January 7, 2019
My garage is a heavily armed military base for repelling an attacking enemy-droid army. My parked pickup truck is a troop transport on some days, on others it’s an inter-galactic spaceship. My entire yard, in fact, is a battleground for Nerf-gun-armed zombie killers and light-saber wielding Jedi. Such is life when your property is…
December 5, 2018
When your kids are still pretty young, it’s easy to convince them of crazy things. Things like fairies exist. Or that an enormous bunny sneaks into their house overnight and leaves them plastic eggs filled with candy. Or that an overly jolly and slightly rotund old man with a long white beard can somehow squeeze down the way-too…
October 31, 2018
It’s hard to believe, but I actually did it. Thirty-one days without Facebook and Twitter. Thirty-one days without reading, watching, or listening to the news. Thirty-one days (well, almost) of meditating and writing every day. Thirty-one days of trying to be more mindful and present in the moment. Needless to say, it’s been a…
October 26, 2018
My heart pounded as I crouched in the corner of the field, carefully scanning for any sign of movement. I knew they were near, hunting me. I could hear them moving through the dried stalks in the distance. Just when I thought I was safe, I heard footsteps to my right. Turning toward the noise, I saw him coming straight…
October 21, 2018
Parenthood. What a roller-coaster ride. Saturday our kids competed against other Catholic schools in the Pittsburgh Diocesan Championship at the Lawrence County Fairgrounds. We had high hopes for The Animal, who as a 3rd-grader has shown great promise, regularly beating runners 2 or 3 grades older. Honestly, I just wanted him to try his best. But I knew…
October 11, 2018
One thing I’d really like to be more mindful about is eating. I eat fast. Way too fast. Like a-school-of-piranha-feasting-on-a-side-of-beef fast. As a result, rarely if ever do I fully appreciate and enjoy my meal. (And I’m sure it doesn’t exactly heighten the dining experience of those around…
October 10, 2018
One thing I’ve always tried to be mindful about is my kids. I’ve always tried to be present in and appreciative of each and every moment I have with them while they’re still young. This isn’t always easy, of course. Take when The Animal decided to use his head to obliterate the glass on our oven…
October 1, 2018
I like change. I think it’s terribly boring when every day seems like a carbon copy of the previous one. Lately I’ve noticed just about every day has been following a similar pattern: Wake up at 6 a.m. Drink coffee while checking social media, i.e., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram Take the kids to school Come home, check…
July 25, 2018
No changing diapers. No gaiting stairs. No baby-proofing the house. No fighting over cell phones. No asking if they can borrow the car. No staying up late worrying about where they are or what they’re doing. In the world of parenting, you might say we’re right smack in the eye of the hurricane. Ten years into the…
April 30, 2018
Lately The Animal’s been playing his Xbox a little too much, and I figured a little father-and-son time might be in order. So the other day after school we jumped in the car and headed to…the arcade! To be specific, we went to Pinball PA in Hopewell. I’ve been wanting to check out this place…
