Looking for Mr. Sandman at a sleep disorders lab

Looking for Mr. Sandman at a sleep disorders lab

My friends who’ve gone through a sleep study guaranteed I’d have a poor night’s sleep. So what’s new? For the past couple of years my sleep has been fragmented. I get up constantly to go to bathroom. I toss and turn. I snore. I rarely sleep through the night and often...
Checkbook diplomacy in middle age

Checkbook diplomacy in middle age

Who controls the finances and pays the bills in your marriage? My wife, Laura, has been the one handling the bills as long as I can remember. Frankly, she’s better at it than me and doesn’t mind. For years, we have both worked full-time. Finances were never a problem...
Thoughts on the second anniversary of my dad’s death

Thoughts on the second anniversary of my dad’s death

Yesterday was the second anniversary of my dad’s death I still get choked up time to time when something comes along that reminds me of him. I have a stack of documents right now sitting in my dining room that my stepmother gave me this past summer that includes...
How I happened to get a vasectomy

How I happened to get a vasectomy

It was my wife who suggested I get a vasectomy.  I was 43 at the time and we already had two kids:  a daughter and a son.Laura had been using various forms of birth control for years and she was tired of it. I suggested that maybe she should just have her tubes tied....
My wife’s late-night reading bugs me

My wife’s late-night reading bugs me

We’ve argued about it for years in bed.It’s my wife’s long-standing practice of having to read 30-45 minutes nearly every night before falling asleep. I read as well, but not as consistently as my wife. On top of that, our schedules are staggered and I like to go to...