Dana Burland

“How old are you, A?” A studies his left hand, splays his fingers widely, then slowly and studiously curls his pinky down to his palm. The thumb secures it down like the seal on an envelope. And with a big smile, he’ll show you: 3. 3 little fingers confident, strong and sure in the air. 3 years of spunk, silliness, determination, independence and self assuredness. A truly brings the party. He LOVES to be silly, he desperately wants to be in on all and any of the action. And he loves his family. At three I’m constantly impressed at what he knows, what he’s picked up, his observance at all around him, his “street smarts”. This past October when we were at a high school football game he asked me “what this is, Mama? Halloween?” I said, “No, not yet, in a few weeks”, and determined he reiterated: “Then WHAT THIS IS!? Fall?” I still laugh picturing him gesture around, foreign to the event of an all-town high school football game and trying to make sense of it. Recently his baby g...

This year I was hit with the trifecta: Hanukkah, A’s birthday and Christmas–all at once. Odds of mom survival this year: LOW. Very low. I’ll be back up right just in time for a mom magic Valentine’s Day. Here are some special things I’m putting together for the family this year which will all add up to an A+ holiday/birthday/holiday smash up week: Adult Family Secret Santa Assigned after Thanksgiving. Parents + adult siblings participate. $40 cap. It makes for a creative, fun and surprising Christmas morning! Holiday Card Every year a funny but true photo capturing a moment of what life is normally like in this house full of boys! Old neighbors holiday party It’s become tradition to get together with our old neighbors/family friends for a holiday party just before all the true madness begins. Bless Mr. Paul who kept the mom’s wine glasses full throughout this event! A Hanukkah Classroom Visitor Growing up my mom and mother-in-law both visited their kid’s elementary scho...

This year was my first doing the Troy Turkey Trot. That is such a nice race. It's close to where we stay while in town, well organized, easy parking, good music, good mood and good weather. I'll be back again for sure. I've been on my workout routine, but it's not running specific. I certainly had enough of a base to tackle this 5K, but my goal wasn't to PR, it was to run strong and steady, to have fun and challenge myself. And I did! Mile 1 felt really strong, and same with mile 2. I needed to pull back a bit on the last mile to not over do it, but still had enough in the tank for a super strong finish.  My overall time was 27:07. If I hadn't accidentally entered the race as a Male I would have placed 12 in my age group. If I had ran 8 seconds faster I would have been under 27.  Oh well! I enjoyed the route, the crowd, and gained another year of being immensely grateful for my body & health which allows me to do silly Turkey Trots and more.

Do you need a between-end-of-summer-and-holiday-season reason to get together with buddies? If so, I highly suggest a soup party. This is not my idea. This is the brilliant idea of my good friends Jill & Dave. They've been throwing an annual soup party in Eastern Pennsylvania for a few years now, and I finally got my act together to put together a West Michigan version. The premise: invite several families over, ask them to make whatever soup they'd like (preferably with a little group communication so you don't have 15 chicken noodle soups), and prepare to feast. Our entries this year were: Tinola (a chicken, ginger, broth Filipino soup) Mexican corn chowder Chili French onion soup Wild rice soup We had 3 other families over, making for 9 total adults and 8 kids.  I put together a basic salad and a big bowl of rolls. We had wine flowing and my brother made a signature cocktail--hot chocolate with peppermint vodka.  It was a blast. Everyone was re...

Today my extended family met up at the cemetery, around my Grandpa's newly placed headstone . I bought a bag of rocks, so did my Dad, so did my Auntie Marian.  It's one of the Jewish traditions that resonates lots with me. My Dad read something prepared by the Rabbi who spoke at my Grandpa's funeral. I loved what he wrote, and wanted to keep it here: It is customary for Jews to place a stone by the graveside of one they respect and love. Some say that this is just a marker to commemorate the visit. Some say that it is to weigh down the spirits of grief that haunt us, anchoring our pain so that we do not dismiss our destiny and walk the path of a mourner forever.  I like to believe that the stone has more to do with "foundation", the first brick laid in building a future that at one time seemed inconceivable: a future where he is not at the table--at our side, a phone call away--a world without his radiance. That future once seemed inconceivable but here we are an...

Ya know... we didn't love Cleveland.  Last weekend we took a long weekend trip there with another couple. We needed a near-by-ish, drivable city, and wanted to explore somewhere new. Google made Cleveland look like it had some fun weekend potential.  And maybe if we stayed in a different part? Or explored further? I don't know... trying to cut the city some slack here, because what we experienced downtown and around that area was real "eh". However, the company was A+! We always have a good time on a kid-less, friend-filled few days away. And we made the most of it as best as we could.  Ohio City was a spot we spent most of our time in. It was fun to duck in and out of breweries, restaurants (Townhall shout out!), go duck pin bowling, enjoy Mitchell's Ice Cream and to explore the West End Market. If I played my cards better we should have picked up a few odds and ends from the market for a solid in-AirBnB Cleveland inspired dinner. Cuyahoga Valley National Park wa...

Weeeee this year was another one for the memory books! This was our 3rd annual? 4th annual? at home Halloween party with our good family friends/old neighbors.  Again I made Pinch of Yum's queso chicken chili . Again I made a pumpkin snack plate. Again I threw a few drops of green food coloring in a pitcher of lemon-aid and called it Goblin Juice. And again we had an absolutely wild A+ time.  C- on my pumpkin face this year, don't you think? Ah well. This year C was Black Panther (a super hero), A was Blippi (a kid's TV show character), Ben was an inflatable man riding a dinosaur and I was Wonder Woman.  5-year-old C ran basically sprinting speed through almost all of the neighborhood before stopping back home for a snack and bathroom break which turned into a "eh, I'm done" conclusion. 2.5-year-old A made it to about 10-12 houses, all on his own two feet much to his dismay ("uppies, please!!"). Good records set by both. By the end of the night the h...

Isn’t she lovely? Isn’t she wonderful? Isn’t she precious? Less than one minute old. Proud professional mom moment over here–the new BISSELL Support website I was a big part of launched this past week! This was one of the biggest projects I’ve been on since joining the company a year ago, and one I’m super proud of. When I interviewed for my current role I looked through the existing Support website and gave it a friendly critique. My gut reaction that it wasn’t working as well as it could for customers or our customer service agents using it while talking to customers was right. We used a lot of solid data points to help us determine what needed to be fixed. The majority of visitors are on mobile phones Customers were having a hard time finding their product and getting to relevant troubleshooting articles The basics (order status, returns, etc.) that bring a lot of users to the site are some of the hardest on-site tasks to complete We took these insights, did some competitive ...

This past weekend: Playing front yard soccer with C and barely easing up to let him win. Biting my nails as A does the pinchers (tongs) to serve himself pasta–and watching him do a great job. A small view into C’s astronomical creative mind through the animal, superhero, play vehicle scenes he set up during quiet time. “What this is, Halloween?”, “No.”, “Then WHAT. THIS. IS????, Fall?”, “Yes!” this conversation with A as he tries to make sense of the world around him. These boys. They’re sweet little guys, full of energy and umpf and smiles. Having grand ideas. Wanting to do things themselves, and more often than not being able to. AND they’re growing up, and full of spice. Seeing these huge 5T pants come out of the wash I’m SURE won’t fit any boy’s body in my house–yet they do. Trying my hardest to help them navigate frustration, which is frustrating, because HOW do you coach through that? And now I’m frustrated, too. Attempting to explain simple logic like “no Legos can leave th...

It's so bittersweet to return from a good vacation--in this case a 6-day hiking trip to Arizona with my brother. Our first stop: Page, AZ. 4 hours north of Phoenix on the Utah border. We did a guided tour of Antelope Canyon , deeply cut and tight bright sandstone canyons on a Navajo Reservation. The cut smooth rock made amazing wavy formations and the light sometimes cast warm orange glows and other times was so blocked by rocks we could hardly see the trail. I loved learning the northern Arizona sandstone canyons are made up of the same minerals as northern Michigan's Pictured Rocks . Next up, Horseshoe Bend where we got a wild birds eye view of the Colorado River snaking around a towering sandstone rock. Incredible.  This... pales in comparison but we did have an A+++ dinner in Flagstaff (Shift restaurant) which included very good black sesame sorbet.  Next: Grand Canyon! I mean, there aren't words, especially that I can find as a hobby blogger.  We hi...

I hate when I find a really good recipe online but lose it. This chili recipe I've made twice now, but even on its maiden voyage the family confirmed "yep, this one's good".  There's nothing wildly special about it--except for a unique step at the end. It's just good. Ingredients are simple and make sense, is cooks up fairly fast/easily and it's yummy. Right now there's a container of this in the fridge for dinner next week and another container in the freezer as a gift to my future self. With a cornbread muffin on the side, this dinner will keep the troops happy all fall and winter long. Classic Chili Adapted from The Wholesome Dish Ingredients   1 tablespoon olive oil 1 medium yellow onion - diced 1 pound 90% lean ground beef 2 1/2 tablespoons chili powder 2 tablespoons ground cumin 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 2 tablespoons tomato paste 1 tablespoon garlic powder 1 1/2 teasp...

I didn’t grow up cooking for the Jewish holidays with anyone. We’d arrive at either Auntie Rae’s or Auntie Marian’s and the spread was laid. Their homes on those nights were warm, the air itself was almost savory, the tables were leafed and extra extended with long tablecloths and card tables butted up to the big table always creating an uneven surface and fault line to watch out for. I always assumed the matzo ball soup we started with was a secret special recipe. My grandma had a special way to make hers, which she was happy to loudly gossip just one room out of earshot from Auntie Rae was better than Auntie Rae’s. We all knew, it in fact was not. I’ve now come to learn they all (minus my grandma) basically made the matzo ball soup from the box you can buy at the grocery store. What a wonderful revelation there’s no special secret I missed out on here–I can do it myself with the dump of two powder pouches and 20 minutes. The brisket though– that was an Auntie Rae special. I’m lu...

And just like that, it’s been 1 year working at BISSELL . In my first year I feel like I’ve built a pretty solid foundation. I don’t know everything but I know enough to do my job, lead my team, participate in bigger projects and get the routine “yes, good job” from my boss. I’m responsible for the product support experience, which includes everything from thousands of troubleshooting articles to designing ways for consumers to return, replace and get help with products on their own. I oversee a team that helps me with this, which has been rewarding and challenging. I have excellent, beyond capable hands in the kitchen and honestly they know their way around way better than I do. I also want to be a manager people want to work for–and that takes a lot of work in itself. What’s most thrilling about working at BISSELL is that it’s fast paced, new ideas are often green-lit and there’s plenty of room to get involved. I love that almost all the time, and in the moments when it’s less t...

This year was the garden that wasn't. I bought plants and seeds. Things grew. Some were picked, more rotted on the vine, and even more were stunted in potential due to lack of attention.    I wasn't into it this year. I just couldn't be.  On my mind was the new pool membership we had. Triathlon training. Demands at my work job. Demands at my home job. A summer schedule that leaned more toward "yes" than it should have.  In the ground I  started off on bad footing . I didn't do any Spring prep to the soil or plant planning. I left tons of open dirt where crab grass quickly took hold, choked out my plants and rooted itself so deep I could barely hand pull it.  Even without looking out the window, the wildness felt more like a choke than adventure. All summer I tried to ignore it, even though I could almost hear it taunting me through the wall.  Today I faced it.  I've got the time thanks to a positive COVID test and quarantine from my family. It's m...

ALERT! ALERT! I absolutely rocked the EGR Sprint Tri, AND placed 3rd in my age group! How did this happen!? I swam strong. Quickly after the start I was toward the front of the 35 & up women's heat. Open water swimming is so challenging, every stroke felt tough. Still I kept form, buoy sighted evert 4-6 strokes and about 1/3 of the way I started catching heats before me. The last 20ft were in shallow, weedy water so my sprint finish was mostly out of disgustion.  I was slow in transition for sure. How does one put on spandex bike shorts while sopping wet and out of breath quickly? I took my time as fast as I could, if that makes sense. Immediately on the bike I was ready to fly. This was my first race on my new bike. I love going fast on that thing. 1 mile into the 12 I knew I was going too fast. I went too fast the whole time, but couldn't stop myself, I was having too much fun. The bike course had some challenging hills but I'd been training it and knew what I was...

It still feels like the ground is moving under me after a 800ish mile, 13 hr, 4.5 day road trip to the UP and back. Using a previous northern lower peninsula trip as bait (https://dbur023.blogspot.com/2019/05/a-short-guide-to-michigander-conversion.html), I lured my Pennsylvania friends back to MI (plus my brother!) for an even grander trip. And I think it paid off. Day 1 We mostly collected people, rental cars, snacks and headed north. We were all enamored by the sweet little A-frame we rented in Harbor Springs as a quick touchdown spot.  Day 2 First, a quick tour of Harbor Springs. The cookie shop was closed, but a very big boat was there (which I feel like is a pretty standard recap of H.S.?). Then to Mackinac City to snap some pics of the bridge. Then, OVER the bridge and straight to Tahquamenon Falls.  I always forget how big and majestic the falls are. Plus, it seems they've added way more walking trails to see much more of the lower falls since my last visit. A futu...

And just like that we're 1.5 weeks away from race day. The last 3 weeks especially I've been putting in hard, hard work.  5am treadmill runs I didn't think I could finish. Brick workouts (bike + run) daunting on paper but within the realm of my capabilities. Swims... well, it pays to be a former competitive swimmer even though I'm still scared of seaweed.  This training plan is still a challenge for me. I'm grateful for that. I love showing up each day to something tough and knocking it out. The training remains as much, if not more, enjoyable for me than the race itself.  Maybe harder than the physical work was last week's unplanned rest. I got knocked off my feet for a few days and needed some actual, do nothing rest days. I'm not a good rester outside of training. It took discipline to sit and ignore a few workouts. Probably because I did exactly that, when I got back to it this week it was no big deal. No great fitness lost. An interesting, important...

The months leading up to Kindergarten we started talking about it. The weeks before we visited the school playground, let you pick out a "hot lava" backpack and shopped for school supplies. You were excited, until you weren't. The weekend before Kindergarten you got real, real nervous. And so I was too. The morning of your first day you jumped out of bed. Smiled through breakfast. Danced a first day dance in the kitchen. Begged to go to the bus stop early.  You've been ready, and today was no exception. I danced with you and took your picture on the front porch. We walked to the bus stop together and stood with the other kids and watched buses that weren't yours yet pass with excitement. Your smile was just as long as the bus was when it finally rolled down the street. You walked right up, right on, turned around for a smile and were gone. Were you nervous on the bus itself? Getting off at a new school with new kids and a new teacher? So much unknown and so m...

Every summer I make it my mission to get the 4 of us away together. Traveling with family friends or grandparents is fun, but it's important to me to make memories just our crew.  This year we went hiking in Hocking Hills, Ohio, and WOW. This trip just blew our minds!  We stayed in a perfect little AirBnB north of downtown Logan, Ohio. It very much seemed in the middle of nowhere, but going up up up the hills and then WAY UP the super steep and long driveway we were rewarded with our own private place, no one nearby, with a big front porch with cozy swing, hot tub, fire pit and AMAZING view.  What interested me in Hocking Hills to begin with was hearing from a few people the hikes were super attainable for small kids. That couldn't be more true. Ash Cave This was our first hike on day 1. From the parking lot there's a smooth paved sidewalk all the way to the cave itself (disability friendly). After about a half mile hike through some beautiful woods you're dropped into ...

I was just talking with a friend about this: how I organize my photos and videos. I’ve had a rock solid system for years, that I’ve likely blogged about before but it’s worth revisiting. Like organizing anything, finding the system and getting started takes time. Falling behind takes time, too. The regular maintenance is a breeze, though, and makes me feel like I have a good handle on the output of all the snapping I do. Phone to Computer clean out and organization About every other month I move my favorite photo/videos from phone to computer. My convention for computer saving is simple: a folder for each year, and within each a folder for each month. I batch select photos from my phone and send them to my computer to save. Once they’re on my computer, I delete them from my phone (unless they’re a FAVORITE like the most recent family photo). This keeps my phone decluttered, easy so sift through, prevents storage issues and also makes it very clear where I left off from when I go thr...

Here we go again! I just wrapped up week 2 of another 8 week sprint triathlon training plan.  I’m following the same one I did for the Grand Rapids Triathlon in June. It works so well with my schedule, was challenging without being killer and prepped me so well for the race I decided to repeat it. Typically that means: Mondays: rest Tuesdays: swim during my lunch break (WFH day) Wednesdays: run before work Thursdays: bike during my lunch break (WFH day) Fridays: rest Saturdays: swim during kid nap time Sunday: run and/or bike in the morning or at nap There’s always something to do, sometimes it’s just laundry. Weeks 1-2 were very mild. Swimming is my strong suit so I modified the stop-after-each-lap plan to sets more in line with my ability. I’m respecting the run workouts, which so far have been run/walks. Starting slow with the base of fitness I have allows me time to improve my speed and form. The biking is a whole new world. I finally ditched my 15 yr old mountain/hybrid bike a...

When you’re 5 you know everything. More than mom for sure, except she does know what paleontologists are. When you’re 5 you eat 4 helpings of Caesar salad for dinner. And cake for 3 nights in a row. When you’re 5 you’re a great soccer player, a speedster on your bike, like Flash when you run. When you’re 5 you ask for a police tow truck Lego kit, Minion dinosaur birthday cake and a bounce house/real dinosaur at your birthday party. You get the dino theme, an Uncle dressed up in an inflatable dinosaur costume to battle in the backyard, by the grace of God actually a legit police tow truck Lego kit (to which you absolutely beam and say “I WAS WANTING THIS!”) a magician/balloon animal twister to wow your birthday guests and a party so great when your friends left you sat on the front porch and frowned, “I want them to stay forever.” When you’re 5 you’re a sweet older brother, who takes his younger brother aside to say “I can help you”, and “you’re not going to like hearing this, b...

I'd like to submit a new word for Webster Dictionary consideration:   uhy /uh-y/ exclamation used, mostly under-breath, often involuntary/subconsciously to express shock and/or disgust. "Did you turn on the news? Uhy..." origin: Yiddish "oy vey", "oy" It's more than "oy". Less "o", more "uh" or "ugh". Put an extra heaping tablespoon of dread into it. It definitely ends with the "oy"-like "y", though. I caught myself gravitating to it awhile ago, but man has it been in heavy rotation lately. 

  LOOK at her! Isn't she a beauty??? This is my new bike. My first road bike! I didn't even realize it until I started seriously shopping around but I was riding my previous bike, a big black hybrid mountain bike, for at least 12 years. I think it's time for something new. I'm going to absolutely FLY on this thing!

If the start of my garden this year was a metaphor, like gardens often are, take a look and see what it tells you. What you see here is beautifully thriving crabgrass. It’s doing SO well this year. I’m sure other gardeners are jealous. Ha! The start of this year’s garden is wildly weed-y. And I even spent a while pulling the big weeds a week before this pic was taken. Also present is a strawberry plant I put in a too-shady spot that’s only produced one berry, choked out rosemary, a singular small basil plant, heavy and droopy snap peas which are doing great but completely overshading the green beans below, two tomato plants–one that looks like it might do something the other not so much, and cucumbers beginning to go berserk. Honestly, I’m not that into the garden this year. It’s fun to have there, I’m happy for whatever it does, but I’m a very rare visitor. More valuable is our new community pool membership–the spot where we go multiple nights during the week to “picnic and poo...

Look how big our littlest is! Two and a half today! It truly feels like he’s always been here in this form: silly, spunky and smart–picking up on everything his big brother does. At two and a half A is wise and opinionated, he’s curious and bold, he also fiercely loves his home and his family. So much of his tiny baby days are locked in a dark vault in my mind. He arrived 4 weeks early, had some twisty tummy trouble that led to weeks of newborn colicky screaming, and when I tried to climb out of the newborn haze and head back to work COVID hit and put me in a tailspin of literally guarding my family with my life. A is my little wonder. HOW did we make it out of that to this marvelous, thriving, rosy cheeked boy? (His big bro C loves to giggle and say “A, you have rosy cheeks!”) Kids are resilient, and A is definitely that. I can see some “COVID-baby” tendencies in him–he’s a harsh critic of new places, he wants confirmation we’re going to all be together. Also, he loves driving hi...

That’s a wrap on my 2nd sprint triathlon! Yesterday was race day, and it went really great. I truly loved my 8 week training for this event. It kept me focused, challenged and with a nice variety of swim/bike/run, speed/hills/endurance. I was consistently working hard, consistently going beyond what I thought I could do. In a lot of ways the training itself was gratifying enough. I was more nervous for this race than I think I ever have been to compete in anything. I don’t really know why the nerves were SO high. Open water swimming is scary for me, I don’t like not being able to see the bottom or battle waves, but I’m a strong swimmer nonetheless. I’m proficient on a bike, even though I still ride a clunky old mountain bike. I’m a confident runner. I think the enormity of all three together, fast and frantic transitions and knowing this isn’t just a weekend 5K you roll out of bed for contributed to it. Also, I really wanted to beat my time from 6 years ago . The Swim It was very ...

Omg. We did it. Maybe you remember a year and a half ago I embarked on a project to replace our neighborhood signs ? The project is finally DONE*. This project was rough. Wait, let me be honest… it was horrific. First there was the fundraising, then shopping around for options with local companies. I sought neighborhood input on designs several times along the way. And people have opinions. We have two entrances to our neighborhood and signs at each. This meant our raised money had to cover both, which was tricky. Also, there was a surprising point of contention around if our two signs should be labeled for each entrance “East” and “West”. I heard YES–we need this to more easily identify/get around; and NO–we’re already divided enough as is. Huh. Ultimately neighbors landed on yes, denote the orient. I had a really hard time finding a company to work with. One company I went back and forth with 50+ times before ultimately deciding to go elsewhere. Another company we nearly ...

After a speedy and destructive 2 weeks, we’re sitting on the other side of our big home construction projects. Boy does it feel good. The house looks a-m-a-z-i-n-g. We love how clean, durable and forgiving the new floors are–and that they run through (almost) the entire main level of the house. Our kitchen backsplash turned out perfectly. The new vanities and bathrooms look great! There are a couple minor touch ups still in progress, but we’re 98% done. Now we get to enjoy it.