handed on the chocolate chips like the villain I am. #baking www.melskitchencafe.com/sourdough-pu...

Just plugging #FlippingPhantom - completed the demo a week or so ago and can’t wait for the full game. It’s a sweet and spooky little puzzle game that reminds me (in the very best way) of the games you’d get on floppy disks at computer shows in the early 90’s. store.steampowered.com/app/3866090/...

Did a Columbus Food Adventures Food Tour last night (fun!) and there were two OSU grad students on it - warmed my heart to see that grad students haven’t changed since I was one. Eat everything and take leftovers! 😎 Also great to hear enthusiasm about their dissertations. Makes this PhD smile.

Got a brand new digital water meter installed today and learned that since it was built in the late 70’s Ohio, my home has used 1.2 million gallons of water! The new meter now reads 0, like a new car’s odometer right off the lot. Speaking of Ohio water and sewers, etc, give @neorsd.org a follow!

I read some Godzilla comics every year, but Volume 1 and 2 of this series weren’t very interesting to me. Personally, I think there was too much going on which you’d think would be the point? Just can’t say I was entertained though. Big G is still awesome though! (27 and 28/40) #booksky

Inside your office there are two woofs. One is a goober. One is a potato. You work from home. #dogsofbluesky #schnauzergang

Made some shells, buttermilk, and peas for dinner tonight, with a recipe very close to this one. I should have added pistachio and maybe pine nuts too (maybe?) but I’ll toss them in tomorrows leftovers. Didn’t think to tonight. Pretty hearty meal all in all. www.oldfashionedmom.org/orecchiette-...

Thirty five years ago I stumbled (literally) across a piece of quartz crystal the size of two fists, and it’s sat on my home desk ever since. Finally read up about its more mysterious benefits - apparently it clears out stagnant energy? Whatever, it looks nice in the sun! (27/40) #booksky

Another small Halloween tradition is letting the chickens carve a pumpkin that has been “started” for them. Legitimately, they did pretty good this year, but they are now sticking their heads in the hole they pecked, like some maniacal chicken dentist. #Halloween #backyardchickens

Every Halloween, I reread The Whisperer in Darkness. It’s maybe 50 pages but I think it’s the best that Lovecraft wrote. Like so many of his stories, you know how it’s going to end but you’re internally screaming as the narrator follows his natural curiosity to its mind-breaking limits. #booksky

Early voted the other day for local city and school board elections and let me tell you - if you need a break from US national politics, download the NextDoor app and listen to your neighbors scream about school levies and sewer bond issues. (I’m fine paying + $10/year for working sewers).

Went to the Pumpkins A Glow event at the Franklin Park Conservatory last night and had a blast - great seasonal fun and perfect October weather. Bring on Halloween! 🎃 #Columbus #Halloween

Did the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus half marathon yesterday and took today off to recover. Got a good time, but running 13 miles in the pounding rain and through water-filled potholes…is not fun. (Also, the little schnauzer continued her tradition of being sick on days I run 10+ miles).

First time I’m ever doing it - full sized candy for Trick or Treaters this year!! First 112 get full sized…and anyone after that gets snack sized candy. Cost $180 for the full sizers, but it’s worth it for Halloween! 🎃 #Halloween

Really interesting non-fiction that dives into the question: If Japan fell in love with guns immediately upon learning about them, why did the country gradually lose interest in them until Commodore Perry showed up? Short read, but well-worth it. (26/40) #Booksky

Will Freya and her friends appreciate the full coop clean-out in preparation for winter? Yes, but also probably not. 🐓 That’s chickens for you. #backyardchickens

Getting a small alumni profile from UTEP (go Miners! ⛏️) and so I had to go back through old photos from when I was in El Paso 20 years ago. Came across this gem of me from 2007. Camera phones were awful then so this must have been from an actual digital camera. Still got my El Paso phone number!

Got the feeling that I was being watched while running today, and I was right! Going to have do some research on this birdo…a Coopers Hawk maybe?

It’s a tradition - every year I read a Clive Cussler novel and my direct reports at work choose what I read off of the cover and I have to do a book report on it. They chose this, and it was bad even for a kids book. Needed more explosions and a villain who curses. Desperately! (25/40) #Booksky

It’s that time of year where I text/call my parents about where they will be on their birthdays and what they would like…followed by silence. In a week I’ll hear, “What do you mean you sent a cheesecake to Florida? We’re in Jersey!” (Sigh) The Annual Wasting of the Cheesecake, 2025 edition.

Had a little retirement ceremony / sending-off party for the crock pot that gave us two decades of service. Always hard to say goodbye to something that predates your relationship! How few things from the college days remain now! Enjoy your retirement and thanks for the chicken tacos and roast beef!

Used to commute 30 minutes to work each morning and afternoon - now that I work from home, I spend some of that time before and after work doing puzzles next to my desk. Helps to get my mind into/out of work mode and to unwind. Finish a puzzle per month or so! Hope it helps other work from homes!

Made Claire Saffitz’s blackberry caramel tart, and it came out picture perfect! Baking is a pretty good skill to have, and everyone should be able to succeed at it (if they precisely follow the recipe). Thrilled with the color and the taste! 😎 m.youtube.com/watch?v=LzkE...

Almost forgot I had ordered a copy of Gradius Origins, so this was nice to get in the mail. No need to think anything through, just blast it all up! Gradius III was one of my first SNES games, too, so I hope the nostalgia factor is still there!

Having good neighbors is an underrated blessing - two of ours are retired and the ones behind us have weekend bonfires and project Netflix movies on the side of their house at dusk. KPop Demon Hunters was last nights feature for their kids. They’re good parents too.

Maybe I didn’t grok it in fullness but it took three tries in my life before I managed to complete this one. A classic, yes, but very dated…certainly felt like how I imagined 1961 would have felt culturally if I was there. Read Moon is a Harsh Mistress instead. So much better! (25/40) #booksky