I realized the other day that I hadn’t yet taken my 14-week old son Jamie out in public on my own. Sure, my wife and I have been out with him plenty, but I’ve been spending a significant amount of time watching him at home now, so it’s something that needed to happen. My unwillingness to be a recluse overcame my aversion to changing diapers in public, and I took him to church. It seemed like a more logical place to start than a loud concert, or running several errands. I really didn’t know what to expect. They have a room outside the main sanctuary with a TV and a feed to the service, that seemed like a decent backup plan. So I took the gamble to see if I could last an hour-and-a-half without him crying. He floated in and out of sleep as the pastor spoke about having faith in our deepest and darkest hours of despair. This is when I learned that having an infant with you can create awkward moments from time to time. I’m sitting in the back, and ready for an easy exit, as he wakes up. But instead of crying, he aimed a wide, glowing smile in my direction. The church is in the midst of a series analyzing movies through a Christian lens, and this week it was 127 Hours, where the main character is trapped for days with his arm crushed under a rock. And I’m in the back trading wide smiles with my son. It seemed odd. It seemed out of place. As the pastor talked about living in pain, I’m exchanging pleasantries with Jamie, giving him the widest grin I could. He’s so darned cute in these moments, and it was all I could do to keep him from erupting at an innopportune time. But he never cried. I never even had to change him.  And I felt like a genius for choosing the seat in the back. The awkwardness of the moment and the juxtaposition it created made me laugh on the inside. The main character in the movie cut his arm off to escape and survive. There I am whispering “Goochy Goochy Goo” to my son. I’m sure it won’t be the last awkward moment we have. He hasn’t learned how to talk yet. I’m wondering what he’ll repeat that wasn’t intended for other ears to hear? Or what outrageous, imaginative thoughts he’ll have? We shall...

A post-Valentine’s Day story about falling in love with the wrong things.   Meg and I went out for our Valentine’s Day dinner last night, and we decided to try something a little different. OK, a lot different. When we sat down at the table, she put her phone and her purse down on an unused chair. Then looked at me. In a moment of insanity, I willingly handed her my phone as well. What was I thinking? An entire meal without my trusted lifeline? What about those moments of down time? What about when I knew what I wanted off the menu, but she didn’t quite have it figured out yet? What about when she had to get up and go to the bathroom??? I’d sit in silence. Twiddling my thumbs. Alone with my thoughts, and a bad people-watching habit. Here’s the thing. I didn’t hate it. I know, I expected to. I mean, what if people retweeted something of mine? What if somebody tagged me in a Facebook post? What if I got an important email? All of those things would be there when I was done. For the two hours we sat at that table, there wasn’t an electronic interaction that couldn’t wait. It defied my expectation. As a business owner and journalist, I tend think of myself as more important than I actually am. The lesson learned is that I can step away from my lifeline for a couple hours and survive. I might even enjoy it. I won’t tell you it was easy. But to be honest, I’m a little embarrassed that something as simple as a two hour dinner with my wonderful Valentine (minus phone) is even worthy of a blog post. My computer and my phone are vital instruments for running my business. On their own they’re necessary tools for good. Used to the extreme, they can be highly addictive forces that cause us to miss so many things that are right there in front of us. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what type of dad I want to be. Meg’s due in less than a month now. The first answer to my question that comes to mind is that I want to be the present type of father. I don’t want to go through sporting events or concerts or other activities married to my smart phone. I want to enjoy the family moments as they happen, and not be distracted worrying about what 1,000 loosely affiliated “friends” are doing in that same moment. I definitely think it’s something that a lot of us could improve on. I saw a Facebook post recently where someone suggested placing all phones in...

If I kept time under the Chinese calendar, 2012 would have been the year of the holding pattern. My wife and I are in for some major changes, and they’ve been brewing for a long time. I started Spiraling Upward as a way to log the journey. Life is growing increasingly chaotic, but all of our changes are for the better. Hence the name. I better kick off the blog by announcing that my wife Meg is 30 weeks pregnant. If I’ve known you for more than five minutes, I’ve probably tried to work this into the conversation in some way. I couldn’t be more excited to become a dad. Nervous, but excited. The pregnancy has gone by incredibly fast. Of course, that’s easy for me to say. The most it means to me is some added cleaning and cooking duties, and the responsibility of being there for moral support. (On a side note, it’s always driven me nuts when a guy announces “we’re pregnant.” She’s carrying your future child around. You’re there for support. It’s that simple.) The month of January is going to be a busy one. In addition to baby-proofing our tiny corner of the world, I’ll be taking infant CPR, childbirth, and daddy boot camp classes. To the best of my knowledge I’ve never changed a diaper. Whenever the baby goes to the bathroom, I’m pretty sure I’m not supposed to hand him back to his mother, saying “He’s yours now.” That’s about the extent of my knowledge at this point. We’ve also got an offer in on a short sale, and should be hearing back from the bank shortly. Needless to say we’re anxious homeowners to be. I’ll be blogging here on a regular basis about whatever subjects cross my mind. I’m looking to turn this blog into a conversation, so feel free to comment. Happy New Year!  ...