Doing the Most with Scarlet and Mitchell

Sometimes a dream is just a dream. Sometimes it involves Christian Bale, a secret friendship, social-media secrecy, and an awkward conversation about CPAP machines.

Welcome to Episode 40 of Doing the Most with Scarlet and Mitchell, where we discuss all of that, plus making friends as adults, parenting an apprehensive five-year-old, glamping on the Oregon coast, chickens that still refuse to earn their keep, a rapidly expanding collection of 3D-printed clutter, and our latest adventure into Oregon wine country.

Mitchell starts things off with a bizarre dream involving Christian Bale, a mysterious group of “guys,” a secret invitation to hang out, and a strict no-social-media-posting policy.

Naturally, this leads to the much bigger question: Do dreams actually mean something, or is our brain just throwing random ingredients into the blender while we sleep?

Scarlet has a theory that maybe the dream connects to a recent conversation about making friends and getting out of the house. Mitchell isn’t entirely convinced, but he does spend a surprising amount of time wondering why Christian Bale showed up specifically.

There is also a brief discussion of CPAP machines, because apparently even celebrity dreams aren’t immune to real-life concerns.

The Christian Bale dream turns into a conversation about friendship, particularly how much harder it becomes to maintain friendships once work, kids, childcare, and everyday life enter the picture.

Scarlet talks about how stressful it feels to consider going out to karaoke with friends as an introvert. Mitchell reflects on friendships that have become long-distance or occasional, where months or even years can pass without seeing each other but the connection still feels comfortable.

And then there is the unavoidable question: Are we supposed to become friends with the other parents?

Maybe not.

We still have five chickens.

We still have no eggs.

One chicken previously escaped over the fence into the neighbor’s yard, which led to some backyard chicken drama. The solution has now included clipped wings, although the chickens have demonstrated that they can still get a little airborne.

So that’s where things stand in the chicken department.

Fall is arriving in Oregon, which Scarlet loves, at least until the rain arrives and the leaves disappear after approximately one good gust of wind.

The garden is winding down, with tomatoes making a respectable appearance and a whole lot of romaine somehow existing both inside the refrigerator and outside in the garden without necessarily doing what it is supposed to do.

Our anniversary plans took an unexpected turn, and instead of the original destination, we headed to the Oregon coast for a little glamping.

We stayed in a cabin at the KOA near Warrenton and Fort Stevens, complete with:

Scarlet explains why traditional tent camping isn’t exactly her preferred vacation experience. She likes electricity, heat when it’s cold, air conditioning when it’s hot, and running water.

Mitchell, meanwhile, admits that his definition of camping has historically involved hiking into remote locations, setting up a tent, finding firewood, and generally making things harder than they need to be.

With a five-year-old in the mix, glamping starts looking pretty appealing.

We also talk about exploring more of Astoria, Fort Stevens, the Peter Iredale shipwreck, and why the Oregon coast has plenty more to discover.

Our trip also gets us talking about Max and his tendency to be hesitant about exploring new things.

We wonder whether that’s simply part of his personality, something we’ve encouraged through our parenting, or perhaps a result of being an only child without a neighborhood full of kids to run around with.

It leads to a bigger discussion about how different childhood can look today compared with when we were kids, when simply going outside often meant finding a bunch of other neighborhood kids to play with.

Mitchell bought a new 3D printer.

Scarlet is thrilled.

Well… perhaps “thrilled” isn’t quite the word.

The purchase leads to a spirited discussion about clutter, creating things, engineering, designing, testing, problem-solving, and why Mitchell finds the entire process incredibly satisfying.

Scarlet, meanwhile, has noticed that the house is accumulating little 3D-printed objects.

There may also have been some discarded benchmark prints.

This remains a sensitive subject.

We also talk about our visit to Lucid Wild, which became our latest adventure in Oregon wine country.

After previously belonging to another wine club, we hadn’t been doing a lot of wine tasting lately. Then Scarlet discovered Lucid Wild and booked a visit for our anniversary celebration.

The experience included wine paired with food, beautiful grounds, thoughtful service, and plenty of details that made the experience feel special.

We ended up becoming members.

Naturally.

We also talk about the property’s events, the wine cave, the speakeasy, the Sky Terrace, the animals on the property, and the winery’s approach to working with the land.

There is also some confusion about exactly which membership benefits we have and what events we can attend, so if you’re listening and happen to know how the Lucid Wild membership works, you may be able to save us from ourselves.

We wrap up with a brief discussion about Cascada and how much busier it may have become since we first talked about it.

Scarlet heard from someone who visited on a weekday and found it crowded, which raises the question of how the reservation system handles capacity and whether our next visit will feel quite as peaceful as previous experiences.

We’ll find out.

Episode 40 is a little bit of everything: a strange dream, a conversation about friendship, family and parenting, an Oregon coast getaway, chickens that refuse to contribute to the household economy, a new 3D-printing obsession, and another expensive-but-enjoyable step into Oregon wine country.

In other words, pretty much exactly what you’d expect from Doing the Most with Scarlet and Mitchell.

Until next time, we’re Scarlet and Mitchell…

And we’re Doing the Most.

After a little unexpected hiatus, Scarlet and Mitchell are back for Episode 39 of Doing the Most. And apparently, they’ve decided to pretend this is Episode 40. It’s “pre-40,” so technically anything goes.

This episode wanders through one of those wonderfully chaotic collections of topics that somehow make perfect sense when you’re just sitting around talking with your spouse. There’s the eternal struggle of finding enough time to do all the things, a deep-cleaning fall reset, some lingering wedding drama, awkward grocery-store encounters, road rage and the unwritten rules of merging, and eventually a surprisingly philosophical conversation about how we’re spending our lives.

And Mitchell does all of this while periodically trying to see through freshly dilated eyes.

Why does adulthood feel like every hour of the day has already been assigned a job?

Scarlet and Mitchell talk about trying to squeeze everything into an increasingly crowded schedule, from work and parenting to workouts, household chores, dinner and, apparently, deep-cleaning bathrooms when there really wasn’t enough time budgeted for it.

Scarlet is embarking on a fall reset, one room at a time, because fall is her favorite season and Oregon’s spring simply isn’t getting the job done.

Mitchell has a bottle of elbow grease.

Scarlet is understandably confused.

A brief discussion follows about whether “elbow grease” is an actual product, what it might be used for, and why the Tin Man probably could have benefited from some.

The wedding may be over, but apparently the story isn’t.

Scarlet and Mitchell revisit some of the low-level interpersonal drama surrounding the wedding, including an especially strange encounter with one of the wedding attendees at a grocery store.

There are questions about recognition, awkward aisle U-turns, old friendships, divorce-related history, and the strange way relationships can change when a marriage ends.

Mitchell, naturally, continues trying to give people the benefit of the doubt.

Scarlet has some thoughts about that.

This leads to a bigger conversation about grudges.

Mitchell recalls running into someone from high school whom he absolutely could not stand back in the day, only to discover that the guy seemed perfectly friendly and apparently had no idea Mitchell had spent years disliking him.

Which raises an interesting question:

What happens when the person you’re holding a grudge against doesn’t even know there was a grudge?

Scarlet admits she is a lifelong grudge holder. Mitchell admits there are probably people he could still come up with if given enough time.

Then things move from grocery-store awkwardness to traffic.

Scarlet and Mitchell discuss their very different approaches to other drivers, including the infamous Lake Oswego squeeze, zipper merging, people who race down a lane that’s about to end, and the fundamental question of whether you should let that person merge in front of you.

Scarlet’s philosophy is essentially: I don’t know these people. Maybe they’re having a bad day.

Mitchell’s philosophy is more along the lines of: There are rules, people.

The disagreement eventually turns into a surprisingly interesting discussion about why we’re sometimes more forgiving of strangers than the people we actually know.

One of the bigger ideas in the episode emerges from the road-rage conversation.

Scarlet points out that she can be very forgiving toward complete strangers because she doesn’t know what they’re dealing with. But when someone is part of your life, you know their history, their behavior and the ways they’ve affected you.

Mitchell takes the opposite approach. He’s more inclined to give people close to him the benefit of the doubt while getting considerably more irritated with anonymous drivers.

And somewhere in the middle is the question of whether you can really hate someone you don’t know.

The episode eventually circles back to time.

Mitchell realizes he’s spending a lot of his present thinking about the next opportunity he’ll have to actually have some time to himself. With work, family responsibilities and parenting filling the calendar, he’s already looking ahead nearly a week to the next quiet stretch.

That leads to the familiar advice about “living in the moment.”

But Mitchell isn’t entirely convinced.

Because sometimes the moment you’re supposed to be living in isn’t particularly interesting. Sometimes it’s just… showering.

The conversation takes a more existential turn when Mitchell considers the possibility that constantly living for some future moment means missing the life that’s happening right now.

Then Max provides perhaps the simplest answer in the entire episode.

When Mitchell asks him about his favorite day, Max says his favorite two days are:

Today and tomorrow.

For Mitchell, there’s something unexpectedly profound about that answer. Today is the present, and tomorrow gives you something to look forward to, without having to live six days in the future.

Maybe that’s enough.

Because this is Doing the Most, the philosophical discussion is interrupted by a real-life eye appointment.

Mitchell leaves the podcast midway through the recording to visit the retina specialist, returning with dilated eyes, blurry vision and a whole lot of eye gel.

The good news: everything looks good, with no changes to the freckle they’ve been monitoring.

The bad news: recording a podcast while your eyes are dilated makes reading anything considerably more difficult.

So naturally, they finish the episode anyway.

Scarlet and Mitchell wrap up Episode 39 with the promise that the next episode may finally begin the long-awaited family drama “exposé.”

A story arc may be coming.

There may be twists.

There may be turns.

And, as Scarlet puts it, you just wait.

Until then, they’re still doing the most.

We’re back, and apparently summer has decided that being “busy” is now a personality trait.

In this episode of Doing the Most, Scarlet and Mitchell catch up after a trip to Omaha for a family wedding, a questionable Airbnb designed by someone apparently unfamiliar with the concept of mobility, and an airport adventure involving wheelchairs, boarding passes, tipping etiquette, and the eternal mystery of what Delta employees are actually called.

Back at home, things get no calmer. A mysterious creature starts scratching its way through the ceiling, sending Mitchell into attic-crawl-space detective mode while Scarlet heads off to acquire squirrel traps. Meanwhile, the garden continues its ongoing campaign against Mitchell’s sanity, producing an alarming quantity of squash while the squirrels produce an alarming quantity of destruction.

But eventually, as these conversations tend to do, things get a little more existential.

Mitchell finds himself confronting a problem that has been sitting in the background for much longer than the podcast: why is it so difficult to let go of stuff? The garage is still a mess. The den is still a mess. His desk is still an I-Spy puzzle made of microphones, 3D-printed objects, tools, cords, and assorted “things that might be useful someday.”

And maybe the problem isn’t really the stuff.

The conversation turns toward accumulation, attachment, patterns, therapy, and the possibility that sometimes what we need isn’t someone to tell us that everything is okay, but someone to give us better tools for changing the things we don’t like about ourselves.

Then, because apparently this episode wasn’t emotionally complicated enough, Scarlet and Mitchell talk about saying goodbye to their beloved rescue cat Beans and the sad passing of Jackie the bald eagle, one half of the eagle pair they’ve followed for years.

So yes. It’s another episode of Doing the Most.

One of the recurring themes of Doing the Most is how easily everyday life turns into a collection of unfinished projects, obligations, possessions, distractions, and things we keep meaning to get around to.

This time, Mitchell takes a harder look at his own relationship with that accumulation. The garage hasn’t magically become organized. The den hasn’t magically become organized. The desk certainly hasn’t become organized.

And despite knowing that the clutter bothers him, he keeps finding new things to do instead.

A squirrel in the attic? Emergency.

A garden being destroyed by squirrels? Emergency.

A potential new 3D-printed spice-bottle organizer? Absolutely an emergency.

Cleaning the garage? Apparently that’s a different department.

The conversation becomes less about cleaning and more about the patterns underneath it. Why do we hold onto things? Why do some possessions feel important even when we barely use them? Why can getting rid of something feel harder than acquiring it in the first place?

And perhaps most importantly, what does it take to recognize a pattern and actually change it?

The episode takes a more emotional turn when Scarlet talks about surrendering their beloved rescue cat Beans to the Cat Adoption Team, with the hope that he will find a wonderful new home.

On the same day, they learned that Jackie, the bald eagle they had followed for years, had died after chronic illness.

Scarlet and Mitchell reflect on the strange connection people can develop with animals they’ve never actually met, and how thousands of people around the world came to care about Jackie and Shadow through the eagle’s nest camera.

Jackie’s story also became something much bigger than one pair of eagles. Their community raised millions of dollars to protect the land surrounding their nest, showing just how powerful a shared affection for a couple of wild birds can become.

It’s a bittersweet ending to an otherwise very busy episode, and a reminder that sometimes the things we care about most aren’t things we own at all.

Omaha is better than expected.
At least according to two people who arrived in Nebraska with some fairly questionable preconceptions.

Airports remain confusing.
Especially when you’re trying to figure out wheelchair transportation, tipping, boarding passes, and who exactly is responsible for what.

Squirrels are relentless.
They will invade your attic. They will destroy your garden. They will ignore your attempts to teach them a lesson.

3D printers create more problems than they solve.
At least according to Scarlet.

Stuff is complicated.
Getting rid of something isn’t always as simple as deciding you don’t need it.

Sometimes the thing that needs organizing isn’t the garage.

“I’m addicted to crud.”

That may be the most concise summary of Mitchell’s ongoing relationship with stuff.

But there’s another thought hiding underneath all that clutter:

“What would you really lament?”

If the house disappeared tomorrow, what would actually matter?

The answer might have considerably less to do with possessions than we think.

Doing the Most with Scarlet and Mitchell

Because apparently even when they’re on vacation, dealing with squirrels, attempting to organize, or saying goodbye to things they love, they’re still doing the most.

Thanks for listening.

What starts with Mitchell recounting an unexpected battle with nausea and a garden salad gone rogue quickly turns into a surprisingly thoughtful conversation about something we’ve all experienced: having house guests… and being one.

After Scarlet’s brother visits for a few days, Scarlet and Mitchell unpack the tiny habits that can make living with other people surprisingly stressful. From toilet lids and towels to parking direction and dirty glasses, they explore why seemingly insignificant details can become surprisingly meaningful when someone is sharing your space.

Is it about respect? Control? Different standards? Or are some people simply wired to notice details that others never even see?

Along the way they discuss family dynamics, differing personality types, marijuana use, forgetfulness, hypervigilance, and the complicated expectations we often place on the people closest to us.

As usual, the conversation wanders into unexpected territory, mixing humor with genuine reflection about relationships, adulthood, and learning to give each other a little grace.

The smallest habits often reveal the biggest differences in how people move through the world. What feels like basic courtesy to one person may never even register for someone else. Sometimes the challenge isn’t changing the habit. It’s deciding whether the relationship is more important than the irritation.

Are you the meticulous guest who leaves every room cleaner than you found it?

Or are you the relaxed visitor who thinks family shouldn’t sweat the small stuff?

Tell us your biggest guest or host pet peeve, and let us know whose side you’re on!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share Doing the Most with someone who has definitely forgotten to close a toilet lid.

Until next time…

Keep doing the most.

Episode 36 finds Scarlet and Mitchell recording their second attempt after deciding the first version just wasn’t working. What starts as a conversation about Oregon’s sweltering summer temperatures quickly spirals into tales of foul-smelling fly traps, overheated chickens, gardening triumphs and squirrel-induced frustration. Along the way, the hosts open up about something much more personal: how different communication styles can create tension in relationships, especially within blended families.

The episode balances laugh-out-loud moments with honest conversations about marriage, step-parenting, and learning to navigate conflict, before wrapping up with updates from the garden and a few television recommendations.

One of the most candid conversations the podcast has had so far.

Scarlet and Mitchell discuss:

The first garden is finally paying off.

Harvest highlights include:

The hosts also discuss:

Current TV recommendations include:

“We’re learning as we grow.”

If you enjoyed this episode of Doing the Most with Scarlet & Mitchell, be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. Share the show with someone who appreciates honest conversations, relatable chaos, and finding humor in everyday life.

New episodes arrive regularly…assuming the squirrels don’t get there first. 🌱🐿️

Building a chicken coop sounded like a fun weekend project… until it wasn’t.

This week, Scarlet and Mitchell are fresh off several exhausting days of construction as they finally finish their backyard chicken coop and move the flock into their new home. Along the way, they discover that chickens aren’t exactly known for following instructions, debate future homesteading projects, and wonder if gardening and livestock have quietly become their entire personalities.

The conversation wanders into summer plans, family vacations growing up, memorable travel disasters, birthday traditions, and the experiences they hope to create for their own son. They also stumble into one of the most unexpectedly fascinating conversations yet: why many adults raised in the South still call their father “Daddy,” and why changing that feels almost impossible.

As always, it’s equal parts nostalgia, storytelling, humor, and figuring life out one random topic at a time.

Did you grow up taking family vacations every year, or were vacations rare in your family?

And if you’re from the South…

Do you still call your father “Daddy”? We’d love to hear whether that’s a regional thing or if you’ve experienced the same reactions Scarlet describes.

Share your stories in the comments or connect with us on social media!

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share Doing the Most with someone who appreciates conversations that somehow begin with chickens and end with sociology.

New episodes arrive every week as Scarlet and Mitchell continue… Doing the Most.

Mitchell and Scarlet are back for another episode of Doing the Most, and true to form, they start with a simple conversation about raspberry sherbet and somehow end up exploring ADHD, hyperfocus, gardening obsession, medication names nobody can pronounce, and the growing list of projects taking over their lives.

The episode begins with a surprisingly passionate debate about whether it’s sherbet or sherbert, along with a few other pronunciation pet peeves that drive them both crazy. As nurses, Scarlet and Mitchell share stories about medication names that seem designed to challenge even experienced healthcare workers.

The conversation then takes a more personal turn as Mitchell opens up about feeling overwhelmed by his tendency to dive headfirst into new interests. What starts as a discussion about chickens and gardening becomes a deeper reflection on hyperfocus, productivity, anxiety, and the question of whether he’s been misunderstanding his own personality for years.

After reviewing the DSM-5 criteria for ADHD, Mitchell wonders if what he’s experiencing is something different entirely, while Scarlet offers her perspective from the front row seat of living with someone who tends to operate at either zero or eleven.

Along the way, they discuss:

As always, it’s a mix of humor, real-life chaos, and two people trying to figure things out while doing the most.

“I’ve always been zero or eleven.”

If you’re enjoying the show, subscribe, follow, and share Doing the Most with friends who are also juggling too many projects, hobbies, and half-finished plans.

New episodes drop regularly wherever you get your podcasts.

After a short break, Scarlet and Mitchell are back with an episode that proves life never really slows down. From surprise backyard chickens and first-year homesteading lessons to frustrating neighbors and Oregon driving habits, this episode is packed with the everyday chaos that comes with doing the most.

Along the way, they discuss flexibility, aging, forgotten childhood memories, gardening adventures, and why a simple steel plate in the road seems to cause a statewide traffic crisis.

🐔 The Chicken Expansion Project

🌱 Accidental Homesteaders

🧘 Trying Not to Become an Old Man

🐈 Living with Pets vs. Visiting Pet Owners

📦 The Neighbor Package Incident

🧠 Random Childhood Memories

🚗 So Tired Of…
This week’s frustrations include:

“We weren’t doing the most, so we added five chickens.”

Have chickens? Started a backyard garden? Know the secret to defeating squash bugs? Or do you also wonder why people stop for steel plates?

Let us know. We’d love to hear your stories.

Doing the Most with Scarlet & Mitchell is a podcast about family, pets, projects, parenting, and navigating the beautifully chaotic parts of everyday life. New episodes available wherever you listen to podcasts.

In this episode of Doing the Most, Scarlet and Mitchell wander through one of their classic kitchen-table conversations, covering everything from ASMR rabbit holes to accidental squirrel warfare, backyard gardening ambitions, and the sobering math of financial independence.

What starts with a discussion about oddly satisfying videos quickly turns into a neighbor confession, a garden update, and an existential detour into how much money it actually takes to stop working.

Spoiler alert: apparently a head of lettuce can cost about two grand… depending on how you do the math.

🌱 The Backyard Garden Era Begins
Scarlet shares what sparked their new gardening obsession, from thriving hydrangeas to raised beds, onions, kale, peppers, and dreams of eventual backyard chickens. They talk about learning the difference between annuals and perennials… perhaps later than most adults admit.

🐿️ The Great Squirrel Scandal
A friendly backyard habit takes an unexpected turn when the neighbor reveals that their squirrel feeding may have created an entire rodent empire… one that’s now destroying his landscaping. Cue neighborhood guilt, squirrel names, and some uncomfortable truths.

💸 How Much Money Does “Freedom” Actually Cost?
Mitchell spirals into a financial thought experiment: How much money would you need sitting in the bank at 4% interest to cover your bills… or replace your income entirely? The answer is enough to make anyone stare blankly at their raised garden beds.

📋 Wait… The Census Is Coming to the Door?
An unexpected visit from the U.S. Census sparks questions about privacy, civic duty, government data, and whether answering the door has become a high-risk activity in modern America.

🎧 Also in this episode:

“We’ve got a two-thousand-dollar head of lettuce coming up.”

Are you team feed the squirrels… or team protect the garden at all costs?
And if you’ve ever tried gardening, what’s the one thing you wish you knew before starting?

Connect with us on social media and let us know.

Listen, subscribe, and keep doing the most. 🎙️

This week, Scarlet and Mitchell are back in the studio navigating everything from Oregon’s aggressively uninspiring weather to the surprising emotional impact of heart emojis on Microsoft Teams. It’s a cozy chaos episode featuring five cats, double-digit vacuum ownership, and a public debate on whether dogs belong in restaurants (spoiler: it depends… a lot).

Somewhere between jury duty dreams and existential ennui, the duo proves once again that even the most mundane moments can spiral into deeply entertaining territory.

“That sounds like a him problem, not a me problem.”

If you’ve ever owned too many vacuums, questioned a coworker’s emoji choices, or silently judged a dog in a restaurant… this episode is for you.

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👉 Tell us: Are dogs in restaurants a yes or a no?