Kicking Myself. Not the Tires.

When the catalytic converter fell off, I debated whether or not to give up on the Honda. Tunex told me I had a head gasket leak and it would cost over $1600 to fix. But with Tory Mesmer's help, we checked for coolant or anything else in the oil and found none. And even after added dye to the coolant I couldn't see any evidence it was leaking outside either. And, just in case, I put in some head gasket sealant. 

I then spent a couple hundred bucks replacing the ignition coils and spark plugs, and replaced the thermostat, the temperature sensor and the temperature switch (I did all these myself to save money.) I still overheated later, but then found I needed to "burp" the radiator and was low on oil. It was then working fine. I felt like I had licked the problem and could get at least another year out of the car. The catalytic converter is a very pricey thing, but I thought $900 would now be well spent.

Oops.

Never Enough Musicals

Miriam wanted to do another musical with Jaks Theater, and landed one of the lead roles as Ariel in The Little Mermaid. Congrats!

I don't know if it is a desire to be the biggest fish in a little pond, or if she really dislikes the high school drama director so much she won't try, but she was willing to pay a few hundred to join the show. She also quit her job at Chick-fil-a. And I am now required to buy x-number of seats and support yet another show with my time and money. (Maybe one day I will have a child in show that is expected to be good enough to make money the old fashioned way: by earning it.) I'm not sure how to do it, but I guess I will be helping to build two sets this year, among other things. I only have so many biceps to tear.

Miriam also did a solo Monday night. Here is Miriam singing "Never Enough" at the high school concert. 

Bee YU!

While watching the game, a pretty cheerleader showed up:

The Past Is a Blast

While looking for pictures of Joshua, I saw this photo of Lucy from 10 years ago. It reminded me so much of Esther I did a double-take. So, I thought I'd share!

I love you, sweet Lucy!

An Atheist, a Vegan and a Crossfitter Walk into a Bar

I only know this because they told everyone in the first two minutes.

You're welcome!

This is the email I started days ago. I have been terribly at sending updates, pictures, etc. I will attempt to report by responding to your questions. (I know these are your questions.)

Q. Have you come up with any good names for rock bands lately?

A. Probably hundreds. Here are three pretty good ones that came to mind recently:

1. Misophony (well, if we are really bad or if Miriam can't stand us)
2. The Thickening Plots
3. Probably Hundreds

Q. Have you had any groan-worthy dad jokes or puns lately?

Excitement

This is our excitement tonight:

The street shown above is the one just to our East, toward Altice's. In fact, the emergency vehicle at the bottom of the at the end of the photo is in front of the Altice's. As it says in the article: