Going for Broke

One day.

10 p.m.: my normal bed time. 11:30 p.m.: I go to bed. Midnight: I go to sleep. 5:45 a.m.: I reluctantly wake up. 5:50: I reluctantly get out of bed. 6:50: Cheryl and Beth leave the house. 7:50: I leave the house. 7:51: car doesn’t start. 7:52: I return to the house. 7:53: I leave the house with my bike. 8:05: I arrive at Beth’s school five minutes late and awfully tired. 9:00: I return…
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Kitchen Sink

Reader beware.

One thing you won’t find waning in me is self pity. Without going into the boring details, let me just sum it up like this: you don’t have to be physically isolated from other human beings to be alone. We live in a time when the word “liberal” is used like a four letter word. So how do you suppose someone who tends to share those political views fits in here, a decidedly…
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Beth

Windows to the soul.

Earlier this evening I was sitting down next to Beth and she was enthusiastically talking about something; exactly what it was escapes me. Some kind of parent I am, teaching my daughter such wonderful listening skills. I bring this up not to point out more of my shortcomings as a parent, but to try and explain something I observed that may prove to be unexplainable. While Beth was speaking I noted…
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The Sunshine State

Heresy.

Someone suggested to me the other day that they needed to move further south. When I asked why, they replied that they needed to move away from the cold. Cold!?! Here is an example of our weather: lows in the upper 40’s, highs in the lower 60’s, and clear blue skies. I’ve just described my version of heaven, and they want to move. As far as I’m concerned, there is only one…
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Kitchen Sink

Oodles of desire, not so much experience.

Cheryl called me earlier this week with some discouraging news: she didn’t think her interview went well. She was taking a shot in the dark on a position with the county that she thought she would enjoy. It was a supervisory position with the court system, working as a kind of liaison between the court, drug treatment providers and the Department of Corrections. She has been working with the…
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Wellbeing

The smell of comfort.

For a long time I had convinced myself that scented candles were an enemy to my allergies. Cheryl would light up and my snot came down. Now I’m thinking that it may have been the kind of candles we bought. I’m sitting here, the lights are dimmed, and a subtle scent of cinnamon drifts in the air. More importantly, none of my mucous membranes are misting into the air with it. It is very…
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Beth

Hey, I kind of like doing this.

What can I say about my daughter that you haven’t already heard? Would you believe that I have something? Yes indeed I do. If you know us, you may have heard us allude to Beth’s fondness for exploring limits. This weekend, Beth learned new vertical limits. On Saturday we were playing a game that can best be described as a cross between hide and go seek and dodge ball. We had been at it…
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