This morning, at the Reindeer Run 5K, there was a Santa walking around taking pictures. The Santa was actually my Sunday School teacher from when I was in the 7th grade!
Of course, I couldn’t say anything in front of the kids. But, when he finally realized it, he said “Oh, that’s you Jonathan!” and then asked about my sister, stepfather, etc. Let’s just say my kids were EXTREMELY impressed that Santa knows their dad!
And, since he knew me, he showed my kids lots of attention.
I ran a good race, too. Only about a minute off of my PR on a VERY challenging course!
It was the school nurse. Apparently on the way to her class, Mackenzie got her finger slammed in the door. OK, I thought. Just put some ice on it. Nope. They wanted someone to come and take her to the urgent care center. I couldn’t reach my wife, so off I went.
After lots of waiting and paperwork, we finally went back. Let me just say that urgent care doctors are worthless. They are usually at the bottom of their profession, like public defenders are at the bottom of the legal profession or how the Geek Squad is at the bottom of the IT profession. Mackenzie had some x-rays and the doctor told us all was well and just to put ice on it. What a relief!
By that time, she had missed her normal lunch period at school so I took her out for a happy meal and some ice cream. For some reason, chemically enhanced food and high fructose corn syrup tends to make children happy. We were nearly back at the school (and 30 minutes from the urgent care center) when the doctor called and told us that the radiologist had just looked at her scans and to return immediately. I’m not sure why the radiologist would read scans of discharged patients, unless it is simply a way to bill us for more services.
When we returned, a nurse put a temporary splint on Mackenzie’s finger and informed us that we had an appointment the next morning with an orthopaedic hand specialist due to a crack in the bone.
This morning, we saw the doctor and were told that because of her age, she should get a cast. She was a little nervous, so I showed her a picture of her friend Savannah who recently got a cast and that eased her nervousness a bit. She was completely fine when she found out that she would be able to choose a color and she even started acting silly.
After deciding on pink, and then pink and purple, she finally went with a Christmas cast. It’s the most expensive Christmas decoration we’ve ever bought.
She will get it off a few days before Christmas, followed by more x-rays. Then we will go from there.
I have no problem telling people that we are frugly (pronounced FRUG-LEE). That stands for frugal-ugly. We would rather look plain and have a few extra dollars and more free time than visit fancy salons and spas and wear clothes that cost more than we make in a week.
We didn’t even own an iron until a couple of years ago when I needed to make t-shirts (and honestly compels me to disclaim that we haven’t used it since).
A hair dryer? We don’t own one. My wife doesn’t have a hairdresser. She doesn’t even know any. The only time she gets haircuts are when they are free because she gets enough cut off for locks-of-love.
To us, appearance just isn’t the most important thing. Yet, apparently during a moment of weakness, we decided to enter Mackenzie into Macon’s Little Miss Cherry Blossom Pageant.
The pageant isn’t your average Toddlers-and-Tiaras-type pageant. Only “Sunday” dresses are allowed. The kids are suppose to look like kids, not miniature adults. No excessive make-up, hair-dos, etc. Sounds like the perfect pageant for a frugly family like mine!
So first, we had to find a pink dress — in November. If you walk into any store, you quickly realize that red and magenta are the colors of the season. Finding anything pink was a huge challenge. By the way, I got the $60 dress for less than $20. Score 1 for the fruglies!
Next, it was time for shoes. We wanted white dress shoes, but again, those are impossible to find outside of the Easter season. After visiting at least 25 stores, we finally found a pair (and at a reasonable price). Score 2 for the fruglies!
Now, what to do about the hair? Mackenzie is cute in braids, pigtails, or pretty much any other quick hair style, but this warranted something special. We found a curling iron for $5.00 (Score 3 for the fruglies!). After pleading for help on Facebook, and nearly choking from laughing so hard when a Facebook friend suggested that we call my wife’s (non-existent) hairdresser, Kimberlie’s co-worker and friend volunteered to help with the task. This same person also trades Saturday shifts with Kimberlie and made a few wonderful pink bows for us.
Finally, there were logistical matters. We had a 5K scheduled in Milledgeville (and hour away) just 4 hours before we had to be at the theater. (It’s the end of the year and we are chasing points.) That gave us (all four of us) less than an hour at the house to shower, change, eat lunch, and prep my little princess. But, somehow, we pulled it off.
Mackenzie didn’t win the title, but we weren’t “in it to win it”. She did a wonderful job, however.
I think it all turned out pretty well. What do you think?
We spent this past weekend in Chattanooga, Tennessee. On Friday, we visited Lookout Mountain and rode the Incline Railway and visited Rock City and Ruby Falls.
On Saturday morning, I ran the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. Actually, I ran the first half and survived the other half. (I really need to stop skipping my distance runs!)
That evening, we explored downtown Chattanooga and ate at Cheeburger Cheeburger, which was awesome. The kids enjoyed Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, even though it was about 40 degrees outside.
On Sunday, we took Tristan to the Tennessee Aquarium to celebrate his 8th birthday. I can’t believe I have an 8 year old!
Chattanooga is a wonderful city. Although I’ve driven through there a few times, I had never really stopped for a visit. Priceline gave us an awesome deal on a nearly 100 year old historic hotel called the Reed House. Several presidents as well as Al Capone stayed there in the past. And, as icing on the cake, it had an indoor pool, which gave the kids something to do while I recovered from the marathon.
I hope we can go back and spend more time in Chattanooga in the future. Until then, enjoy the pictures:
I’m such a sorry blogger. I take hundreds of photos and tons of video and I rarely get them off of the camera. It was so much different when the kids were younger. I guess I need some motivation.
The weather was perfect again this weekend! Last weekend, we let Tristan spend the night in his playhouse outside. This weekend, we saw The Lion King in 3D, and then spent lots of time outside — running, playing soccer, visiting the local park, etc. Here are a few photos:
We try to get to Turner Field about once a year to see the Braves play. Just like last year, we went on an August Sunday again. On Sunday, kids get to go down on the field and run the bases after the game. Enjoy the photos and video below:
A little over a year ago, when I still worked for Mercer Law School, a student worker was cleaning out a faculty member’s storage closet. They stumbled across a vintage Macintosh Performa 200 (by vintage, I mean 1992). Thinking it belonged to the technology department, they brought it to us for disposal. I decided to keep it to see if it would work. It didn’t, but it was too cute to trash. I remembered seeing photos and stories on Instructables.com about people turning old computers into working aquariums and I knew that this would be my next project. I promptly took it home.
After some online research, I stumbled upon a great set of instructions by Andy Ihnatko. Like cleaning the insides out of a pumpkin, dismantling the computer required special tools and certain protruding portions of the case had to be removed as well. Between a Dremel and a hacksaw, I finally removed the portions of the computer necessary to build the aquarium. (My apologies for using “Mercer Law” and “hacksaw” in the same blog post.)
The mac, still covered in Splenda
Gutting the mac
Out with the unneeded
Pretty chinese art from 1992
The garbage pile growing
Sawing off the protrusions
After getting the case like I wanted it, I cleaned the outside thoroughly. When the computer was found in the closet, it was covered in spilled Splenda. I also used black spray paint to give the insides a nice, new look. Some vintage macs have Steve Job’s signature engraved in the inside. This one, however, did not.
Next, I needed glass to build the actual tank. I went to Lowe’s and learned they only carry 1/8 inch glass, which wouldn’t support water. Home Depot had the same. Specialty glass shops online wanted big bucks to cut the glass. At this point, I lost motivation and put the case in the attic for over a year.
At my new job, I desperately needed some sort of decoration, etc. to personalize my office. Perhaps a conversation piece? One day while riding down Riverside, I discovered a glass shop about 3 blocks from the office. I printed out the dimensions I needed and took it in to see if they could do it. Not only could they do it, but it was only about $9.00. Score!
I came home and assembled the pieces using regular silicone and leak-proofed it with aquarium-safe silicone (which was difficult to find). I also constructed a wooden base to position the glass box on (and keep the electrical, etc. underneath).
Constructing the glass from instructions on the macbook
The glass assembly - waiting on silicone to set
Next, it was time to design the look of the aquarium. My friend/former boss Chris had an aquarium in his office at Mercer for several years and over that time I did a few different shots of the law school as the background for it. That background got rave reviews. Since I work in a beautiful building now, I thought that might be a good plan. I also love bubble bars and Mackenzie picked out some neon-colored gravel, which I bought against my better judgement.
I also needed a light to illuminate the tank, for visibility and to make the fish think its daylight inside. I wanted to go LED even though the price was a little steeper. I found a great LED light that can even be submerged if I ever decide to put it under the water line for about $20.00 on eBay.
Because changing the water would be difficult, I also needed a filter. I found an under-gravel filter online (powered by the same air pump that will generate the bubbles) that is supposedly perfect for small tanks. Since I plan to start with cheap goldfish, a heater/thermometer isn’t necessary. Of course, I can always add one later and go with a better filter.
Upside down case, mounting light into position
Aquarium safe silicone, found at Ace for 3x the price
Under-gravel filter, perfect for small tanks
Here’s the complete list of supplies:
Glass: 10.26 (also bought a second set, just in case — if you want it, let me know)
Silicone: 3.77
Aquarium-safe silicone: 7.41
Wood for the base (select pine): 6.84
LED light from eBay: 20.73
Under-gravel filter: 10.72 (shipping was more than the actual item)
Air pump, tubing, valve, gravel: 17.42
Fish catcher, food, and vacation feeders: 6.89
Distilled water: 1.21
Fish: 54 cents
Total cost: $85.79 (yikes!)
I went a bit over my $50.00 budget, but shipping killed me on a few items (filter, light) and I spent more to get better stuff on others (light, wood). You can purchase a similar sized aquarium kit at a local pet store for $25 or so, but it wouldn’t be nearly as cool.
I also bought a small table to sit it on for $8.00 at IKEA so that any leaks wouldn’t damage my office furniture, but I ended up not using it because it was too small.
I initially set the tank up on Friday to give the water a few days to circulate, I ran into a few problems. The air pump caused a loud vibration noise that was not conducive to a work environment. I also had issues with the gang valve leaking and ruining my background print. Currently, I have removed the bubble stone and I moved the pump to outside of the computer case. I set the filter up to run continuously, but put the LED light on a timer so that it simulates daylight for the fishies.
Today (Sunday), we added two goldfish from PetSmart: a regular orange one and a white one with an orange spot. Let’s hope they are still alive tomorrow when I get to work!
Finished product
Close up
Macquarium
The photos above as well as the video below were taken with my iPhone. I forgot to take a camera! I’ll try to post more shots soon.
Hopefully I don’t get fired for having this at work. Nobody knows about it so far. Remember my motto: It’s better to ask forgiveness than permission!
This year I only have to do one post for the first day of school because BOTH of my kids are in elementary school! I still can’t believe that my “baby” is in kindergarten and I have a second grader!
