My wife and I just dropped our 17-year-old daughter off at the airport so she can spend the next 2½ weeks volunteering with a humanitarian organization that’s building schools and teaching English in Cambodia. Interesting Fact #1: Cambodia is not a suburb of Seattle. It’s not even in Washington or the Pacific Northwest or the… Continue reading She’s Off for Good
According to the internet, a “baker’s dozen” is 12 + 1. The phrase dates back to the middle ages when bakers would include an extra loaf of bread for every dozen ordered so they wouldn't get fined and/or flogged if one was accidently misplaced during transit. Of course, it could have also been defined as… Continue reading Perfectly Planned
I went to my first professional baseball game this week. I’m 49. A few more years and I might have lived my entire life without seeing a single inning. Oh well. It’s not that I’ve been too poor to finance a hot dog ($12), a pretzel ($8), and a soda ($6) at the stadium until… Continue reading Take Me Out of the Ball Game
I’m going to help teach a high school computer science class this year! It took me a long time to write that first sentence. More specifically, it took me a long time to finish that first sentence. I struggled to decide if I should end it with an exclamation point to show how excited I… Continue reading Wish Me Luck
The neighborhood kids have recently rallied together to teach one of their own how to ride a bike. The instructors, all professional cyclists, range in age from six to ten. The student, a girl, is probably five. It's unclear if she asked for their help. Or even wants to ride the bike. Regardless, they've been… Continue reading Like Riding a Bike
I went on my last first drive this week. Not to brag, but I think it went pretty well. It’s probably because I’ve been mentally preparing for this milestone since early January, when my youngest child first informed me that I’d be conducting his inaugural driving lesson the moment he turned 14½. According to him,… Continue reading Last First Drive
I’m not very good at a lot of things. Normally this isn’t a problem, but back in 2007 I was asked to join a group of friends who were planning to summit Washington State’s Mount Rainier. Most of them, like me, hadn’t ever climbed a big mountain before, let alone a 14,411-foot glaciated stratovolcano that… Continue reading Eating My Way to the Top
While taking roll on the first day of kindergarten, my teacher asked each of us students, in turn, if we’d prefer to use a name other than the one she’d just read. As expected, most Roberts said they’d like to go by Bob, some Rebeccas opted for either Becca or Becky, and all Richards sensibly… Continue reading Call Me Jerry
I’ve received multiple “Best Dad Ever!” awards through the years from my children. Sure, most of them were crafted under direct orders from grade school teachers, but the point is I have documented proof that I’m not a terrible father. It’s important you know this before reading any further. My oldest daughter flew home from… Continue reading Awkwardly Silent Night
My mom called to yell at me on my way to work today. At first I thought she’d found out about that time in college my friends and I got caught sneaking into a penthouse in downtown Vegas, but then realized she was actually yelling because my dad was outside shoveling snow off their driveway… Continue reading Help Wanted
