Living at My PaceEat well, live close, go anyway

Journal

All the guides

Essays and practical notes from our household in Anthem, Arizona.

  1. 01Organic and Whole-Food EatingWhat I Mean by Eating Well at HomeEating well, in this house, is everyday work — not a cleanse, a challenge or a personality.
  2. 02Organic and Whole-Food EatingCooking for Every GenerationMeals that can land when appetites, spice, chewing, and bedtimes don't match, without making two dinners every night.
  3. 03Organic and Whole-Food EatingRhythms Are How We Make It WorkThe daily patterns that keep a full kitchen going — bread, coffee, and fresh fruit in the morning, lunches packed, and a home-cooked dinner by candlelight most nights.
  4. 04Organic and Whole-Food EatingThe Grocery Run That Feeds a Whole HouseWhere we shop, how we keep a full house in organic food, and why a practical run beats a perfect pantry — especially in the Arizona heat.
  5. 05Organic and Whole-Food EatingWhat's Worth Prioritizing at the Produce AisleA calm reading of public produce lists and official residue data — and not a reason to skip vegetables.
  6. 06Organic and Whole-Food EatingA Pie, a Muffin, and Other Things We Actually BakeThe morning loaf, the muffins we make, and the pies and cakes that show up at our table — written from the baking we actually do.
  7. 07Organic and Whole-Food EatingCooking When Energy Is ShortA slower kitchen after a stroke — a stool, a one-pot meal, asking for a hand, and stopping before you are spent.
  8. 08Organic and Whole-Food EatingHow I Read a Label Without Turning Dinner Into HomeworkA short, calm way to look at organic claims, the word "natural," and an ingredient list, then move on.
  9. 09Organic and Whole-Food EatingLeftovers Are a Feature in a Full HouseHow food actually gets eaten the next day, which is how a bigger cook earns its keep.
  10. 10Organic and Whole-Food EatingTools I Reach for When I CookWe cook with Lodge skillets, an Instant Pot, and a bread machine — the tools that disappear into the habits of this kitchen.
  11. 11Organic and Whole-Food EatingHow We Plan MealsWe look at what we have, then we plan the meals with Grok.
  12. 12Multi-Generational HomeOne Roof, Three GenerationsWe live under one roof in Anthem, Arizona. This site starts at home, because that's where the pace of our life is actually set.
  13. 13Multi-Generational HomeA Shared KitchenCounters, shelves, and a few house habits that keep dinner from becoming a negotiation.
  14. 14Multi-Generational HomePrivacy in a Full HouseDoors, quiet, and staying close without living on top of each other.
  15. 15Multi-Generational HomeWhen Schedules Don't Line UpWork, school, rest, and an older adult's day in the same home, and how meals still happen.
  16. 16Multi-Generational HomeKids in a House with a GrandparentWe moved back so our kids would know their family. Living under one roof with their grandparents is the ordinary form that took.
  17. 17Multi-Generational HomeWhat I'd Tell Someone About to Move In With FamilyPractical, not romantic: talk about kitchens, quiet, money in general terms, and a way to step outside.
  18. 18Travel at Our PaceThe Pace I Travel Is the Pace I LiveThe way I travel and the way I live at home are the same idea. My body sets the speed. Then we still go.
  19. 19Travel at Our PaceArizona First: Traveling Close to HomeWhy the Arizona guides exist, and how a day trip or an overnight fits a full house — with the place-by-place notes left on Travel at My Pace.
  20. 20Travel at Our PaceTraveling With Kids and Older RelativesA trip with more than one generation is not a different genre of travel. It is the same slower pace, with more people who need it.
  21. 21Travel at Our PaceThe Day After We Get HomeA trip isn't over when we pull into the driveway. It's over when the house is livable again.
  22. 22Travel at Our PaceTexas, and the Places We Used to LiveWe lived in Texas, and we came back to Arizona so our kids would know their family. This is the door to that story, not a memoir of every place we've been.
  23. 23Travel at Our PaceHow I Decide Whether a Trip Is Worth the EnergyHonest criteria after a stroke: heat, walking, who is coming, and the day after.
  24. 24Health and Recovery at Your Own PaceAfter the Stroke, Life Had to Slow DownOn March 14, 2016, I had a massive stroke. This is the story I can tell about what changed, at home as much as on the trail.
  25. 25Health and Recovery at Your Own PaceHeat, Balance, and a Slower DayShade, air-conditioning, early hours, and not treating summer like a dare — the same lens as the travel guides, applied to an ordinary day.
  26. 26Health and Recovery at Your Own PaceFatigue Is a Planning Problem, Not a Character FlawHow a day gets shaped when energy runs out, including meals, errands, and the ordinary rhythms that keep a household kind.
  27. 27Health and Recovery at Your Own PaceWhat Recovery Looks Like Years LaterAbout ten years after a massive stroke, some limits never fully returned. This is what a full life looks like at that pace — not a before-and-after story.
  28. 28Health and Recovery at Your Own PaceHow I Write About HealthPersonal experience, official sources when they are used, and no treatment plans.
  29. 29Health and Recovery at Your Own PacePilates, at Our PaceI go every day, and so does my mom. Other people in the family have gone before too. This is a habit, not a treatment plan.
  30. 30Home in the HeatAn Arizona House That Stays Livable in the HeatShade, blinds, air-conditioning, and when to step outside — practical notes from a house in Anthem.
  31. 31Home in the HeatBasil and RosemaryBasil and rosemary grow in pots in the backyard. We don't keep a desert garden, and we have no indoor plants.
  32. 32Home in the HeatThe Backyard in the MorningThe backyard is nice and sunny in the morning. The basil and rosemary live out there, in pots. We have no indoor plants.