October 25, 2018
You may have noticed that I didn’t write a post yesterday. It wasn’t because I was too busy, or sick, or had something better to do. I just didn’t feel like it. And…I had three glasses of homemade wine at my in-laws’ last night and decided to just hit the sack when I got home…
October 23, 2018
Just now I was experiencing some anxiety about what to write about today, when it hit me: Write about anxiety! One of the reasons I wanted to do this October Mindfulness Challenge was to learn how to better deal with anxiety. The older I get it seems the more anxious I am about things. I don’t remember worrying about…
October 22, 2018
Mindfulness isn’t easy. Trust me, this is about the 5th time I’ve tried to develop a daily meditation habit. Turns out I’m not very good at sitting around and doing nothing, despite what my wife might tell you. Hopefully when this October Mindfulness Challenge is done, I’ll keep meditating everyday, even if just for a few…
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 20, 2018
This morning the kids had their Diocesan cross country championships up at the Lawrence County Fairgrounds. We arrived bright and early, at 8:15 a.m., and braved the cold, wind, and periodic rain as we cheered on our beloved Sts. Peter & Paul Pacers. Luckily we had coffee and Oram’s donuts to keep the adults warm and happy…
October 19, 2018
Today we’re on location for the October Mindfulness Challenge. The location: Studo H in Monaca, Pa. My good friend Kelly recently opened the space as a creative/event venue, which you can rent for a creative workshop, team-building session, poetry reading, etc. Tonight, however, it is a private gathering for Kelly, her husband Daniel, and my family. Basically…
October 18, 2018
As we’re a little over halfway through the month, I thought it would be a good time to assess my October Mindfulness Challenge thus far… I haven’t checked social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) in 18 days now, and, honestly, I haven’t missed it. All the time I would’ve spent mindlessly scrolling my feeds has been put…
October 17, 2018
Today it was windy and chilly enough in The Beav to don my winter coat as I strolled over to the library to do some work. And I loved it. In fact, the older I get, the more I’m realizing that I’m a cold-weather person. I like wearing pants and warm sweaters and cozying up to a…
October 16, 2018
Oh boy, I’m so excited! My sister sent me a transistor radio in the mail today! (No, this isn’t a blog post from 1987.) Why would anyone want a transistor radio nowadays, you ask? Apparently, you don’t have kids whose completely misguided and inconsiderate soccer league administrators, for some ungodly reason, decided to schedule games at 1…
October 15, 2018
In doing meditation, one of the things they always talk about is being mindful of your body and how it feels. Mine feels like its 80 years old. This writing stuff, turns out, is backbreaking work. Seriously. I can’t remember a day when I didn’t have back pain. Most of the time it’s been upper back pain…
