Had a great day

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Happy Family

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Whoa!!!

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How do you really feel about your game right now? LOL

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Fruit Ninja!

Had a great day for my 40th.

Took the day off, got in a deadlift training session, rested, went and played some handball & four square at the big man’s school, then went to Dave & Busters for dinner and video games. Perfect day.

Also upgraded phones and the new one has a cool feature for animated gifs so I can capture more things like this priceless pic of Dawn playing her favorite. Cracked me up.

Thankful

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I thought I would take a moment and reflect on what I am thankful for.

I am thankful for my wife.

I am thankful for my son.

I am thankful for my Buddhist practice.

I am thankful to have a good job.

I am thankful for m

Happy Anniversary to my precious wife

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Dawn and I celebrated our anniversary today; we’ve been married 16 years! And the big man’s school carnival fell on the same day so, we celebrated by working in the haunted house. Had an absolute blast in ‘Freedain’s Freaky Surgery Center’.

A tiring but extremely fun way to celebrate with my precious wife and wonderful son.

I’m a very fortunate guy.

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She had been waiting 10 years for this very moment

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Truth be told, back when Dawn and I met I was not the biggest Depeche Mode fan. They have always been her favorite, longer than I’ve know her for sure, which, is definitely saying something considering I have the privilege of being able to say we have been together for more than half our lives. Over time, she turned me in to a fan and I have been to a number of their shows with her. One of their songs had a significant role in our wedding. Dawn and I welcomed an amazing little boy into our lives just over 10 years ago. In a wonderful gesture by a life-long friend, the first music our son heard on his way home from the hospital was Depeche Mode.

In summary, they have been a very welcome part of our relationship for as long as it has existed.

Dawn and I have been to tons of concerts over the years. It was something we enjoyed throughout our lives, growing up together, moving between the phases of our relationship from boyfriend/girlfriend to husband/wife to mom/dad of our little man. She has always had her favorites and I mine, but for most of them we have shared the experience.

And then there is this weekend.

You see, ever since becoming a Momma she has wanted to be able to take the little man to see Depeche Mode.  On Saturday, September 28th 2013 we realized that dream. And I’ll tell you this… it is now the most memorable, significant concert moment I’ve ever been witness to. Being able to see the love of my life overcome with an absolute, pure joy, well, there are just no words for things like that.

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I will tell you this though, I haven’t felt so alive, in years…..

Tucking in meditation

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Last night, I did my normal routine of tucking the big man in to bed then going into the office for my nightly meditation. I started and I believe about 10 minutes had gone by before I heard

Dad, are you already sitting?

Yes.

Can you come in here?

Sure.

So I go into his room and he asks if I can sit with him for a couple minutes. I always enjoy this. The way I saw it, I didn’t have to end my meditation, this was just an extension of it.

I kneeled down next to his bed and placed my hand on his head as I usually have when I get to do this. Instead of just my own breath to concentrate on, I also had his. I noticed the minute he fell asleep (his breathing makes an ever so slight change, I noticed that years ago), and figured I was done meditating for the night as well.

Parents, if you have the opportunity, I highly recommend a “tucking in” meditation session every once in a while.

the cricket

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I sit down on my cushions for my nightly meditation, tucking my feet in, straightening my back, lowering my eyelids, putting in effort to have no attachment to thoughts.

A cricket chirps loudly.

I hear the sound of my son turn another page in his book.

A cricket is keeping me company during my sit.

I hear my wife move downstairs, and a plane make its journey across the sky overhead.

I notice the rhythm of the cricket are in time with the melody of the beating in my chest, my breath in sync. The sound is quiet yet massive all at once, 10,000 Buddhas in all directions, all in sync, with nothing to be in sync with. I am not separate from this cricket. Suchness. All as it should be, nothing more, nothing less.

I decide I am finished, join my palms, and take refuge as I do every night.

I smile and thank the cricket.

 

Minecraft

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The big man has been into Minecraft for a while now. He connects to multiple different servers across the world, including one run by an old friend. Just about every one of his friends plays Minecraft, he even has a meetup with a bunch of his buddies from Hacker Scouts once a month. He has a ‘Steve’ head, which is a cardboard box that is shaped like the main character, a foam pickaxe, and about a billion Minecraft t-shirts. We’ll just say Minecraft runs a close second to Mario and Luigi.

I rarely have time to play video games even though I really enjoy them, so I had always held back on getting myself an account. A few weeks ago that changed and I finally went ahead and bought an account. (a funny thing is, another good friend of mine told me yesterday that he’s done the same thing)

The big man and I have been really enjoying it. We rarely connect to anything besides the ‘LAN world’ we created here at home, but, that is perfect. He and I have been creating a world with buildings, a castle, a mansion, a swimming pool, cave, and even a roller coaster! Just he and I.

Today while I was clearing out a cave near our swimming pool, he built a bunch of furniture in our mansion. Check out his DJ booth: (if it doesn’t load, refresh the page, Vine is wonky from time to time)

I have really been enjoying our time playing. We work together to build our own little world. Any other moms or dads out there play? Would love to hear about your experiences as well.