Family and Friends

Low grade wretchedness

Death by a thousand paper-cuts. Nickel and dimed to death. The straw that broke the camel’s back. I feel like someone rolled up all these tried and true cliches like pennies, put them in a sock, and beat me over the head with them. And I’m not just saying that because my head hurt, although it did. To start with, it seems like the kids have been a little sick for a month. Not a lot…
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Kitchen Sink

Looking for the loo

Newsvine / AP: Tourists, theatergoers, shoppers and pub patrons in London’s West End can now text the word “toilet” — and receive a text back with the address of the nearest public facility… The council said it hopes the service will stop people from urinating in alleyways, saying some 10,000 gallons of urine ends up in Westminster streets each year. How do you figure…
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BethCurrent Events

Dad doesn't know best

We were helping Beth with her homework on the American Revolution this evening, and it was great fun. I fancy myself the household expert on history, so I was right in my element. However, helping with a big homework assignment until ten p.m. makes me yearn for my high school days (when I didn’t). It didn’t help that we were all pretty tired. Anyway, there was a point in all this when…
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Beth

Inconsistency is a terrible thing to admit

A couple weeks ago I was summoned home due to an emergency. Beth was freaked out by a frog that gained entrance to our house via commode. Being a thoughtful, sensitive parent, I went straight home, tracked down the frog, and laughed. Mind you, this was no mere chuckle. This kind of laughing involved tears. At first Beth didn’t share my feelings… not even a little bit. I could tell…
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Politics

My favorite sentence of the day

Newsvine/AP – Giuliani Wants US to Promote Democracy: Republican Rudy Giuliani said Monday the reputation of the United States has suffered globally not so much because of arrogant actions but for lack of salesmanship about benefits of democracy. If you’re like me, you’re thinking that the author of the article must have tweaked reality a little. I saw that sentence pop up on my…
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Family and FriendsTravel

My grand re-opening

Cheryl and the kids wanted to take a trip to Busch Gardens Friday afternoon, and I finally gave in and went along. My white cell count is still low, but I kind of like the idea of the kids having a few fond memories of me doing fun stuff with them. I even felt adventurous enough to bring our old camera along. Sure, we’ve already got tons of pictures of the place, some going back almost…
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Kitchen Sink

Sampras v Federer

It’s not often that I catch myself saying, “boy, I wish I saw that tennis match.” I’ve had a couple of those moments this week. Every time I catch the result from the exhibition matches between Roger Federer and my boy, Pete Sampras, I feel a twinge of regret. I heard about the matches a little while back, and I cringed at the thought. Federer is crushing everyone he faces…
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Wellbeing

Yeah, um... well...

“I don’t expect to find anything, but I’d like to have this test done just in case.” How many times has your doctor dropped this little number on you? I’ve gotten it lots of times, and it never used to bother me. Then one day a test came back and I was summoned to the office… sooner than previously arranged. Those of you who have studied behavioral psychology…
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