Daniel J Isom

We're now into what is probably my favorite month of the year and I thought I'd celebrate by bringing an old series back to life. As a replacement for the Enjoyable Eats and Whatcha Snackin? segments from the now defunct monthly Wrap-Up series , I'm going to try something new with  Dan Devours . What was a short lived sandwich review series on this blog back in 2018, I'm thinking of combining all food reviews under one umbrella. If I try something worth sharing, whether it be a new restaurant, dish, sandwich, or snack, this is where you'll find it.  Long time readers of the blog know that I think Thanksgiving is the best holiday and that a Thanksgiving leftovers sandwich is one of my favorites . One of the sandwiches I've reviewed before, as a part of the original Dan Devours posts, was a similar sandwich from Capriotti's called The Bobbie  and it did not score well. You can get that year round and it's fine but it doesn't hit the spot like a homema...

  The  September 2026 Wrap-Up  post marked three straight years of writing about what has gone on in my life each month and posting it all for the world to see. Today marks the end of the series, meaning I will not be posting one for October. I didn't set out with any end date in mind when I started and had initially hoped to just keep writing them indefinitely. However, over the last few months the obligation (to nobody but myself) of doing them began to weigh on me. Like many other things I set my mind to and then complete (or not), I eventually lost interest in pursuing it further. Wrap-Up posts will join the list along with things like board game design and New Year's resolutions. It doesn't mean I'll never do any of these activities again, but I'll be perfectly content if I don't. I think that's really a good barometer for me when it comes to hobbies, goals, etc.  As I've written about on numerous occasions (and on the About page ), this blog has be...

For the fifth straight year, I participated in the Solotober Challenge where I attempt to have 31 solo game plays in the month of October. This year work was busier than ever and I found myself logging more of my solo plays from online platforms like BoardGameArena than I would have preferred. A lot of it came from a lack of time to get something set up, played, and broken down. But the real killer was just how exhausted I was by the end of the day. After making dinner, cleaning up, and taking a walk, I didn't have the time or energy most nights to play a physical copy unless it was a simpler game. Simpler games were definitely the theme for this year and helped me once again hit my goal of playing a different game every single day. I didn't get any new to me games in which was very disappointing. On the positive side, I found out a favorite multiplayer game of mine, Fromage , which made the Top 10 New to Me Games of 2025 , has a solo variant and is on BGA so I got to try tha...

    Every year I forget how exhausting the month of September is for us or maybe this one was just particularly busy. Christine and I started the month of right by seeing Breaking Benjamin , Chevelle , and Starset live in concert and what a show that was. The kids then started school after Labor day on the latest possible date, giving them just a little bit more summer than usual. After that, we had plans pretty much every weekend day on top of trying to get back into our routines. Just to pile on, there were some various doctor's appointments and school events that ate into our time even more. Then there were a handful of work events including the 2026 Delaware Healthcare Workforce Summit , of which I was co-chair of the planning committee for and is our biggest event of the year. I did enjoy the somewhat rapid descent into fall weather, in part from the nor' easter that ate up the beaches throughout the mid-Atlantic and northeastern seaboard. Of course the day I am writing ...

  The final month of summer included one final vacation, a work trip, and our youngest's birthday. James turned nine during the second weekend of the month and his chosen birthday experience was to go to Coastal Wilds in Frankford, Delaware to see the animals and do the capybara (his favorite animal) experience. It's a small zoo that's home to over 35 species of animals including otters, two-toed sloths, red kangaroos and more. Then I had my annual work trip to Rockville, MD to learn and collaborate with Primary Care Office workers from other states. It was only two (long) days this year so I didn't get to do much in Rockville other than the conference unfortunately. Following that work trip, I took a week off and we spent four days in Ocean City, MD. The kids had never been and Christine and I hadn't since our honeymoon. We stayed ocean front at  The Commander Hotel & Suites  and spent each day swimming, relaxing on the beach, and walking the boardwalk. Before...

I barely worked in July which made it a really great month. We ended up taking two weeklong vacations, one back to visit family and friends in Syracuse and the other to visit family in North Carolina. When I was at work, I was grinding through provider validation, among regular work duties, ahead of my annual conference in Rockville later this month.  Some of the highlights of our Syracuse trip were visiting  Little Ray's Nature Center , getting to play disc golf with my friends, and seeing  Minions & Monsters  in theaters. In between our trips, Christine, Grace, and I went and saw  The Odyssey . This year's North Carolina trip started with some car trouble right when we arrived but despite the cost, it didn't really affect the trip. We got a lot of sun on the beach and at the pools, did our annual ice cream competition each night, and just had a great time relaxing. Blah Blog Log I was barely home in July so there was just the one post. June 2026 Wrap-Up -...

June is one of my favorite months of the year, despite the temperatures rising to uncomfortable levels. It marks the end of another school year and enters us into a time of vacations and a laid back schedule. To start the month there are always a few end of the year ceremonies for the kids, which for this year included two "Fly Away" ceremonies for the boys since they'll be in new schools next year. Both received awards and we couldn't be more proud of them. June is also our wedding anniversary month, bringing us to 16 years married this year. We didn't plan a big trip for this one but we did spend the night in Baltimore to have dinner and see Daniel Tosh perform. There was also Father's Day which, if you know me, I don't care about because it's a made up holiday. However, the kids an I went disc golfing together so that was a nice way to spend a few hours together.  If all of that wasn't enough, it's also Ben's birthday month so we celebr...