Regular Life

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Recently it came up in conversation that my wife found this mass in a beer can she opened.
After she had started drinking the beer.
I was lucky enough to find the pic while sifting through old digital photos. Anyone care to speculate on exactly what it is? To me it resembles what [...]

   
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Benjamin’s first full day of kindergarten doubled as his first day of soccer practice. Unlike tee ball (which we “volunteered” him for at age three), he eagerly participated. When I wasn’t helping, I was taking pictures, and Shannon sat in a camp chair, busily filling out a [...]

(Note: Readers of “The Keys Are In It” may continue today with Part Eleven. Sorry this one has been so sporadic.)
Benjamin goes to his first full day of Kindergarten on Tuesday. We are at once giddy and glum.
Friday night we went for “meet the teacher,” wherein we participated in a reverse treasure hunt. [...]

My wife never got a chance to say goodbye to a dear friend she lost 10 years ago today. They had reunited after a few years of estrangement and were very close, and we had some great times with her and her husband.
Then we received a phone call at about 3 a.m. telling us [...]

Just when I thought I would slow down a little on blogging, the cops get involved.
And the whole thing helped me understand why not all of them are detectives.
On an unseasonably cool Saturday morning, Benjamin and I took a leisurely, unannounced bicycle ride to Mr. and Mrs. B’s house. Minutes before we arrived, however, [...]

It isn’t impossible, but these days it’s improbable.
My wife and I have been married 16 years as of August 15. Looking back I wonder, in somewhat chronological order:

Would we have met had I not switched at the last minute from the University of Arkansas to the lesser-known University of Central Arkansas?
What if I hadn’t [...]

In a plan whipped up by my brother and me on Thursday, I got the second half of Friday off and whisked Benjamin away for his first cousin’s birthday party weekend. A six-hour drive later we arrived, and only after shaking off his nap did LC realize Ben really was right there in the [...]

I’m pretty sure a local store owner thinks my wife is a drunk.
Benjamin and I spent the past weekend on a last-minute trip to my brother’s home. We surprised Ben’s only first cousin for his fifth birthday. Shannon couldn’t go because of a couple of prior commitments, including auditioning for a local chorus. [...]

Hayes family — it was an honor to meet you and I am very sorry for your loss.

Note: Those reading “The Keys Are In It” may continue to Part Ten, where the scene finally changes and a familiar character returns.

One of my works from college art class (see relevance below).
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In my quest to run exclusively Ubuntu Linux (a free alternative to Microsoft Windows) at home for one month, I [...]