Billion dollar idea (might also need a few billion to deliver it): high speed rail with capacity for car transport, from Austin to Denver. Thank me later.

This year's spring break trip to explore a bunch of beautiful college campuses in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area got me thinking about how college towns are ideal tourist destinations. Family friendly, plenty of dining options, access to history, art, and gorgeous buildings, and few-to-no cars.

This plaque stands just a few blocks from the Texas state capitol, a reminder of how young the public school system is in Texas. As legislators look to defund this system, with thousands protesting vouchers at the capitol today… we must not go backwards.

Today in downtown Austin: 1 red light runner, 2 drivers going the wrong way on one-way streets, 3 off leash dogs on a clearly-leash-required turf patch… just within the span of an hour. I get it, Texans don’t like rules, but this is a bit much.

New-mom-me, hiring a babysitter: "Come over for a full interview, background check, and to meet the kids!"

11-years-in-mom, me, hiring a babysitter: "Oh, you're a human (I think? I found you on Facebook so not really sure). We'll figure out details when you're here. Pleaseshowup."

Still feel new to the world of middle-kid play dates (8-11). Are they all just “drop your kid at my house and I’ll ignore them while they play video games”? Why is it so hard to find parents who just want to hang at the park and let your kids be outside.

It’s Saturday, so you can find me either finding things my kids lost and suddenly desperately need, or re-stringing their shorts

I get it, not a lot of "third spaces" in most US cities. But around the holidays, when school bands play us festive tunes, they're relegated to parking lots or inside megastores, and (if lucky?) a one-night-only, closed-street performance. Can we do more of the latter, less of the former, please?