Regular Life

(Note: Those reading “The Keys Are In It” may read the latest, action-packed chapter, Part Four.)

Can I get a “hole purr?”
Benjamin’s fourth birthday party didn’t go very well. Lucky for us, that was a year ago.
His fifth was almost perfect. The only bad thing was the wind didn’t allow us to light his [...]

(Note: Those following “The Keys Are In It” may continue with Part Three at my story blog.)

Somehow my wife didn’t fully appreciate my taking my DSLR camera into the restaurant Tuesday on date night. I got my shots quickly and stopped — well, except for one right there at the end, but that was [...]

“This bag is full of glasses,” I said to the young man helping unload Homer at the Goodwill donation station.
“That’s okay. If it breaks, it’s just Goodwill,” he said. I wasn’t surprised to see that his shirt read: Yeah, I know. Go to my room.
“What? Man, that’s not right,” I [...]

Click either pic for a better look (albeit unfocusey on the first)
During one of many trips between our house and the house my in-laws just sold, I recalled a joke from the stick of the Pop Sicle knock-offs a nurse gave to Ben while he recovered from an allergic reaction to fire ant stings.
[...]

With summer here and Benjamin out of school, I’m thinking of a place my brother and I spent many hours each week of our childhood summers. It ties in with a funny moment during my 10-year high school reunion weekend, which I’ve been recalling because my 20th is only about a year away.
A classmate’s [...]

Thursday ended with Shannon staring at her computer screen, tears streaming down her face. “Ben’s hiding in his closet,” she said. Ben likes to do that when I get home so I can “find” him.
Then Shannon looked up at me and sobbed, “He could have died.”
Just home from work, I set down my [...]

Click to enlarge
Last week while I was off work, we had another first, and it was a blast.
One nice thing about living in a major metro area is that there’s almost no limit to the options available as long as you can cover the admission price. Laughter was the sound of the day as [...]

Sidewalk paint goes Pollock.
This blog post serves to pose a question to you. An encounter on Wednesday prompted it.
While waiting for my paint to shake, I asked the woman behind the paint counter my standard question in that situation. “So, how long have you worked for (insert store name)?”
From that simple query and [...]

Note: Photos in this post by Benjamin, with his Fisher Price Kid Tough Digital Camera (generation one model).

My Blurry Mommy, by Benjamin
It’s strange, having nine days off work in a row and nowhere to go. We could have gone to Spain, England, France, or all of the above. Heck, we live in a [...]

I was moved a week ago to share this, but I made myself wait.
In 1979, a young man hoping to make it in the film business began taking a photo each day with his Polaroid SX-70 camera. He categorized them by date and didn’t stop until the day he died. That day came [...]