Baby Shower at work

Jillian's due date is nearly upon us...

and my office decided to throw us a late notice baby shower. It went really well, but Jillian wasn't able to attend so I had to fly solo. I don't think the ladies who attended were completely satisfied with my lack of "Awww" 's and "That's so cute!". I tried to humor them with what I could, but I know they wanted more. Regardless, they were very generous and we got some great stuff for little McKelroy.

Mardi Gras 2016

Despite living in an area that widely celebrates Mardi Gras each year, Jillian and I had not gone to any parades together. The weather was a little chilly, but we had nothing else to do so we decided to go to one of the night parades in Fairhope.
I guess age changes your Mardi Gras priorities. I had no desire to get adult beverages and rack up on plastic beads and frizbees, cups and coins made in China. Our one focus was free food; specifically moon pies and oatmeal creme pies. With such a limited goal, I was surprised by how successful we were after only two passes of floats.
As the crowds relocated for a third pass, Jillian and I ran off with our loot with the goal of avoiding traffic. Thankfully, we were achieved that goal and got home at a decent hour.

We thought we were one and done for the season but got a call the next day from our friends Gavin and Jessica. They were in town with their kids and were going to another parade in Daphne and wanted to meet up. It turned out to be an even colder night, but a couple free beers helped.
The Daphne parade exceeded my free stu

ff expectations. It helped that we appeared to be set up right beside someone who knew someone (possibly everyone) on one of the floats. That usually results in a waterfall of goods. This instance was no exception. Jillian and I kept the edibles and gave everything else to the kiddos. A very enjoyable night and two great parades back to back.

Toyota Camry Fog Light Replacement

I wouldn't say that, while growing up, I was exposed to a lot of mechanical training from my dad. He was more into wood-work. He made small house furniture and grandfather clocks. Something few people probably know. He hasn't done it for over 20 years.
Anyway, having received no formal mechanical training, I find great personal satisfaction in completing vehicle tasks that most people would find mundane. In college, I changed the engine thermostat on a Jeep Wrangler. I changed the break pads on my Silverado before I sold it. I felt like those were milestones on my journey to master shade-tree mechanic.
This past weekend I dialed back my overwhelming masculinity to simply change a fog light on my Camry. I'd say that I was looking forward to it, but Jillian had to persuade me to stop putting it off. Most of my hesitation came from the fact that I had to put the car on jack stands to even get to the light.
Jack stands in place, I crawled under to take out the plastic under-car shield. A few screws and it was off revealing the rear of the fog light. I took a look at it's housing and became immediately depressed. It looked like it couldn't be taken off from the inside and the bumper would actually have to be removed. Before I started cursing uncontrollably, I took another look to review. Turned out I was wrong. Old light assembly out, new one in. Job done.  What I expected to take half a day turned out to be an hour job. Still, I was pretty proud of it.