Helen was, aside from her obvious skill, always just the nicest person to interact with at Housing (which is a tough battle when you also had Eric there, back in my day.) She wrote me a card when my eldest was born that had me in tears. A well deserved retirement.

Local friends - in your opinion, what's the best events calendar for local activities? Pulse checking a group conversation at work.

I told my daughter we were going to the garden center, and you would have thought I told her she was seeing N*Sync in 2002.

For the first time in a long time, we had a really big travel calendar year come up. I said “February? Nah, that’s too early to book tickets to anything.” Reader, I messed up what the heck is with these airfare prices.

My daughter just said “my mind fell apart” to explain why she didn’t use soap while washing her hands and, honestly? Girl I get it.

Trip to the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library. Iowa’s only president! And a whopper. That said, there was a piece of the Berlin Wall there, which was impressionable.

Oh my god this is gonna be a mess

My kids woke up this morning, after a 75 degree evening spent playing with a water table, desperate to go outside and continue the fun. Which I ruined for them by showing them the cold rain. It’s just annoying that *I* am the bad guy in this situation.

Starting the first day with my kid healthy enough to be back at daycare with an email that’s nine whole paragraphs of suggestions makes me want to go get him out of school and do the sick day thing again.

All the solar panel chatter has me thinking about an old question: Any recommendations for anything that isn’t a full-on solar roof but could help you charge a few devices? I had something like this once that was supposed to support a cell phone, about 10 years ago, and it was a piece of junk.

I spent a warm and comfortable 90 minutes outside building my new planter! Which was the exact length of time as my stomach-sick son’s nap and now he’s back up demanding graham crackers again and maybe I should have just gamed instead.

Got a few new things up this afternoon while I procrastinated on Photoshop updates: port-city-shirts.printify.me

I love Alexandria. I love being in a community that cares and engages and scrutinizes and improves. Thank you for being good neighbors. I am passing TF out.

How many people have we run off?

….a Bill Russell Becky Hammer back to back? I was gonna go to bed.

Her too! (Gia?) “I….also live in Alexandria and pay taxes and that’s how I would like the road to be used.”

Get Jacob in here.

I am deceased

I met Mike Doyle once, and what I remember about that interaction (aside from the cause he supported) is that he was so exceedingly nice. Helped me set up my display tent and supplies at the Fox5 event we were both at. Checked in a few times that day too.

@nradshaw.bsky.social talk more!!

He’s wearing my shirt!!!

“I asked AI” Is gonna make me throw myself in the sun

“The average age of RCA is 40 years old, are they represented here today?” AND “Excuse me, I’m speaking” In the same speech?!? Damn.

Woah, hot new exclusive and VERY pertinent to the moment:

No posters or flyers, new mailers

Since we’re on break: What’s the drinking game for this meeting? (Your rules can’t send anybody to the hospital, so “sip for anti-bike and yelling at clouds” is too easy.)

Looking forward to saying that we should keep sharrows to promote active and healthy living by increasing the share of “strong and brave” cyclists

Fixed it! 😂 elenah77.github.io/parking-obit...

Celebrating the fact that our recent firehouse elections offered an online voting component, this sticker is a direct callback to a 90s era AOL ad that I'll pop in a comment. port-city-shirts.printify.me/product/2700...

This post was so essential for me, a Woman Who Has To Answer 100 Toddler Questions About Birds Every Hour And Thus Struggles To Remember Other Things. Thanks, @ryanbelmore.bsky.social

I’m watching some Legends of the Hidden Temple with the kids, and I cannot get over how trash the consolation prizes are. “Hey kid, you were just humiliated on national TV! Here’s a voucher for chocolate milk powder.”

So I said weeks back that I was toying with a pin design from the storm. I've ended on a render here that I thought was kind of cool - took inspiration from labor movement pins. If I wanted to move forward, I'd need to ship 20 for ~$18, though. That feels like a lot for a niche but rad joke.

Photographed a concert tonight with @kylereardon.bsky.social , my pedometer *knows it*

My sick toddler is obsessed with “playing” super monkey ball with us and his sister. I have to get some work done today, so I have a YouTube live stream up - but he got wise to the fact that I’m not holding a controller, so he continually picks one up and shoves it in my face.

Finally got to swing a mattock. Y’all are right it slaps.

the first choice is literally what Jesus would teach, i feel like i'm losing my mind

“Mommy why are they singing and dancing like that?” “That’s rock music, honey.” “It’s loud.” “On purpose yes.”

Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work. "Can you please check your 2FA so I can see your Analytics account?"

No new pictures, where are you at mentally?

Our candidates run to represent all of us. I see that some of them detail their positions about political issues in the BIBA group, an echo chamber that factually exists and generates odd conspiracy theories about DASH bus ad designs.

Confirmed: I’m still young!

Don’t worry guys, everything is very cool and normal at the Wegman’s parking lot!

Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college: - Spanish/French - Ethnomusicology of Latin America - Int’l Criminal Justice Systems - History of Monsters* - Space and The Planets (a physics class in disguise and I almost imploded taking it)

Every time somebody gets kicked out of the BIBAs my head goes here:

Bold strategy for a party that is trying to retain and recruit Gen Z and non-white voters, let’s see how that plays out for them Cotton.

1. Fractional nonprofit marketer (my own business!) 2. Fish/wildlife marketer (dead by doge, sadly) 3. Housing nonprofit marketer 4. Faith-based program coordinator 5. Pizza restaurant cook (genuinely miss this job, I can still toss dough) Honorable mentions to the two improv orgs I’ve run.

Daycare’s lesson plan today is “we’ll melt some snow and see what happens!” And I’m so RELIEVED to know they’re as knocked out as I am

We caved and did the “pay neighborhood teens to shovel” method and let me say, 10/10.

In honor of our yet-again upcoming election, local Benito fan club, and the Super Bowl, please enjoy this dumb thing that hit me like a brick last night:

I’m sorry but a Green Day opener, Seahawks Super Bowl, with Bad Bunny half time is like you pulled three phases of me and put them in an NLF broadcast.