Dana Burland

After 522 days away* I'm back to working in the office again. And honestly, it’s kind of nice! My little 15 minute commute gives me breathing room between Morning Mom™ to UX Professional. I’m actually now wondering how many 8:30am Teams calls I’ve joined over quarantine with my Mom Voice still in full effect. Oof. Being back in the office has been surprisingly nice. I’ve never had an assigned desk, but since returning I’ve had no trouble finding individual tucked away stations to work at. There still aren't a lot of people back, or at least not back at the same time, so I have the distance and distraction-less set up I want right now too. And I have the flexibility and respect I need to return comfortably. I’m in the office most days but finish up my work day back at home. I hope some mix of working from both locations stays my norm. In the last 522 days I’ve felt the most ease and happiness I’ve ever felt in balancing all my roles--mom, wife, homeowner, employee, team ...

    And they're off! Garden 2021 has officially begun.  Snap peas : only 1 of these grew. I tried re-sowing. They just didn't want to take. Carrots: growing these in the orange Home Depot bucket on the left. So far so good! Basil, parsley, rosemary & chives: All in the ground (bottom of the photo). And my perennial chives are up and flowering! Green beans : these are sowed in the brown open dirt line toward the middle left of the photo. I think I'm late in getting these in the ground, but we'll see how they do. Tomatoes: In the middle, in two cages, are my tomatoes. I have a cherry tomato and heirloom tomato variety. This is the first year I have my tomatoes in cages! (That's so embarrassing to type...). Eager to see how they do more tamed. Peppers: To the right of my tomatoes are two pepper plants. One is a bell pepper, one is a smaller sweet pepper which is new to me. Cucumbers: At the back, in *hopefully* enough space for them to sprawl, is a cucumber plant! ...

It’s not quite garden season in West Michigan yet, but things are really starting to pop up over here! You know about the garden fence , which so far seems to be doing its job in keeping any curious critters out. Inside the garden I have a singular snap pea shoot that’s sprouted. What happened to the rest of the row I planted at the same time? They’re nowhere to be found, but I suspect they didn’t get enough water. I think I’ll have luck with my late correction resowing the rest of the row as we’ve had very, very cool weather snap peas like. My chives are up and strong, and the carrots I planted in a 5 gallon bucket have sprouted! I tried these in the ground last year and they did nothing… I suspect because my soil was too dense. Inside I’ve started from seed: Cherry tomatoes Heirloom tomatoes Bell peppers Cucumber Broccoli Watermelon Everyone’s doing great! I just transferred a few seedlings to bigger pots, and the plants seem to be shocked. We’ll see how they grow within the ne...

Heyyyy, big news! I’ve got a garden fence! My fam visited this past weekend and went right to work helping me build a bomb garden fence. Honestly, we’re amateur builders at best; and honestly, this fence is pro level. And it’s needed because a week after I cleared the garden out I found a bunny den. UGH. Anyway. I went with wood 4x4s (which we concreted into place) and chicken wire. We also chicken wired the edge of the deck that serves as a garden wall. And we made a gate! A perfect gate! There was only one casualty in the form of a severed internet wire, but clearly as I post this we’re back in business with that. Man am I impressed with our efforts. Inside these chicken wire walls you’ll find my snap peas planted, chives in full force and a “raised bed” bucket where I’m giving carrots another go after last year’s failed attempt. All the way inside (the house) I have cherry tomatoes and heirloom tomatoes from seed sprouting nicely and newly planted watermelon, broccoli and ...

This is something I want to remember: going downtown, for the first time in over a year, to get my COVID vaccinations. I got both my shots at the DeVos Place Convention Center. I’ve been there with the masses (packed like sardines, can you believe?!) for ArtPrize; been in various huge convention rooms for things like the Food, Beer and Wine Festival and the West Michigan Home and Garden Show and have seen performances there, seated shoulder to shoulder with others. And now I can add I’ve been in this 162K square foot building, snaked in a long line, remaining 6ft away from anyone, with thousands, for my vaccinations. It felt weird to be downtown and weirder to be flocking in the same doors with the exact people I’ve been actively avoiding. Right when you come in you get a temperature check and shepherded into a line. I was pleasantly surprised at both my appointments that the line is nicely spaced out and never stops moving. There are plenty of volunteers to greet you and point y...

Did I put way too much effort into a simple 2-household Easter egg hunt gathering? Yeah, of course I did. We had our old neighbors over for a family Easter egg hunt and brunch. I made this spinach egg breakfast casserole that gets a bunch of thumbs up any time I make it, this new-to-me lemon blueberry bread (cough, cake) and this homemade ranch dip . I’m not even an insane ranch person, but I’d smear that dip on like night cream. I filled up a bunch of eggs with candy and my neighbor filled up a bunch more with stickers and little toys. I also bought 4 JUMBO eggs (one for each kid) with some dollar store type trinkets. The boys got a real hoot out of wandering the yard and hunting for eggs. The big boys were so kind, alerting each other when they found eggs to even out each others’ baskets. The little boys weren’t entirely sure what was going on, but seemed to understand pick up/clean up. When I was growing up our neighbors did an Easter egg hunt throughout 3-4 neighbor’s back...

Yellow tulips Bright, cheery, bold Stand tall and bend to the light in an optimistic search for brightness Yellow tulips Sat on my table 1 year ago, when we didn’t know, when we weren’t sure, when we hunkered down. Low, contained, closed When each day felt too heavy to start again Our home base constantly quaked We kept the kids home and worked around them while my working hours were slashed in half and uncertainty was all we knew Yellow tulips Remained constant on the center table of our home for weeks Making me smile through my clenched jaw, eyes heavy and bagged, mind racing and constantly bracing Yellow tulips Stand tall Bend toward the light Search for brightness I survived and am learning now. I’m taller. I’m bending. I’m searching. Nearly cherry Like you Yellow tulips