The Optimistic Musings of a Pessimist

The Happiest Thing Friday

Two years ago I shared my faith publicly on this blog for the first time and it was scary. I recognize many people do not share my beliefs and, for me at least, it…

Easter, Faith, Happy Things Friday, Holidays
Mar, 29, 2024

Life Lately: A Hodgepodge

I feel like I haven’t written about…life…much lately. Now, a trip to Spain was very much a part of life but it’s an unusually big and grand adventure. Most of life is loads of…

Life, Parenting, Random
Mar, 28, 2024
35 Comments

Crowd-Sourced Knowledge

Should our household acquire an air fryer?

Let’s discuss epilators, crystal hair erasers, and other non-razor options for shaving. Tell me what I need to know about brands, efficacy, and pain levels.

What has been…

Random
Mar, 27, 2024
39 Comments

Barcelona Day Three: Gaudi, More Gaudi, Picasso, Bathroom Woes and Bird Poop

There are a handful of attractions in Barcelona that require advanced tickets and, no surprise, Sagrada Familia is one of them. When we picked our visit time, first thing in the morning seemed ideal….

Barcelona, Travel
Mar, 26, 2024
28 Comments

Barcelona Day Two: Mazes, Carnival Rides, and Flooded Forests

We slept long and hard our first night in Spain; I woke the kids around 9:00 am and we started prepping for the day in a leisurely fashion – nothing was officially “booked” on…

Barcelona, Travel
Mar, 25, 2024
32 Comments

Happy Things Friday: 22 March

I’m so happy to be back in this space. It was lovely to get away from our normal routines for a while – buffered with some extra offline time – but it’s nice to…

Barcelona Day One: Crisis Averted, Our First Spanish Churros, Cathedrals and Kisses

And just like that – thanks to the wonders of modern aviation – our family was on another continent before breakfast! Our flights went smoothly (I’ll recap the transit experience, things that worked especially…