We all surprised Brenda to celebrate her 60th birthday

| August 13, 2018

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Delicious food, great conversation and a new side-hustle

| August 1, 2018

Brenda and I had a good time talking to our millennial son Taylor and his girlfriend Megan last weekend. In contrast to our usually politically deteriorating topics of conversation (like his dad, Taylor loves to debate), it was a very enjoyable time. He picked up some shrimp and brought over the ingredients to make us […]

Taylor and his friends are pretty creative for July 4, 2018

| July 4, 2018

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A great Father’s Day weekend at our house

| June 17, 2018

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Happy Birthday Taylor – What a difference 4 years can make

| June 10, 2018

It is hard to believe that my son Taylor is 29 years old today!?!?!? It doesn’t seem possible that he has been pretty much living on his own now for third of his life? He has certainly made us proud at the way he has grown up and handled a difficult decade that faced him […]

Archiving a few shared photos from mid-May 2018

| May 20, 2018

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Congratulations to Taylor’s friend Alicia and Laureano

| April 18, 2018

I have teased my “good humored” son far too long about his “girlfriend” from Wayzata Minnesota a few years ago (click here for old photo). So with that “old joke” aside, I think it is about time to officially include his friend Megan on the blog and mention we are excited to see them spending a […]

A great breakfast deal – the Taco Bell Mini Skillet Bowl

| March 28, 2018

Q: What is the best breakfast deal? A: Taco Bell’s Mini Skillet Bowl My son Taylor and I in agreement that the best deal around for a tasty, quick and inexpensive fast food breakfast is the Taco Bell Mini Skillet Bowl. Where else can you jump start your day for $1.00 … and get as […]

When it comes to kiddos, ours were the cutest … until now!

| March 10, 2018

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Archiving a couple Red River Gorge photos from Taylor

| February 27, 2018

  As mentioned before, it is great to see my son Taylor enjoying a couple of my interests or hobbies like hiking and photography when I was younger (actually I still enjoy them). Ignoring the lousy weather (we had a lot of rain and flooding), he ended up hiking with "a friend" (?) at a […]

A beautiful sunset looking west towards downtown Cincinnati

| January 17, 2018

Taylor continues to impress me with his enjoying photography. Above is a recent photo (click for larger) he sent me overlooking Cincinnati along the Ohio River – another beautiful sunset photo. I told him that I was going to start encoding them with a digital watermark they are so nice. I’d like to think of […]

Archive: Corbetts and Oostras had a wonderful family Christmas

| December 27, 2017

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Merry Christmas 2017 from our family to your family

| December 12, 2017

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Together with family – Time flies when you are having fun #TBT

| November 2, 2017

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Love seeing my son enjoying photography

| October 22, 2017

Taylor went camping and hiking down at Red River Gorge this weekend and continues to impress me with enjoying photography, which was a hobby of mine since 7th grade. So much has changed since “souping” film and spending hours in the darkroom fretting over exhausted chemicals and  expired paper … but the capturing of something […]

Hidden photos of my kids in a frame that sits on my desk #TBT

| October 19, 2017

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Family weekend, a new Volkswagen and the prodigal son returns

| August 29, 2017

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Family Fun Weekend with Annalyn in Cincinnati – part 2

| August 9, 2017

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Family Fun Weekend with Annalyn in Cincinnati – part 1

| August 8, 2017

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Beautiful Cincinnati skyline photo by my son Taylor

| August 1, 2017

Although "I" am suppose to be the photographer of the family, I think it might be time to hand over the duties to my son Taylor. He enjoys capturing beautiful photos and definitely has the eye for natural beauty – some impressive ones in Hawaii last year too! While on the subject of appreciating photos […]

Sailing Brenich out of Vermilion Ohio in the 1980s #TBT

| July 20, 2017

My son Taylor posted a few photos of his weekend with friends in Vermilion, Ohio and the background canals and homes triggered a Throwback Thursday #TBT memory for me. Before kids, Brenda and I owned a beautiful sailboat we named Brenich and kept it in Vermilion for the first year (subsequent in Huron) and haul […]

Our family settling into a new city with a house of their own

| July 2, 2017

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Good times and great family memories in Florida #TBT

| June 22, 2017

It is too easy to stumble across great memories and think, "that would make for a great Throw Back Thursday #TBT post!" If I were to do that, there would be no end to "blog fillers" on Thursdays (or really on Wednesday evenings). Here’s a favorite photo of Katelyn and Taylor on a trip to […]

Painted heirloom wicker chairs on this Father’s Day weekend

| June 18, 2017

It is good day when projects get accomplished. Saturday was a sunny and dry for the painting of my GREAT grandparents’ two wicker chairs (unsure, but think they were from my Grandmother Ruth “Walker” Bluhm side). My Grandmother and Grandfather Bluhm used them for years on their Wright Avenue front porch in Toledo Ohio, then […]

Excellent weather, great fun and good food

| June 11, 2017

Not too many photos, but Taylor’s friends all seemed to have a great time celebrating his birthday this weekend in the backyard. The Knockerballs were a hit … and Taylor even showed his love for his mom  Ha! (video below).

Happy Birthday to my son and memories from the past

| June 10, 2017

Happy Birthday Taylor … I don’t think I could be prouder of the man you have become. Last year was a great one and the plans you have for this year are exciting as well.  I always look forward to our time together. One of the things my son and I share is our interest […]

American Packard Museum visited by Mercedes Club of Cincinnati

| May 7, 2017

Taylor and I joined in with a group from the Mercedes Benz Club of Cincinnati on a visit to the American Packard Museum in Dayton, Ohio on Saturday. The tour group was lead by an informative lecture from a long time Packard historian and lasted most of the afternoon. Surprisingly I never visited the museum with my […]

Forgotten and leftover from Christmas 2016

| March 19, 2017

My son Taylor is geography and map kind of guy so I gave him a mag-lift spinning globe for his desk for Christmas 2016. His interests and innate sense of direction is probably why he pursued “Urban Planning and now coordinates development for Clermont County Ohio as a county planner. Anyway, I had forgotten that […]

Time.com – How Hot Was Your Baby Name?

| January 2, 2017

This Time.com post isn’t brand new, but since my daughter is due in March, “we” have an interest in baby names. Have you ever wondered how popular your or your child’s name was when named “back in the day?” We you a “Trendsetter” or named “after its time?”

Christmas in Minnesota as a family

| December 27, 2016

After a bit of a delay in maintaining daily blog posts, Brenda, Taylor and I returned from our family Christmas with  Katelyn and Drew  in Wayzata, MN on Monday night. It was a whirlwind trip and thankfully without incident. First thing first … our growing granddaughter is definitely noticeable as a “babybump” (an overused word). […]

The eye of a good photographer and interest to apply the science

| December 19, 2016

Admittedly I’m proud of my kids and enjoy seeing them living their lives … especially when a few of my interests rise to the top. In Taylor’s case, he has expand on our mutual interest in backpacking and photography on his trip to Hawaii last month.   Memory Road: In 7th grade I had an […]

Tis the season … for our annual Corbett Christmas Letter 2016

| December 17, 2016

The cold weather is upon us (it is in the single digits today) and with a little snow on the ground in Cincinnati, it is beginning to look and feel a lot like Christmas. We are in the "prepare mode" and in the middle our checking the list twice festive shopping and wrapping routine, but […]

Project: Rustic Cedar Headboard for Taylor

| December 14, 2016

I finally finished up a long overdue project for Taylor … a headboard for his bed. He had giving me a couple magazine images as to what he wanted, but I just haven’t found the time or put together the materials I needed to build it (let alone been ambitious enough to start the project). […]

A sense of accomplishment after the climb

| November 30, 2016

For those who backpack or have planned challenging hiking trips, few offer the impressive views and strenuous  climbs that the trails along the Na Pali Coast of Kauai, Hawaii. My son Taylor has sent back and posted a couple photo from his trip this week. Amazing trip.

My kids taking a walk on the same day in two different places

| November 28, 2016

  Chuckling at the difference between how relaxed Taylor’s “walk” on Kauai looks (while on his backpacking trip to Hawaii) compared to the walk Katelyn and Drew took this weekend in Wayzata, MN (our September trip). Taylor’s message to me after a few days “offline” — “We made it!”     A photo of the Three Amigos […]

Shortened work week … or none at all for Taylor in Hawaii

| November 22, 2016

I couldn’t resist sharing one of my son’s photos from his Thanksgiving trip to Hawaii. The first few days have been spent at a friends house on Oahu not to far from Marine Corps Base Hawaii on Kaneohe Bay, but they are not sitting still. Each day after the morning rain, at least the two […]

Single guys in Hawaii. What could go wrong?

| November 18, 2016

My son Taylor and his buddy Cam heading off this Friday morning on a trip to Hawaii. They have been planning a backpacking trip after locking up permits to hike the Kalalau Trail on the Na Pali Coast on Kauai since spring. One of their college friends works and lives in Honolulu so they have […]

A second temporary BMW 528i upper radiator hose repair

| November 8, 2016

Besides being distracted on Tuesday watching the general election news, a call from my son Taylor brought me back to reality. I scrapped my afternoon plans and drove down to Clermont County where he works to "try a second time" to make a temporary repair (the first one was Sunday night). There is a ridiculously […]

Archiving some quadcopter video footage from Wayzata, MN

| October 26, 2016

The  advancements in unmanned aviation continue to impress me as a new generation of pilots is flying by remote control rather than “stick and rudder,” “yoke and peddle” … but all can still fly by the “seat of their pants.”  I’m still unsure what to call these computer controlled devices nowadays … quadcopters, quadrotors  (what […]

A beautiful Cincinnati area Ohio River evening

| July 13, 2016

My son Taylor gets his after work exercise taking long walks or bike ride from his place in East Walnut Hills and sending or posting a few photos. It is surprising just how much beauty there is in Southwest Ohio that I take for granted. Nice!

Never too old for a Birthday Bash

| June 12, 2016

Taylor’s Birthday party this weekend brought back memories of past pool parties when our kids were younger. Kids no more … these were all late 20s adults … but had fun acting like kids again for a day. The above photo include most from their group … click for full size! The birthday was really […]

A day early … but Happy Birthday to my son Taylor #TBT

| June 9, 2016

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Great to have your kids appreciate #home

| May 31, 2016

A memorable Lakota East High School party 9 years ago #TBT

| May 26, 2016

Looking back on this #ThrowbackThursday, we must have been nuts! Brenda and I never really hesitated to have parties at the house until text messaging, social networking, the ubiquitous cellphone and DRIVING became a way for invitees to broadcast what they were doing and where they were at. Although the end of school Memorial Day […]

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes … [photos to iMovie video]

| May 10, 2016

With the passage of another birthday came a bunch of appreciated well wishes from long time friends. While I was including a couple old photos with my comment back to a couple high school and college buddies, I realized how much we had changed. I also spotted a few other photos of myself (with my […]

Talking taxes, politics and old #TBT high school reunion pages

| April 7, 2016

Here’s a personal "what I’m doing" post after spending an evening with my son Taylor finishing up his taxes. We of course used this excuse to have dinner together too. I think we have both always enjoyed our time together, but the older (and more mature) he gets, the more I really do enjoy talking […]

Archiving a photo of my nephew and son hanging out together

| January 17, 2016

Archiving a January 2016 photo of my nephew Jaben and my son Taylor before the Bengals demise last week. They decided to get together in Cincinnati and watch the playoff game together – from all accounts, they had a good time. I’m sure my brother feels the same way … it is  nice to see […]

Merry Christmas 2015 — Wow, 33 yrs of Corbett Christmas Letters

| December 14, 2015

“Tis the season” that many of us are franticly shopping, decorating, cooking and finalizing all the trimmings associated with December and weeks leading up to Christmas. Perhaps we should be a little be more focused on  the reason we celebrate rather than all the trimmings — Christ’s birth!  It is easy to get lost in all the preparations than […]

Got to love the Ultimate Driving Machine — BMW

| October 22, 2015

I’m fortunate to have a son, who even at 26, seems to enjoy and appreciate hearing his father opine and help hunt for new car. The two of us spent hours emailing back and forth, several weekends looking … and a few evenings after work test driving over the past couple of months … in […]

Continuing to search for Taylor’s next car

| October 21, 2015

Obviously helping (enjoying) my son Taylor look for “his next car” has not been good for me. I end up finding vehicles that I want rather than what HE needs. As my son-in-law mentioned, “you need to thin down your fleet” … so true! He has pretty much given up on economical and reliable, as […]

Out with the old – Taylor sold his 2007 Volkswagen GTI

| October 15, 2015

Who knows if this was a good decision or not … but my son Taylor decided to sell his 2007 Volkswagen GTI (no … not a diesel TDI tarnished by the VW emissions scandal) and is looking to buy something new. Maybe it was due to driving a full size pickup and a large SUV […]

Scanned a couple favorite old photos from a frame for #TBT

| September 10, 2015

When my daughter Katelyn was home a few weeks ago, she wanted Brenda to try painting a few things with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. It happens to be a fairly popular crafty decorating “thing” and a creative way to reuse old furniture. This started the process of looking for items around our house to paint. […]

Archiving a couple Facebook photos of Taylor and one of me

| September 3, 2015

  It is obvious the #TBT photo of my son Taylor on the left was taken by me, but the one above at the Great American Ballpark this summer in Cincinnati was copied from Facebook. Since Taylor posted them both to wall this past week, I starting thinking about growing up … both for him […]

Taylor 2.0 – second career position and our weekend recap

| June 22, 2015

Taylor 2.0 … on his way to work (left). Monday, June 22, 2015, is my son’s first day as Planner for Clermont County, Ohio. Hopefully the last two years of high paced work in Williston, North Dakota have set him up well? He should be the perfect fit … but every new position has its […]

Poor flight management by #Delta Airlines at Reagan National

| June 14, 2015

Somebody has had a lousy day of traveling … or is it two days? After 9 days in London, Taylor was up at 6AM UK time on Sunday to get to the airport for his flight back home. Because he had re-booked his ticket from CVG instead of leaving from Williston, ND, he ended up […]

Happy 26th Birthday to my son Taylor #TBT

| June 10, 2015

This is a birthday greeting for my son Taylor and the video below may not fit the #TBT criteria as well as the one I posted for my daughter Katelyn last month, but the “original birth announcement card” above sure does (the artwork is the handiwork of his older sister). I think a little sailboat […]

Newly wedded Rachel and David Skinner on May 31, 2015

| June 2, 2015

It was a busy weekend as our family was in town to celebrate my nephew David and Rachel’s wedding just south of Cincinnati in Lakeside Park, Kentucky. The beautiful ceremony was held under a tent in the backyard of their home with close friends and family. Everything was artistic and couldn’t have been nicer. One […]

Appreciating the time we have to spend together

| May 23, 2015

Being sentimental or overly reflecting on each day really is not in my nature, but because my prayer list growing for those who have health issues, I’ve spent a little more time “trying” to appreciate “the moments.”  The focus this winter/spring has primarily been on my dad (and my mother-in-law), and I’ve made a priority […]

Making it feel better than home

| May 21, 2015

My wife and I have been preoccupied this week with helping our son Taylor get settled into his East Walnut Hills (Cincinnati) apartment after his move back from Williston, North Dakota. Each time “I” think we are getting closer to finishing, the “mama-bear” (aka: Brenda) adds a few more items to the list … but […]

A new beginning and a welcome home to Taylor

| May 19, 2015

My “prodigal son” returned to Cincinnati Monday night. Taylor is only home for a day and we will be moving him into his own East Walnut Hills apartment as he gets ready for his new position as a Clermont County Planner. He is excited to be back in southwestern Ohio after nearly two years in […]

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