I’ve mentioned before about how glorious spring is here in Minnesota. Minnesota is a state with extreme weather almost beyond comprehension—piles of snow and subzero temperatures during the winter and blazing hot and humid in the summer. These wild extremes in weather force us to spend so much of our time indoors. Most of the year I typically ask my wife on a weekly basis why we still live here but this complaining is put on pause during these few amazing weeks of May.

We usually get just a few weeks' reprieve in between the two extremes and we’re enjoying the beginning of this now.

Soon the heat and humidity will rise to tropical levels and the mosquitos will be out in full force for the moment we’re enjoying the hot sun, the cool breezes, and an abundance of new life being born.

As the weather has improved we've explored more of the nature trails behind our development and discovered they stretch on for miles. It'll be fun this summer exploring more of these on the bike. Spring is such a time of renewal—hope, optimism, and life in general.

We’re trying our best to enjoy these few weeks of spring because, before we know it, POOF! - it’ll be only a memory.

I got to hold proof copies of my new book for the first time yesterday and I couldn’t be happier with the finished product. Nothing can quite describe the feeling of holding that physical book in your hands for the first time—it’s the culmination of so much time and effort. As I said in the comments of my last post, writing a book feels like giving birth and publishing is like sending that child out into the world so they can make their way.

The green light has been given to the publisher so the next step is to get the ebook-version finalized and uploaded. Everything should be "a wrap" by the end of this week.

Advanced reader copies should be going out via email in ten days then the official launch will happen around the end of May! Thanks again to all who’ve signed up to be an advanced reader and write a review for me. This helps tremendously with the launch.

I’ll make an announcment on Hive as soon as the book is available for purchase.

Since moving into our new house back in November of last year we’ve been tackling quite a few home improvement projects. The current one we’re finishing up is a pellet stove installation.

We had new travertine tile set on the wall behind the stove and a slate-colored porcelain tile on the floor as a base for the stove. Our house should be incredibly toasty this fall/winter and, if the reviews are right, this Harman P43 wood pellet stove should heat our home for less than five dollars a day.

After a decade-long break from homeownership I almost forgot how rewarding these projects can feel after they're completed. Each one feels like a major win.

Lots of great things are happening at the moment! I'm in my happy place indeed.

All for now.