A week from today will be your last day at your preschool, with the big move into our new house being next weekend.
At night during dinner, all this week, you’ve been working on a special Lego plane. You instructed me to build something too, so I did.
Well, this morning you asked me to find a bag to put your plane in: The time had finally come to reveal your new creation to your friends and teachers at school.
So I found a Kroger bag and placed your plane inside it; keeping it up front with me in the car for the drive.
Once we arrived in your class room, you whispered to me, “Daddy, the plane.”
So I pulled the plane out and handed it to you.
Immediately, your friends ran over, crowding around you. They were sincerely and thoroughly impressed with your work.
“Wow, Jack! Is that Michelangelo in there driving it?” your friend Joshua asked.
I struggled to snap a few pictures of the event today, as it was truly a challenge for me to get a shot of you holding the plane without one of your friends blocking my view.
In the midst of all the I wanna see!’s from your friends, I realized that most them are a year older than you. They are 5; you are 4.
Witnessing this today made me sort of feel like the dad of Doogie Howser or something.
Even now, I’m thinking, “Man, my son diligently worked on a Lego plane that impressed his older friends. He must be a Lego prodigy… That’s pretty cool!”
Ultimately, this is one of those “dad moments” for me. I am proud of you, Son.
With Mommy and I both being able to take the day after Christmas off (Friday, December 26th), we were able to extend our official Christmas break to basically a 5 day holiday.
That meant that the fun wasn’t over just because Christmas day had passed. The morning started off with you trying on some on gag glasses that happened to stashed with some of my old toys there at Nonna and Papa’s house.
You then put them on Pandy and made him the teacher of the class…
Mommy and I decided to take you and Nana in the Lexus LX on a one hour drive through the mountains to a place called Flintstone, Georgia; where my own grandparents live, just a few miles from the Chattanooga, Tennessee city limit.
We filled up the built-in cooler with Larabars and water for snacks; and I made sure we had some DVDs for you to watch on the way there.
Of course we adults had plenty of beautiful mountain scenery to enjoy, as you sang to us…
We rarely end up visiting that side of the family during the holidays, so once we got there, I saw cousins I haven’t seen since before you were born.
To break the ice with them, and to help make you feel more relaxed, I took turns sneaking up to each one of my male cousins and pretending to punch them in the stomach; in the over-the-top style of the Power Rangers, or Marvel Universe Live that we recently saw.
“Punch the one with the white beard, Daddy!” you instructed me after you saw one of my uncles sitting on the couch.
Realizing that we had moved on from pretending to punch my male cousins to now my uncles, I “started a fight” with my Uncle Johnny (Papa’s older brother); who I would probably have to say other than your Papa, is most responsible for essentially teaching me to roughhouse at family get-togethers.
Once I “punched him” and told him that you told me to do it, he started motioning to you from across the room to “come here.”
He grabbed you by the foot and pulled you across the rug as you laughed hysterically.
Shortly after, my aunt Rosa (Papa’s youngest sister) asked you to let her take Pandy home and once you refused, she started swatting you with a roll of wrapping paper; like the way you and I played just the day before.
Horseplay really is the best way for a little boy to get to know his extended family, if you ask me.
Afterwards, I took you outside on the deck for some fresh air.
Then it was time was receive your gift from my grandmother, which couldn’t been any more appropriate for you:
A Captain America racecar and his nemesis Red Skull’s vehicle as well. You were so proud!
Before we left for a late lunch at Whole Foods, just 8 miles away, one of my cousins helped me load up Papa’s gift, a 3 ton jack, into the Lexus LX.
Once we got home, Papa showed you how the jack worked, in his shop.
And Mommy and I even ventured out and bought our new house’s washer and dryer at Gary’s in my hometown of Fort Payne, AL.
So yeah, the fun didn’t end just because Christmas day was over!
Over Christmas vacation last week (Saturday, December 27th, to be exact) my brother-in-law and I went geocaching, for the first time ever. If you’re wondering why we were driving around in a very impressive 2014 Lexus LX, it’s because I review cars here on Family Friendly Daddy Blog, as you see on the tab on the upper left hand side of the screen.
I had never even heard of geocaching before, so my brother-in-law sent me this video to help me understand it:
Basically, it’s using an app on a phone to discover “hidden treasures” by other geocachers. These hidden treasures typically just consist of trinkets or paper log-ins; just to prove you were there. Once you discover the “cache,” you are able to see who else has been there and how long ago. It’s sort of like an ongoing scavenger hunt.
For example, for the 2 caches we actually discovered, we left dog tags with our names and the date written on it in permanent marker.
It’s just a fun, innocent, legal, grass roots, ongoing pick-up game for people like me and my brother-in-law. We just like to get out and explore new territory.
Just to be clear, one of the requirements for a registered geocache spot is that the area has to be approved by whoever owns the land or in a public area.
All across America, there are these registered spots. Even in my small hometown of Fort Payne, Alabama, they are all over the place; and I don’t mean miles apart either. They are pretty close to one another.
One of the spots we decided to try out was at the bottom of Beason’s Gap, created a while back by a man named David Bait.
While dozens of other geocachers had already discovered it, we were unable to actually find the official cache there.
However, I thought I did, at first. As I ventured down the bluff just a little bit, I yelled out to my brother-in-law, “Hey! I think I found it! Come check this out!”
It was a clear, plastic sealed bag. But all that was in it was make-up, including Burt’s Bees chap stick.
However, there was no clue on the app to acknowledging this was the intended find; especially with the make-up bag being left out in the leaves.
Next to the make-up bag was a pair of newer sunglasses, in the case.
And next to it, was the big one: A purse with all official IDs and money removed; the exception being a folded up one dollar bill and an enrollment form for the Spring 2015 semester at Northeast Alabama Community College for a student named Sydney Noelle Pittman.
There was a heart drawn on the next line down, next to the name Cash; so I assume she might be romantically linked to someone with that last name.
I also found inside the purse a key for a Nissan vehicle with the name Gentry written on the tag; as if the vehicle had recently been in the shop.
However, I don’t understand why Gentry would be the name on tag if the girl’s name is Sydney Noelle Pittman.
As you can see in some of these pictures, there were long black hairs attached to some of the findings; which I assume is Sydney’s.
My theory is that at some point in not-so-distant history, Sydney Noelle Pittman had her purse snatched (maybe it was lifted after she sat it down on a counter or table at a restaurant) and the thief removed her credit card, cash, and IDs, then stopped at the pull-off at the end of Beason’s Gap to throw the purse off the bluff.
What that thief didn’t realize is that he or she was disposing of the evidence literally right on top of a geocache hiding spot; not the low-traffic random spot it would appear to non-geocachers.
Then, very innocently, a few days later my brother-in-law and I happened upon it; thinking it was the official cache. Only in hindsight did I really consider that unlike the other abandoned items I saw there on the bluff, Sydney’s belongings were apparently recent and possibly part of a crime scene.
That’s why I waited a few days to report it to the police. I am definitely new to this whole discovering an apparent crime scene thing.
I’m featuring this incident here on my blog because I want to help this girl at least get some closure with what happened.
Most of all, I hope she is alive and well. I already Googled her name, and found nothing, which I suppose is a good sign. After all, I’ve seen enough crime shows to know to look for a body, blood, or at least signs of a struggle; none of which were obviously present.
So in closing, 2 random guys (my brother-in-law and me) happened to be geocaching on Christmas vacation and became the 1st to discover a mysterious purse, which happened to be right where the coordinates pointed us.
I can’t know for sure it was stolen. For all I know she threw it off herself, after removing her money and ID, but that makes no sense to me.
Either way, I reported the mysterious purse to the local police, and within 15 minutes of my call, they had located it and picked it up, thanks to my very specific directions.
I also let the local police know not to be too surprised if they get more call-ins on this spot; since it is a registered geocache spot. I wouldn’t be surprised if more unknowing criminals think they are being clever by tossing their evidence off the bluff; which to guys like me, is instead a geocache site.
Granted, we had a lot of fun aside from potentially help solving a crime, as these other pictures demonstrate.
But the mysterious purse part of the story definitely gives this whole thing an edge. The next time we go geocaching, I’ll be ready for more adventure than what shows up on the phone app.
This year for Christmas, it worked out for our family to spend about 5 days at my parents’ house in Fort Payne, Alabama.
So last Tuesday after I got off work, and after you and Mommy had visited both Primrose and Rainbow daycare facilities as we decide which one to transfer you to once we move into our new house in a month (our closing date is exactly a month from today), we loaded up the 2014 Lexus LX 570 and made our way across the Tennessee state line.
After we settled in that night (December 23rd), I noticed something:
The Christmas tree’s ornaments serve as a 1980s time capsule.
Those ornaments mainly consist of decorations collected during my childhood.
There are crocheted ornaments clearly displaying the year “1987” on them. There is also an array of ornaments I made in school and church, from 1987 to 1991.
In fact, the one from 1987, where I am sitting on (a very lousy looking) Santa, features me wearing a McDonald’s sweat suit.
The irony is very present; never knowing back then that I would eventually become a vegan, nor would I have been able really understand what that word even meant back then.
I also noticed a 25 year-old egg shell ornament. Back in 3rd grade, for Christmas 1989, I had made an ornament in Mrs. Lawrence’s class, where we all brought in an egg, poked it with a needle to drain it, then covered it in sparkles, a sticker, and some glue.
Somewhat miraculously, than 25 year-old egg has never cracked or shattered!
I also laughed when I saw the Star of David made out of tongue depressors. It helps explain why I always sort of assumed we were Jewish.
And don’t forget the bubble lights! It’s amazing those things still work…
The next morning on Christmas Eve (December 24th), your cousin Calla came over and the two of you both got to open one present early.
She got a Play-Doh factory and you got a really cool Lego set that was a tree house; which contained a Lego treasure map and a pizza!
It’s a bit of a blur, but at some point while your Uncle Andrew helped you build the new Lego set, I ended up wearing the top part of a broken sombrero that I think my Great-aunt Jennie had bought for me as a souvenir while visiting Mexico, where her parents were born.
You were pleasantly surprised when you discovered a Brother Bear figurine of the Berentstain Bears (from a McDonald’s Happy Meal); being that you had just watched on the DVD on the drive there in the car, on the Lexus LX’s built-in system.
So I guess it’s safe to say in addition to the Christmas tree’s ornaments serving as a 1980’s time capsule, my overflowing collection of McDonald’s Happy Meal toys helped add to that undeniable sense of nostalgia at your Nonna and Papa’s house.
Just check out that ice cream cone that transforms into a robot!
Even though Christmas shopping for my son was pretty much complete a couple of months ago, he recently became fascinated by the concept of owning a pinball machine.
So in an order to help Santa out, I checked out Target. I’d already found a cheap, tiny made-in-China type of thing at a party store earlier that day; the kind you’d find in the bottom of a box of Rice Krispies.
But it was at Target that I found the perfect pinball machine for him:
A Ninja Turtles pinball machine, on sale for about $22 (from $25); which is more money than my wife and I agreed to spend to help Santa out on this.
My wife and I are strict Dave Ramsey followers. Therefore, every dollar is specifically accounted for. But in addition to our shared income budget, she and I also each have an annual stipend consisting of birthday and Christmas money from family to last us all year.
I texted my wife: “I am tempted just to spend my own money to buy this for him!”
It was the perfect opportunity for an impulse buy. He would be so happy and so surprised on Christmas morning to unwrap that!
But I thought about the gifts we had already bought him, and considered the other mysterious gifts he’ll get from others, and decided against buying the pinball machine.
If he really is disappointed with the “cereal prize pinball machine” he’s getting, he can spend his own money on the Ninja Turtle one at Target; though he probably won’t. He’ll probably spend it on Legos instead.
So I did it: I resisted the urge to make an impulse purchase. I’m almost surprised at myself.
I will close with an infographic that explains the psychology behind an impulse buy:
Family Friendly Daddy Blog 