Daniel J Isom

  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...

   October work and family things spilled into November, making it feel like it was over in the blink of an eye. We kept busy doctor's appointments, game days, another Fall Festival, seeing the new Wicked movie in theaters, and traveling back to Syracuse for Thanksgiving. On the work side, I'm still trying to hire a couple of people after some disastrous interviews and happenings. I also started completing some end of they year deadlines so I can relax when my week off around Christmas comes around.  One disappointing note was that I didn't find time to make cookies in November. So, the Cookie of the Month segment will be missing in this post, but it'll come roaring back next month with a full report of the Christmas Cookies I make. A counter bright spot was me playing a crazy amount of games and possibly finding a new favorite filler game that might even push into my top 10. Blah Blog Log Just the one post for November. October 2025 Wrap-Up  - A return to 100+ game ...

August always flies by because the school year is about to begin and we spent another week in North Carolina for the second straight summer. The boys and I played a 18 hole disc golf course while in NC. It was the first time we went out together and we had a blast. Of course it wasn't without some drama as they both threw a disc directly into water on one hole, thankfully we were able to retrieve them. There was a slow down on the amount of board games I played, but as you'll see in that segment that I'm still crushing it for the year. Right now I'm debating on pulling back from in person gaming some as work is about to get really busy for me. I'll probably have more to say about that in the coming months. All in all it was a good month, but I'm happy to get back into our routine this month.  Blah Blog Log Just the one post for August. July 2025 Wrap-Up  - A trip to NY, back to Rockville, MD for work, and a lot of gaming. Bored  Board Games In August, I played 2...

July didn't feel as busy as June, but it still flew by as most summer months tend to do. We started the month with a trip back to NY for the 4th of July and had a nice time visiting family and friends. In between that trip and my yearly work trip to Rockville, MD for the Annual PCO Conference, I invested in some disc golf gear including discs, a bag, and a basket for putting practice at home. I played for the first time during my guys weekend to the Castle House in Pennsylvania and decided it's something I'd like to start doing more often. I've since played 4 courses between Delaware and Maryland and look forward to playing more in the future. Blah Blog Log I almost wrote a post about disc golf and how much I've been enjoying it, but I never got around to it so it was just the one post for July. June 2025 Wrap-Up  - A kid-free weekend in Lancaster, a family trip to the beach, and a lot of good food was had throughout the month. Bored  Board Games In July, I played 2...

June was by far the busiest month in years. We had something going on every single weekend, the school year ended, and there was so much going on at work. The end of my guys' weekend at  the Castle House  started the month, proceeded by a solo trip back to Syracuse for a friend's wedding, then Christine and I spent a nice weekend in Lancaster, PA, we went to Captain Kidd's Pirate Day at the Kalmar Nyckel Museum, then spent a week at the beach in Rehoboth, and finished the month at the Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Festival with the kids, my mom, my brother, and his girlfriend. I'm only back to work three days this week before going to NY for the 4th, but we'll save that for next month's post. There were multiple work conferences in June, one being our Rural Health Conference that saw a record number of attendees. Summer is supposed to be a little bit slower all around but this one is shaping up to be the busiest yet. Blah Blog Log Just the single wrap-up post in June,...