Dispatches from the Dopamine Den—February 2026
New here? This is my monthly post where I share little updates about our life, what we’ve been watching, and anything else that feels important (as well as things that are not). You can read about the Dopamine Den here.
The Dopamine Den got a new addition this month after Christian got me this adorable wall hanging when we were out on our Valentine’s Day date. I have always loved Winnie-the-Pooh so this was an incredible mash-up.
Tidbits
Over the course of the last month I saved a few things to my photos that I wanted to mention in this. They are simply things of interest or things that delighted me.
Because I am feeding two adults, two man-children and two growing kids, I go to the grocery store a lot. I also end up at various stores for my job to hunt for deals, which means I’m very aware when a new flavor or product enters the groceries market. I ran across this Cherry Float Coke Zero at Kroger a few weeks ago and was intrigued. Cherry Coke Zero is my carbonated beverage of choice. I bought the new flavor and took it home, but I ended up not liking it. My kids did, but most of them love cream soda and root beer flavored soda, neither of which are my cup of tea (soda). In any case, I appreciate Coca-Cola trying.
You’ll have to zoom in to read the most common dreams in every country, but I found this fascinating, especially since our 5-year-old recently told me his worst nightmare is having someone tie his loose tooth to a doorknob and closing it. I have never been afraid of my teeth falling out and would have more in common with people in Central American countries, apparently (SNAKES).
This just made me laugh.
And this is just a perfect example of the kind of word-related absurd humor I find delightful.
Watched
Christian and I have watched some very good television this month, as well as some “meh” television.
Broadchurch (Netflix): We finished the final season, and this show just kept getting better and better. David Tennant and Olivia Colman are tremendous.
The Pitt (HBO Max): I had already watched the first season and had started the second season, but then Christian was interested in watching the first season. We watched it together and I put a pause on Season 2. We’re about to start Season 2 and at some point all the episodes will be new for both of us. There are times on this show when it really feels like they are pushing an agenda. However, it doesn’t overwhelm the entire show and the characters and their relationships are great.
Sinners (HBO Max): We have loved Michael B. Jordan since Friday Night Lights. He plays twins in this movie and he’s such an incredible actor it really seems like they are played by two different people. This movie is very edgy and violent and is about vampires. Proceed at your own risk.
Fallout (Amazon Prime): We watched Season 2 and it continues to be a delightful and disturbing show about life post-nuclear catastrophe.
Murder in Monaco (Netflix): In between shows we sometimes will watch a documentary as a palate cleanser. Christian had this one tagged and it was certainly bizarre. The person who ends up being charged with the crime is not who you’d expect.
The Investigation of Lucy Letby (Netflix): Another documentary about a nurse charged with murdering multiple babies in the NICU. Christian was somewhat disturbed at how much I knew about how medical professionals can very easily poison their patients, but I have read The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder, watched the movie it was based on (The Good Nurse, on Netflix, with EDDIE REDMAYNE), and read another book called A Taste for Poison, which had a whole chapter on how nurses have used insulin to kill their patients without anyone noticing. I contain multitudes, I tell you.
Life Updates
There were several notable things that happened this month that I don’t have any photos to illustrate. First, we had a rare day of snow the first week of February. It snowed here last year, which was our first time seeing snow here since we moved here in 2020. For it to snow two years in a row was a true anomaly. It meant that we canceled church and then the kids missed a day of school. Our oldest also completed his drivers ed class, and he will soon begin driving instruction.
Our oldest auditioned in December for District Honor Band, which occurs in February and consists of about two full days of students from all over the area learning brand new songs from unfamiliar instructors and them performing them in a concert at the end of the weekend. I was able to drive up to see Stephen perform, and it was incredible. (He is in the back row to the right; his head is directly to the right of the right blue bucket. The buckets were used for one of the performances.) For all the complaints about “kids these days,” seeing a bunch of 9th and 10th graders work hard and truly excel in a way that creates beauty gives me a lot of hope.
After no one missing a single day of school for sickness so far this year, something akin to the flu hit our house over the February school break. Noah woke up on the last half-day of school before break with what appeared to be the plague, so he missed his class Valentine’s Day party. That night, Zoe started going downhill. They each spent about 3 days in bed barely eating and drinking. Then it passed and they were back to normal. And praise the Lord, no one else got sick! (I’ve been Vitamin C maxxing so maybe it’s helping?)
Here on Substack I answered Grace Leuenberger’s request for pen pals and received my first letter from her in the mail. What a delight that was! I immediately wrote her back and am looking forward to future correspondence.
At school, one of Zoe’s classes has been reading several different books from the Girls Survive series (which consists of 35 books, apparently?!). She asked me to look for some more at the library, so the next time I returned books, I ran in and grabbed several off the shelf without really paying attention to the titles. A few days later, while getting ready for school, she told me she had read Ruth and the Night of Broken Glass: A World War II Survival Story and that it had made her cry. I told her that I was about her age when I first learned about the Holocaust and that if she was interested in learning more, I could look for some more books. She said yes and so we are now embarking on a journey into looking for more books. I couldn’t be happier to see her interest in reading and history.
ICYMI (February posts)
Not everybody reads all my posts, and that’s OK. Here’s what you might have missed this month if you’re not a subscriber or you just haven’t been able to keep up!
From the Archives
We’re coming up on having lived here for almost six years. Here’s a photo essay of the 10 days leading up to moving here during once of the most difficult seasons of my life.
In Closing
Have you tried a new favorite flavor of anything lately? What’s your favorite soda? Watched anything good? I’d love to hear about it.
I’m intrigued by the cherry float Coke flavor! I do love all things cream soda, but I did not enjoy the orange and cream Coke zero flavor.
Has Zoe read The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom? I didn’t read it until a few years ago, and it is a wonderful addition to World War II/Holocaust literature.
(Sorry - hit publish too soon and had to edit!) 🤪