Some pictures from the Cool Fam Vacation Photo Album showed me that we could probably do a better job of keeping our son safe and warm.

Reality shows love the confession booth, where their contestants sit in front of a camera annoyed, teary-eyed, angry, talking about how the situation or their fellow contestants are making their lives miserable.
This is my confession booth.
I tend to exaggerate, but since I’ve been up since 4:00 AM trapped in a studio apartment with a screaming toddler, I feel like I’ve earned the right. So do our neighbors.
1.5 jobs. $1500/mo rent on top of a house in FL that won’t sell. A whole lot extra for insurance every month.
If this were …

We only eat at cheap restaurants or ones that we have coupons for.
We talk about our flaws too much.
We ask a lot of questions.
We don’t get haircuts as often as we should.
Our clothes are not very fashionable and are a little run-down.
We like to talk about the places we’ve been.
We don’t like the beach.
We use PCs.
We prefer game nights over movie nights.
We have cheapo cable and a TV that we found on the sidewalk.
We three are crammed into a little studio apartment.
We’re a little paranoid.
We don’t drink coffee.
We almost never …

The elevators to get to our top-floor office take FOREVER. So, it annoys the heck out of me when someone hits the ‘3′ button. I’m thinking, “What?! You can’t walk up two flights of stairs?!”
It was me, 2 guys chatting, and a fourth guy who just got on the elevator. Mr. Fourth hits the 3rd floor button. Ugh. We make our two-floor ascent, which I imagine my grandmother could complete faster in the stairwell.
Mr. Climacophobia* exits, and the two chatting guys start talking about it. …

I think I’m a darn cool mum these days. Peek into my head for a moment.
I live in the greatest city in the world. I walk down the street and see my neighbors Bono and Michael J. Fox. I stroll a happy baby around and laugh at the thought of all the people (actually, probably just lots of movie scripts) that said, “You can’t raise a baby in New York City!”
I’m surrounded by well-educated people, world-famous museums, and streets that have rich cultural significance. I left …

Dear Son,
I am sitting in the corner of your room in the dark. Right now, you are sleeping peacefully next to your mum.
I can’t sleep. Last night was hard. You woke up at 1:00 am, and I came in here to comfort you back to sleep. Then you woke up at 2:00. Then 4:00. And then you cried on and off until 6:00.
From what I could tell, nothing was wrong. Your diaper was dry. You ate a snack before bed. Your temperature was fine, …

The Lost season finale is tonight! I love the feeling of looking forward to a show all day long. However, since Lost is basically the only TV show I follow, I don’t get that feeling often.
Part of why I (or we) don’t watch anything else is that it feels like there’s nothing good out there. American Idol and The Office used to be appointment television, but they’ve lost their appeal. Ironically, they’re both at dizzying heights of popularity right now. I think there’s a connection.
My cynical nature …

It’s happening again. I tried my best to, you know, kick the habit. I mean, I kept constant vigil to monitor myself and resist temptation. But I’m failing.
Of course, I’m talking about the habit of throwing you know and I mean into my everyday language. I mean, I did well for a year or so, but now I’m not doing so hot.
Being weird, I noticed that a lot of my friends were saying you know in the middle of their sentences. Like they were using it …

I was going to post something sort of funny, but this has been hitting me harder.
I’ve been failing a lot lately.
at work: Huge mistakes. Not responding to people when I should.
side projects: Putting them off, even when people are depending on me.
at home: Not being flexible as the boy grows in mobility and stubbornness. Not devoting the focus on Jesus that I should as a husband and father. Letting things like bills and yardwork just sit there.
This isn’t a call for sympathy. More than anything, I’m wondering …

It was a great weekend. A good Good Friday. Cool Baby’s first Easter.
We went to church — the early service! (but not the sunrise one) And we were pretty much on time, too. The boy might have been the finest-dressed person in church that wasn’t wearing shoes.
We even took pictures, but not because it was Easter. It was for a lesser miracle: all three of us were dressed up.
For the last 8 years or so, I haven’t truly celebrated Christmas or Easter. I mean, …