Family and FriendsTravelWellbeing

Worth it

Parenting is hard. For some, this is obvious. For others suffering denial, this is a sign of a severe character flaw. For a blessed few who’s beatification awaits them at their death, who’s names will be remembered in song and psalm for all time, this is an inconceivable truth. God did us this one favor – he made these people rare. This is not to say parenting is without its…
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Wellbeing

Breaking things

I had an embarrassing moment a while ago. I’ve had lots of embarrassing moments, but I’ve decided to limit this post to the one. We were taking Adam out for a practice run on his Christmas skates, and I laced up mine to show him how it was done. But I didn’t get very far. Instead of gliding down the driveway, leaning into an exhilarating tight turn onto the sidewalk, and powering…
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Wellbeing

Life changes

Catching up… How long has it been since my last post with substance? By any measure it’s been a while, so I thought I’d bring you up to speed on my life (a melodramatic adventure sure to keep you reclined in your seat). If you want to skip the whining, I don’t blame you. Skip down to where it says: “The Good Stuff.” Relative to my life, there’s a lot of…
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Family and Friends

Friends

You may take them for granted. I try not to – I can’t afford it, having so few of my own. It makes my absence from this space and others like it self destructive. This year I’ll try to keep my head out my but. I’ll try to think about other people more than myself. I’ll try to give more than I receive. I’ll try not to let politics and current events have the…
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Wellbeing

John, meet your closet floor

Cheryl made a trip across the bay to visit the Tampa IKEA store a while ago. A visit with the Swedish retailer usually lasts a full day and this one fit the pattern. Don’t you just love IKEA? Have you hugged a Swede today? I stayed home and reacquainted myself with regret. Inner John: Hey John, you remember regret don’t you? Public John: Yeah, we go way back. Inner John: Didn’t…
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Wellbeing

Thankful for Thanksgiving

My glass is a third full this morning and do you know what that means? Yep, I’m giddier than a tweener with a back stage pass to meet Justin Bieber. It’s Thanksgiving week and that means I’ll be enjoying my longest stacation in a year. Vacation, you ask? What does THAT mean? I’m working this week, so I’m one of the lucky few to enjoy open roads and incredible parking…
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BethFamily and Friends

No complaints

Woo hoo! That’s a good one! Just because I’m not going to use this post to whine doesn’t mean I’ve got no complaints. I promise you though – I won’t go there today. Today I want to cheer myself up as much as anything. I do this with full knowledge of the consequences: this will be a boring post. Ask the news director at your local television station. Misery…
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Family and Friends

This one's gonna be trouble

I know. It’s hard to believe for some of you, but Adam does get into trouble. This evening I had to take Adam’s TV privileges away. That’s what we parents like to say. I had to take the little devil’s TV. He had it coming and I had to deliver. Parents are like the post office that way. Neither tears nor sympathy nor full throttle tantrum shall keep us from our appointed…
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