The joy in watching children perform — A little girl with her hair in braided ponytails walks on stage from behind the curtain. She is wearing a very colorful dress with equally colorful leggings, and her sneakers look a couple sizes too big. She is cartoonishly skinny, like she might snap in pieces if she’s jostled too…

Finding humor in an old wound — This weekend I’m going to meet my new grand-niece, and for a few days jump into the lives of first-time parents. The introductory months of being a parent are generally so traumatic most of us don’t even remember them! Sleep deprivation and worry, the physical pain of tender private parts…

6.7.21 Do you even karaoke, Bruh? — The only thing more cheerful than ranchera music is a grown man singing along with ranchera music. A few months ago my family went to our friends’ house to stay for awhile, just to change things up lockdown-style. The confluence of both our 4-person families in one house felt like…

How did it feel? How does it feel? — This essay is an attempt to work through feelings of loss and grief in a humorous way. It mentions some lighter aspects of life during the coronavirus pandemic. …

12.15.2020 Ahumbahumbahumba -Elvis — Everyone has a sad story to tell about this year. A vacation you’d been looking forward to that never got to happen. An accomplishment you were on your way to completing and now you’ll never know if you could have done it. A fun event you had planned that you…

11.3.2020 Now what? — No really. I’m asking you. Now what? We returned home on Sunday afternoon after staying with friends to celebrate Halloween covid-style. I’m glad our kids are too old to trick-or-treat. Deciding whether to let kids trick-or-treat was one choice I was thankful I didn’t to have to make! I hate…

10.26.2020 In which we our hero stares fate in the eyes — Our journey back to the Sunshine State finds our hero facing his greatest challenge yet. Inside the walls of Taco Smurf hormones are raging. For the last few days there’ve been tears, yelling matches about doing dishes, and fights about who has the worst bed. And yet, expectations are high…

10.24.2020 The last week of our RV trip — Last night our daughter was so annoyed with us, with everything. Her poor brother was the scapegoat. No matter what happened, she kept telling Zane to shut up. This went on all evening. She cried herself to sleep from the ridiculousness of this entire trip that she cannot wait to…

10.22.2020 Adopt a dog! — Marvin joins the family