Yesterday was the first day of football season, and I had my dad over to watch the Eagles/Lions game, as we do every year. This year, my daughter, S. has become more invested in the games since her teacher has vowed not to assign homework in cases where the Eagles win. Way to get the […]

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06

Jul

The Centipede

Personal Time // No Comments

I just walked into the downstairs bathroom (or powder room as my wife calls it) and discovered a centipede on the wall. I stood a moment and stared at it. Should I kill it? I wondered. Or let it be? For the most part, I don’t have an issue with letting bugs in my house […]

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This is going to be one of those days. It started that way: my daughter sitting in the upstairs hallway whining that she wants to go downstairs. That’s what I woke to. I brought her into the bathroom to use the potty and she didn’t want to go because there was already pee in the […]

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Last Sunday, the family and I went for a picnic. A former coworker with whom I had started working at my current position recently reconnected with me through Facebook. We’d always gotten along well in the time we worked together, but when she left for greener pastures and I stayed here, we lost touch. It happens, of […]

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18

May

I Knew Her Well

Personal Time // No Comments

This morning, my daughter woke at 4 a.m. She was shouting from her room, “Mommy! Daddy!” There’s nothing terribly alarming in this. It’s how she summons us whenever she wakes. She doesn’t get out of bed and wander around, and for now, I prefer it that way. Given also, that it’s still dark at 4 […]

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11

May

At Home With My Son

Personal Time // No Comments

I spent the past two days at home with my son. Though my daughter goes to preschool, my son doesn’t, and since our plans for childcare fell through, I stayed home from work to take care of him. This is the first time with him. In fact, one of the nicest things about this was […]

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08

May

Happy Mother’s Day

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Pregaming for Mother’s Day, my wife opened a bottle of red wine last night and we sat together and watched An Affair to Remember. It’s been a while since we sat down and watched a movie together. Last time was when we took advantage of the daycare’s kid’s night out and check Spectre out of […]

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06

May

The Urge to Protect

Personal Time // 2 Comments

  A few years back, while I was walking in my neighborhood, I saw a boy of about ten years old skipping along in front of me. He would take a few paces and then leap as if he couldn’t contain his energy. He wore a big smile on his face, and he broke into a spastic run […]

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01

May

The Scream

Personal Time // No Comments

The energy thing seems to be evening out during the week, but the drain is still hitting me good midday on weekends. Yesterday, I woke up cheerful. Oddly happy, though I didn’t get to bed until ten-thirty. None of the family was up yet, so I came down and did some recording on the novel. […]

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It’s no secret that writers are a finicky, superstitious, irritable, irascible bunch. I try not to play up this stereotype, and I do so mainly by keeping quiet about it while it’s going on. But yesterday was a bit more intense than others, and to some extent it was typical in a fashion that even while it’s going […]

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