Busy Lives |
 See more pictures here. |
Lately life is really busy. We have done so much and I haven't blogged about it at all! This morning is typical. The team at LeadsPedia all ran in a Mud Run in Franklin. Obstacle courses are fun, but doing them with co-workers can lead one to over do it for the sake of machismo. I was running alongside Karl for part of the race when we got to pile of rocks to carry. We had been making pretty good time so far, so small rocks were still available. We picked up two of the smallest rocks and looked at eachother. Then I put it down and grabbed the biggest rock I saw. Karl also traded up. Then I proceeded to do the next loop of the course with a giant rock on my shoulder. I felt awesome! My endorphins were flowing! A little later in the course came the cargo net climb around 10-15 ft in the air. My arms were apparently not up to it. They were done. And now, a few hours later, my back is very angry at me. It has been bothering me off and on since the move in July and, from this perspective, carrying that giant rock was really stupid. Not sure I would have done it any other way though, because the race was super fun overall. |
| Zara's first soccer game started around the same time I finished, so I missed the first half. Maxwell was there though to give me a play by play recap. They had fallen behind 0-3 by halftime. Those girls turned it around in the second half though and ended up winning it 5-4! Zara prefers playing defense, but she's not so bad on offense either. Zara played hard in 85 degree heat, and we went out to McDonald's afterward to celebrate. |
| Maxwell, on the other hand, is doing cross country. He has practice every day which is pretty gruelling but he enjoys it. He's had a couple meets so far. His middle school's team is HUGE. There's like a hundred of them and they dwarf other teams at these meets. Last weekend I took the kids on a 10+ mile bike ride (I was accompanying on roller blades). That was Monday and Maxwell had a cross country meet Wednesday. The poor guy, his legs were sore! It's also been really great that LeadsPedia let me shift my schedule to an earlier one because I've got to pick the dude up every day from practice or take him to a meet. And then there's the days Zara has soccer practice later in the evenings. Because my work is so much closer to home I have become the shuttlebus! |
| ...which brings me to my new old car. A couple weeks ago we picked up a super cheap old car so I'd have something to do all this ferrying in. Of course, when you buy a super cheap car, you get an old car with high mileage to try and squeeze a little more life out of. Cara thinks I'm a bit of a nutter, but it just doesn't make sense to me to throw tens of thousands of dollars into a vehicle. Although I have no complaints about the Honda Odyssey, this time we were going to do things on the cheap. So we picked up a 96 Nissan Maxima with 221K miles. Perfect little car for daily trips under 10 miles, right? Caveat emptor. Picking up Maxwell from practice Thursday the right front tire became detached from the steering column. One shiny new rack and pinion later and it's back on the road. Total cost is still less than 10% of the cost of the Odyssey though, so I don't feel too too bad about it. Now if a half dozen other things go wrong with it in the next few months I'll have to alter that opinion, but I've got my fingers crossed. |
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As an added bonus Thursday the washing machine also started smoking. Rain is currently washing my muddy clothes from this
morning on el patio. I usually do the laundry on weekends, but it looks like I'm getting out of it this one!
With Alora having gone back up to Mary Baldwin last weekend all the kids are back in school. This year is extra crazy because we have 4 kids in 4 different schools! At least Brittan is at the same school as Cara since she transferred to Vanderbilt. To cope with being separated at different schools for the first time in their lives Alora and Brittan have started a new YouTube channel where they vlog at eachother Vlog Brothers style. We are also very happy with the move to Brentwood schools for Maxwell and Zara. Maxwell especially has blossomed with all the new opportunities. Right now he has a friend from band over who brought his trumpet to play along with Maxwell's saxophone. Yes, he's following a family tradition there as well. In a couple more weeks the whole family will be in school as I've decided to take a GA Tech Coursera online course in Computational Investing. |
And I can't resist sharing this weird bug I found on the driveway:
