What Makes Me Laugh

We’ve been preparing the garden and doing our own form of early summer weed whacking. Doug is our resident Zen master dandelion slayer, bending over good portions of the day to pull them by hand from the yard. If it were up to me they’d probably take over the yard, but Doug is persistent. Early [...]

A few buds are out on the lilac trees, which worries us a little since we have a few more snowstorms to get through before warm weather is here to stay, but never you mind, I’m going to enjoy the sun that’s shining today. Doug is making me a big breakfast (my favorite meal of [...]

I used to say things like, “I could never live anywhere that didn’t have the four seasons.” Meaning snow, of course. The older I get, the more I hope to never say never, because right now I feel like I could live somewhere without the four seasons, very easily. Yes, I ski. Yes, I get [...]

I’m leaving today for Las Vegas to run Sunday’s Rock ‘N Roll Half Marathon on the Vegas strip. Both Vegas and running a half will be a first, and I hope to survive both. So far I’ve survived running in the rain, the wind, the snow, and the ice, so whatever lies ahead can’t be that bad. A big [...]

Well, I can pretty much guarantee that I won’t be welcome in the Rising Trout coffee shop in Lewistown anymore. Which is really unfortunate, since I travel to Lewistown frequently for work, and it’s the only good coffee shop / bookstore in town. On Friday, my colleague Mark and I stopped in there for a quick [...]

I think it’s about time I start writing about where I live, because it’s a funny place. Jimmy Buffet even wrote a song about it. When I finally read the lyrics I was surprised to find a few references to deviled eggs in bars. I’m no real partyer but I’m pretty sure no Livingston bars [...]

The bus drops me off in front of the Montana State University student union every morning, and I walk the mile downtown to work. For some reason they don’t have the downtown bus timed to pick up the Livingston commuters, but no matter, I could use the walk. The walk through campus in the morning makes me [...]

On Tuesday I was waiting for the bus to take me home, reading a book, and checking my watch every few minutes. My fellow commuters were stretched out on the university’s lawn, plugged into ipods or blackberries or books. The bus was late, but they didn’t seem too concerned. I, on the other hand, had just walked like [...]

Doug replaced our weathered bathroom window last week with a new, energy efficient window that won’t cause a shoulder injury when you try to open it. It looks fabulous, but as of yet we haven’t purchased a curtain. This is problematic because the view from our window is our neighbor’s backyard and kitchen windows. Therefore, [...]

Montana summers are the kind of summers people in southern parts dream about. They vacation here in dry 75 degree weather, with a cool breeze at night to ripple the leaves of the aspen trees, and talk about moving here someday. Some of them do, and most of them leave after two years, when they [...]