Merry Christmas 2013 and a photobomb

| December 25, 2013

What a wonderful time we had over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year. We were happy to have Taylor, Katelyn and Drew home together with us for a couple days holidays (photo above) … and thankful some in the Corbett side of our family with us for dinner. It was a great to be […]

Corbett Christmas Letter number thirty-one — 2013

| December 16, 2013

Merry Christmas to those who regularly read my “desultory” daily posts or may have just stumbled onto my blog. It has been a busy year and although my Google Analytics stats are no longer growing (they are actually down), the AdSense revenue is up? That aside, I am including more archival information “for me” than […]

Cleaning out the family farmhouse and barn in New York

| October 16, 2013

  EDIT: I’ve added a small recording “app” to the iMac called eXtra Voice Recorder. In the old Mac days we would call these small apps “DAs”(Desk Accessories). If you’re a pre-X Mac user, do you remember them? Below is the audio test.   Reading Cleaning out the family farmhouse and barn in New York […]

In support of the American Heart Association

| September 14, 2013

Brenda and her mom are participating in a “sponsored walk” this Saturday morning to benefit the American Heart Association with a few of Brenda’s co-workers. It is a beautiful morning for it and from the temperatures the  first day of fall … brr! I’m still refusing the thought of cooler weather and challenging the temps […]

Diana Nyad completes her record swim

| September 2, 2013

It is not like my long distance swimming wife needs an additional incentive to keep swimming further and further, but hearing this is sure to keep Brenda‘s motivation alive. Congratulations to long distance swimmer Diana Nyad in succeeding in her open water swim “without a shark cage” from Havana to Key West this Labor Day […]

Receiving praise for questionable fixes … long story

| August 19, 2013

I had one of those “knight in shining armor” moments this weekend after a call for help request came in from my wife Brenda. She planned a weekend trip with her mother with a stop to visit our daughter in Columbus then to the farmhouse in New York. The primary goal is to begin taking […]

Happy Birthday wishes for Brenda via FaceTime video

| August 14, 2013

Before I’m accused of forgetting my wife’s birthday, I didn’t (Whew) … but am posting here a couple days late. I think this is the first time we used a video call instead of a phone call as a way to connect with someone for a birthday, at least with a photo (we used FaceTime […]

Enjoying a Nathan’s hotdog!

| August 4, 2013

Brenda and her mom enjoying a near perfect day in Cincinnati (West Chester) having a Nathan’s hotdog. EDIT: The original image was tinted so red from under the umbrella that I opted to go black and white for a change.

The 1982 Mercedes 300D Turbodiesel – brutally tested

| June 9, 2013

I can’t believe Brenda wanted to drive the new old Benz on a 1000 mile road trip before I even test drove it on the highway, but she did. When I checked in last week and asked how it handled, she said, “well, it wouldn’t go much over 85?” Huh!?!? You’re driving the 1982 MB […]

Quite the legacy my father-in-law left behind

| June 2, 2013

Some of us are fortunate to have wise men in our lives … someone that mentors and shapes us … someone who is an example for patterning our day to day lives. I was fortunate to have one of these wise men, that being my wife’s father, Dr. Frederick A. Howard – August 24, 1925 […]

Closing in on Katelyn and Drew’s wedding – less than 2 weeks!

| April 1, 2013

With the weather improving and Katelyn and Drew’s wedding only two weeks away, expect fewer blog posts. Katelyn was home again for Easter weekend and we enjoyed our time together working on programs, etc. I’ve continued to plug away at my wagon project and am beginning to wonder what I was thinking waiting until the […]

No offense intended – I skipped posting on Katelyn’s shower

| March 18, 2013

  Cupcakes | Madison and Katelyn with game board Well just because I didn’t include commentary or photos from Katelyn’s wedding shower this past Saturday, doesn’t mean it wasn’t important; I can take a hint and will include a few of Brenda’s snapshots over lunch today (sorry if I missed someone). As the subject line […]

Brenda is a firebug … just like her dad

| January 24, 2013

It may be 15 degrees outside, but that doesn’t keep my firebug wife from heading out to burn landscape grasses and who knows what else. She asked if I had a larger fire blanket (I gave her a small one for Christmas this year), and since I didn’t, she settled for a 5 gallon bucket […]

A subdued Christmas for 2012, but it is not over yet

| December 26, 2012

We drove up to Columbus and enjoyed “catering” a Christmas dinner at Katelyn’s fiancé Drew’s house. The two of them (both in their residency) were working the night rotations … Katelyn just off a 24 hour stint at Nationwide and Drew his week of 13 hour nights at OSU.  We have postponed our family gift […]

A wonderful bridal shower this weekend for my daughter

| December 16, 2012

   I’ve been spending most of my time by my mother’s bedside (previous post), but wanted to share a little cheer as well. My daughter Katelyn had a wonderful bridal shower hosted by the friends of her future mother-in-law (Barb Oostra) in Toledo on Saturday. They enjoyed brunch and presents at the Inverness Club and […]

Merry Christmas 2012

| December 13, 2012

Ah … we’re finished with this year’s Corbett Christmas Letter … they are in the mail! (click for a PDF copy) One of my favorite things about celebrating Christmas is the reminiscing — especially when putting up, or just looking at, the decorated tree in our house. We have a mish-mash Christmas tree with decorations […]

Filling space with photos sure to make Brenda smile

| November 18, 2012

My wife is a dolphin lover … NOT the Mahi-mahi fish type, but the intelligent and always smiling marine mammals. Me on the other hand, I like both … and  enjoy blackened or grilled Mahi-mahi almost as much as “viewing” a pod of dolphins swimming along side a wind-driven sailboat. Nevertheless, I knew Brenda would […]

Bringing Mom and Dad Howard back from New York

| November 14, 2012

I tuned out for a couple days since wifi is scarce at my in-laws farmhouse in western New York. Brenda and I made our annual pilgrimage to pack up her mom and dad and are bringing them to Cincinnati for Thanksgiving and then on their way to Florida for winter. They take the a slow […]

My girls were busy with wedding plans AGAIN this weekend

| October 29, 2012

It sure has been nice to see my daughter on weekends the last couple of months as her residency schedule has been somewhat gentler. Unfortunately she knows it will not last and the rotations will eventually be more challenging and stressful in a couple more weeks. She went to a wedding show near Kings Island […]

Three of the most important women in my life

| September 30, 2012

My weekend was filled with more wedding stuff and with three of the most important women in my life. On Saturday I chauffeured Brenda and Katelyn to and from a few more wedding planning functions as well as participated in more cake tasting. This time the final cake arrangements were made. My wife and daughter […]

Happy 30th Anniversary Brenda – Great Memories

| June 5, 2012

I’m “archiving” a few old photos and want to thank my wife Brenda for 30 wonderful years (our 30th anniversary is today June 5); I’m looking forward to another 30 years with her and watching our children build their lives and memories. As many family and friends will agree, 30 years goes by pretty fast […]

Reflecting on our changing lives this Christmas 2011

| December 23, 2011

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The times we live in: Looking at Christmas — 2010

| December 24, 2010

I’m a Christian and make an effort to keep “Christ in Christmas” … but I do my best to be sensitive to other religions going out of my way to send Hanukkah cards to my Jewish friends and ease off offending those that I know have strong objections to the Christian faith and our desire […]

Wrapping up Thanksgiving with Brenda’s mom and dad

| November 27, 2010

With Brenda’s dad’s rehabilitation coming along fairly successfully, our family was thankful to be able to be with both Mom and Dad Howard for Thanksgiving this year. Although the time was short, we made the most of it and celebrate a challenging year giving thanks for all the blessings. Beside being able to take him […]

Merry Christmas wishes from me to you — 2009

| December 18, 2009

The house is now decorated, the kids home (or almost home) from college, snow is in the forecast and Christmas is a mere week away. As we reflect on the scrabble to get everything right for the celebration this season, let’s not get so overly wrapped up in the preparation that we lose sight of […]

Archiving: Photo from Brenda’s August 2008 Birthday

| August 26, 2008

I’ve used this photo for the last couple years but knew it was from a birthday celebration at my parents house in August of 2008 … so since I’ve updated the “ABOUT” page on 6/2011, I’m archiving the older photo in the year it was taken. I still like it …

New Kubota ZD326s diesel ‘zero-turn’ mower

| July 26, 2008

After 23 years of mowing with our sturdy John Deere diesel tractor mower, we have finally succumb to the “keep up with the Jones” pressure of a new zero-turn style mower. The neighbor ladies referred to my wife as “the turtle” while mowing with the old slowpoke John Deere, even though it has continued to […]

They have ganged up on me!

| June 18, 2008

My own family has ganged up on me in a ‘vacation’ game of Risk. Its been an enjoyable few days on vacation and we’re all getting plenty of sun — although it has been raining on and off here in Delray Beach, Florida. Today was particularly nice as we topped off the day with a […]

Whew! I remembered my anniversary

| June 5, 2008

Although it wasn’t a close call in remembering our 26th wedding anniversary, I wasn’t exactly plotting weeks in advance either … but Brenda and I had an enjoyable time going to the movies — Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. For us the Indiana Jones movie brought back fond memories as the […]

Happy Mother’s Day Brenda

| May 11, 2008

This might seem odd, but a new Royal Star Magnolia (Stellata Magnolia) is a gift that made my wife happy on Mother’s Day — photo and post from Palm Treo. (EDIT: tweaked post Sunday afternoon) Happy Mother’s Day Brenda … and to all mothers reading this. (in fact I think I’ll give ‘my’ mother a […]

Merry Christmas 2007

| December 24, 2007

Last night my wife and I enjoyed reading the small Max Lucado coffee table book “One Incredible Moment” in front of our Christmas Tree. Although the book was published in 2006, the segment included below, Mary’s Prayer, was originally part of the Lucado book “God Came Near.” As you prepare for your Christmas celebration and […]

Brenda’s Butchered Buffalo Wings

| February 25, 2007

The beauty of having a ‘non-topical’ blog is that posting something off-topic is ‘okay’ … so here ya go: Brenda‘s Butchered Buffalo Wings. 😉 While our family was enjoying a meal out at a local Chili’s restaurant, my wife proceeded to nibble her buffalo wings naked. Its just wrong! When I pointed it out that […]

Christmas Tradition: The Nutcracker Ballet – 2006

| December 23, 2006

To celebrate the Christmas season, Brenda (my wife) suggested (to my moaning) that we go as a family to see the Nutcracker performed by the Cincinnati Ballet. I’m probably the only ‘guy’ in America groaning about spending $50 a ticket to go to the ballet … right???

Archive: Corbett Christmas Letters 2005 and 2004

| December 20, 2005

Originally MyArchive.us was a place to archive documents, photos, etc but eventually became a much more public (yet personal) blog (richc.myarchive.us and finally MyDesultoryBlog.com). As the daily public shares grew, it became difficult to decide what to share and what to exclude. As our family grew older, it became easier to include them in “family” oriented posts […]

Archive: Older Corbett Christmas Letters 1983-2003

| December 19, 2005

Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.
My Desultory Blog