Well, hopefully last week marked the last of the snow for winter…
It definitely marked the week in which we watched Pee-wee’s Big Adventure two times within 24 hours.
You confidently expressed to me you liked it better than Big Top Pee-wee, which we watched twice within 24 hours two weeks ago. Even though the scary clown scene technically was inappropriate for you to see in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, only Mommy covered her eyes.
I have to admit, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure is a solid movie. Here’s a little bit of trivia: I was 4 years old when it came out in 1985; the same age you are now.
We also took a quick family drive to Rooster Tails, a cool retro style furniture store we’ve bought from before. You helped us look for a coffee table for our living room and a bookcase for our office.
One of the highlights from this past week was when you decided you wanted to “make milk” for our family to drink over the weekend.
Over the course of two days, you would sit up on the counter with a mixing bowl, bumming spare ingredients off of Mommy and me, so you could add them into your bowl of water.
It’s all a blur, but I remember there being cranberry juice, oregano, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and chia seeds in it; among other random items we had in our kitchen. Just a pinch of each led to a big bowl of chucky, brownish gray water that you were so proud to stir up.
For dinner Sunday night, you decided it was time for all us to try your new concoction.
What you didn’t realize was that Mommy poured some of your chocolate almond milk into your cup instead of what you made, just sprinkling in some cinnamon.
As predicted, you were skeptical to take the first sip. So Mommy and I gladly did. You were curious by how authentically we seemed to be enjoying your “homemade” milk.
You took a baby sip… then a bigger one.
“Mommy! Daddy! That tastes good! It tastes like cinnamon… and chocolate!” you proclaimed.
Last night I noticed my sister had sent me a picture on my phone; a picture of who I naturally assumed was me. I figured she had found a picture of me in college or something and was sending it to me for nostalgic reasons.
That’s when I read the text she sent with the picture:
“I saw this at Walmart and thought it looked like you… if you liked quinoa a little TOO much!”
So I did what any other Millennial guy would do in this same situation: I posted the picture on Facebook and Twitter saying this:
“Anybody seen my latest modelling gig?”
Some instantly assumed it really was me. Others didn’t know. And a few were pretty sure it was a joke. But no one really knew for sure.
Then I created the best replication I could of the original picture to show the similarities; side by side.
I can appreciate the marketing behind Campbell’s Go line-up. I like that they are using black-and-white close-ups of Millennial (Generation Y) models to advertise a simpler, more organic feeling product.
So at this point, while there is still live activity and conversations going on in my social media circles about the similarities between me and the Campbell’s Go: Quinoa With Poblano Chilies guy, I would like to find the actual Campbell’s Go: Quinoa With Poblano Chilies guy and interview him here on Family Friend Daddy Blog.
I have a few quick and relevant questions for him. Obviously, I would like to know some basic stuff like his name and where he’s from.
From there, I’d like to know more about the photo shoot he did for the packaging. I would like to ask him about his ethnic background, comparing it to my own. And I’m curious how old he was when the picture was taken of him; whereas I am 33.
Obviously, I am Tweeting this story to Campbell’s Go and sending the link to them on Facebook. After all, Campbell’s Go is targeted to Millenials, whose culture is embedded in social media conversations.
So I would have to assume someone from their marketing will be eager to reach out to me in a few days. Let’s see if my plan works…
On November 26th, the night before Thanksgiving this year, I was driving home from work. Normally, I would have had you in the car with me, in the back seat.
Fortunately, Mommy got off work early that day and she picked you up instead.
As I drove down that narrow, wooded, farm land stretch from Cool Springs to Nolensville, on Clovercroft Road, I made sure to slow down, going under the speed limit because of all the light rain and heavy fog obstructing my view.
Less than a mile from home, I looked over the left hand side of the road to see what appeared to be a skinny white cow running faster than I’ve ever seen a cow run.
As it made its way down that hill, which was part of a farm, I noticed it was being chased… by a deer.
At that point, I realized that actually, both animals were deer.
The all-white one jumped the 4 foot tall barb wire fence. In a split-second moment, I had a big decision to make:
I chose to remain cruising at the same speed and let the deer run into the side of me.
Officially, I did not hit a deer… a deer hit me!
It reminded me of some generic yet familiar scene from Lost, where some big explosion happens and the character wakes up wondering where they are. (That seemed to happen a lot on Lost!)
Miraculously, by the grace of God, the albino deer didn’t crash through my window. It hit hard against my driver’s side door and tire.
However, the impact didn’t slow down my car or knock my car off the road.
When I looked back behind me, I saw no sign of the deer; nor did the cars behind me have to swerve. The albino deer just completely disappeared.
I was able to drive home, with no injuries.
However, when I got home, I was unable to open the driver’s side door, as the deer’s impact had jammed the tire panel into the door.
And for some reason, the battery was dead the next morning.
I ended up having to have my car towed. Please note to avoid having an insurance claim in between the 2 biggest holidays of the year.
Keep in mind the accident occurred on November 26th. Well, I got my car back from the shop just a couple of days ago, on December 30th; about 5 weeks later.
I have to compliment Service King in Cool Springs, TN; where my car was towed. They did a flawless job of keeping me informed via text messages and phone calls on the status of my vehicle’s condition.
Yes, it took 5 weeks to get my car back after the accident, but in no way was the delay because of Service King. It had to do with the insurance inspection in the midst of the holidays, as well as a surge of claims of deer hitting cars.
My car was towed to facility to a place where they total cars; only to eventually learn that, thank God, my car wasn’t totaled.
So after a couple of weeks of that, it was finally taken to Service King, where it was repaired.
Just to be clear, though, it was nothing short of a miracle that my car wasn’t totaled. The state of Tennessee requires insurance companies to total vehicles if the damage is equal to 70% or more of the vehicle’s value.
Looks like I was only safe by a couple hundred dollars.
One good thing that came out of all this is I got to review 4 cars during the past month. For example, here are the stories that came out of the Lexus LX 570:
In closing, please remember my words of wisdom: Never slow down, stop, or swerve to avoid hitting an animal.
Had I done any of those things, the accident would have been billed as my fault. I would have had a $500 deductible, plus my premium would have went up.
But because I chose to let the deer hit me, I remained safe on the road, and my deductible was only $100; not to mention my premium will not increase.
Here in the state of Tennessee, you seriously have to watch out for those albino deer…
Fortunately, your Uncle Andrew and Aunt Dana bought me a deer warner for Christmas.
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.
There is no way around it. By now, you’ve just accepted it as normal that every daddy in the entire world apparently carries around a camera with him wherever he goes, knowing that any potential event will serve as another quirky story for his website.
Of course, while these letters are available for the free world to read, in real time, my main reason for writing them is to do the best job I can of chronicling your life; as I’ve been doing at least weekly since April 2010, when Mommy and I went public with her being pregnant with you.
It’s my way of helping you travel back in time, as I’m sure you’ll be a nostalgic person like I’ve always been.
With that being said, I made sure to capture some good family Christmas memories for you, like when your new Ninja Turtle decided to hang out at (your cousin Calla’s) Barbie’s beach house.
Seriously, what boy hasn’t played with his sister’s or girl cousin’s toys in a masculine way?
Granted, as a joke, Leonardo came disguised in a pink princess box:
There’s also the excitement of knowing that in our new house, which we close on exactly a month from today, you now have some gear to help us have cool camp-outs in our back yard:
Uncle “Owl” (Al) and Sharon got you a huge Noah’s Ark tent and Spiderman walkie talkies! Not to mention a Bumblebee remote control car to drive around in our cul-de-sac.
You and also had fun after breakfast when we used rolls of wrapping paper as ninja swords. Not the safest idea on my part, but as usual, you managed not to get hurt or break anything in the house.
And then there’s the fun you had in playing with the laundry chute: Mommy stayed upstairs in the bathroom while you threw stuffed animals down to the laundry room, trying to hit Nonna in the face.
Just another classic Christmas memory, which I will assume is relatively exclusive to our family.
That’s the thing. I know we’re not the only family who did weird and funny stuff on Christmas day. It’s just a matter of questioning what weird and random (yet fun) things their family did during Christmas break.
A lot of what makes Christmas such a warm and sentimental holiday is knowing that you get to just be yourself with people who know you way too well.
Therefore, new quirky memories are made and traditions are born.
Like this: How many children in America got to burst open a giant paper Mache egg, carefully created and crafted by their aunt and uncle, to find more Christmas goodies inside?
I’m sure there were some others, but by no means was that normal.
Granted, some of the gifts given and received were full of character as well…
Mommy and I got you the Jack character from Thomas & Friends, who I believe actually pays a resemblance to you.
There was also the “pinball machine” you asked for, which was delivered in the form of a much smaller version…
By the way, this was the first Christmas you were able to spot which gifts your specifically yours, now that can you can read your own name and recognize it on the tags.
Meanwhile, I received a can of “vegan Pringles,” some new pairs of funky socks, deer warnings (because my personal vehicle got hit by an albino deer), a new carabineer for my keys (the last one which I’ve owned for 9 years had a busted compass and didn’t quite mesh well with the keys to the $90,000 Lexus LX we have been reviewing this week), and a much needed new wallet. I immediately gave you my old one, which you instantly began “Play-Dohing” during breakfast.
Yes, our Christmas morning was quite unique, but the quirkiness didn’t end there. I’ve still got more letters to write about the rest of our Christmas vacation…
Family Friendly Daddy Blog 