2023 was supposed to be my year of getting healthy, and while I've adopted some positive habits, the results have been a little wanting so far, in part for reasons outside of my control: a bad case of poison oak, and then a redux reaction after it seemed to have cleared up; a medical procedure…

G and L went back to daycare this week, after a three-month hiatus. G is in the class for the older little ones, while L is in with the babies. Because fewer children are enrolled now than usual, there have been some shifts in the staffing, and G is being taught once again by the…

One great thing about riding in a car is that it helps me to think, whether I'm driving or just a passenger. Maybe it would be more accurate to say that it helps me think the right amount, since I'm always thinking and usually thinking too much. There's something about coasting along a mostly uniform…

There is one other interesting feature of giving up alcohol and caffeine, at least for me, and I guess that this may be a feature of giving up any species of psychoactive substance, for other people as well. There is the physical aspect of being addicted to one of these substances, which I have luckily…

I have given up caffeine and alcohol again. I'm eight days into this experiment, and it has been interesting to see that I've already passed through a few phases. Perhaps people give things up for different reasons, but I always give up caffeine and alcohol because I'm feeling lousy -- keyed-up and exhausted, creaky and…

One day down, twenty-nine left to go. Yesterday was rough, though not because of the challenge. The week had been emotionally taxing, as G came down with the dreaded hand, foot, and mouth disease. I stayed home from work Monday through Thursday to look after him. This actually wasn't so bad; I managed to work…

I didn't socialize easily when I was in high school, not with people I didn't know well. I wasn't shy, exactly, but I was sensitive and casual conversation did not come easily to me. I've grown out of this over time (though whether I've really done so and whether this is even an appropriate way…