Week 657 AZ - Ashland 2022!

You know what’s great? Going off the grid, where power is generated from the sun, water is collected on the roof, and there is 1 gigabit internet. This week we did our annual pilgrimage to Ashland for Thanksgiving. We saw Maureen, Brian, and the rest of Tori’s extended family. Zach got exposure to lots of dogs, I made lots of balloons, and Amelia followed in the family tradition of driving the bob cat.

I really, really, enjoy going to Ashland, it’s such a serene place, and Tori’s family is amazing. It had been a rough few weeks for me due to Layoffs and work stress, and this really let me relax and unwind.

A great thing that happened during the week was I really got back into making balloons. The kids really enjoyed them (the other kid is my niece Kathy - Tori’s brother’s daughter). One thing I especially enjoyed was “balloon-bombing” our favorite cafe (Leaving balloons everywhere). The kids complained, but the fine folks in the random coffee shop we always stop at on our way home was pretty happy to get the mermaid.

Another great thing is Zach started aclimatizing to the dogs. Zach’s never been a big fan of dogs (except for cochise, a dog Maureen and Brian had a few years back). Check out comfortable Zach is with these cute puppers. Alright, comfortable isn’t the right word, but more comfortable then before for sure.

One last thing about Ashland, it has something called Lithia park, so named after the lithia water that is slightly nasty. Zach was very excited to get others to drink it, and even brought some home for his school friends.

While there were many great things, one thing that was tasty, but not ideal in the long term was I let my diet go. Now, while not ideal for the long term, that giant ice cream cone was great, as were the family M&Ms and candy apples (which proudly I made, though they were super easy).

One last thing, that technically happened in week 658 (no blog published), is Zach made a pod cast interviewing me. I was amazed at how sharp Zach is as an interviewer, and surprised how good my answers were. Damn.

Have a great day and remember: Making balloons is so grand, Don’t stop, do it by hand, You’d be a fool to let them go, Just keep on making them, you’ll know. - ZiaT