I’d never been to the Story Mansion before and I’m a strumpet for crumpets, so I signed up for their annual Holiday Tea. I joined a group of women going, only one of whom I knew. When I arrived, she introduced me to an elderly woman-we’ll call her Vicky- who proceeded to dominate the event. It was like having tea with a dowager duchess who is ( Read more... )

When I moved to Bozeman last year and saw how cute it is, I thought, “Did I just drop into a Montana rom-com?!” If you’ve read my dating stories, you know that I am very much not living in a rom-com. Just a com. But there are moments, like the annual Downtown Christmas Stroll, where I feel like I’m living in an idyllic small town from a Hallmark ( Read more... )

I blew up two balloons for Rush so he could play with them. One of them popped and he burst into tears, accusing me of popping it. I said, “I didn’t pop it; it was all the way across the floor from me!” He stomped away, declaring, “No. You pop it.”

I later tried to sing the Mickey Mouse Funhouse song and he barked, “QUIET!”

So anyway, he's a ( Read more... )

My sister got a soft-sided ball pit for Rush‘s first birthday. When I visit, I turn it into a game I call Stormy Seas, in which I roll him around in the ball pit while yelling different nautical terms. He laughs merrily as I toss him about while bellowing things like, “Hurricane off the port bow! Batten down the hatches, lads! Look to starboard, ( Read more... )

Jenny visited me from LA and was delighted with the snowstorm. She was excited to shovel the driveway, and I generously let her. We went to the Museum of the Rockies to see the cryptids exhibit and geek out over the dinosaur bones. The planetarium show made me dizzy, so that’s a fun new consequence of being in my forties ( Read more... )

It has been a heavy week, weighted down with the revelation of just how much my country hates women. It was bad enough that America elected Donald the first time around, even after we knew he was a misogynistic predator and a swindler who doesn’t pay his taxes or his debts. Even after he was charged with raping a 13-year-old. Then we had four years ( Read more... )

Heidi, Michell, and I went to West Yellowstone to gush over cute apex predators. The Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center takes in animals that have been wounded or become human-habituated and are at risk of being euthanized. It’s incredible to be that close to grizzly bears and wolves, to see the bristling of their fur and the snapping of their teeth ( Read more... )

I guilted my friend Brit into going kayaking with me despite it being late October and rather far north. I was determined to kayak that reservoir, so he reluctantly agreed while mumbling things like, “But the wind ( Read more... )

I asked Mollie if she wanted to go to the Montana Corn Maze with me and she immediately said yes. Neither of us is from Montana, so a labyrinth made of crops is a new experience. Especially for little Otto, who petted the hay bales and tried to toss his ball to a sleeping pig ( Read more... )

Bozeman is a fascinating mix of modern and rustic, town and country. One moment you’re walking by the high-tech hospital, but step behind it and you’re suddenly in someone’s crops, wondering how to get around the cow ( Read more... )