Library Project - Dolphin Vs. Shark Trophy

So during Summer Reading, we children's librarians come up with various activities to keep the kids busy. One of said activities this summer was an on going trivia contest called

Dolphin VS. Shark - Who Will Win?

This was a fun activity, and I had a pretty good time coming up with all of the Shark questions. At the end of the summer, the plan was to give the kid who had the most correct answers a bag of prizes. Pretty cool. But, lucky for this winner-to-be, I happened to at that time be obsessed with old trophies. For example:

I got this awesome vintage trophy at the local Unique Thrift. I think it cost me 1.99. I had this on our built-ins for a while, but then my significant other noticed it and was like "Heeeeell No." Then it ended up in my workshop, where I decided to take it apart. It stayed like that, because, well, its a workshop.

So anyways, when we were talking about the prize for the trivia winner, I said offhandedly that I would make them a trophy. I don't think I was taken seriously at first, but I said it enough in the coming weeks that by the end of the summer, I was in a position which required me to produce a trophy. This is what I ended up making:

Basically, I collect a couple more old trophies, and disassembled them. Then, I bought two plastic figurines - one shark and one dolphin - and spray painted them gold. I screwed the two maritime invertebrates to the trophy apparatus, and viola, the coolest sea life related trophy this kid will ever win. Well, unless he ends up being a trainer at Sea World.

Ohio - The Saga Begins, or, By Hell or High Water!

We're back. I know that Mr. and Mrs. Casserole have neglected this blog, and its to you, Faithful Reader, that we apologize. You've waited with baited breath; you've tossed and turned with anticipation; you've checked back again and again only to be disappointed upon seeing that stupid libaby picture blog. Well, the wait is over baby. We're back.

Many of you know that the last two months have been ... "a learning experience." First, Mr. Casserole moved approximately 2/3 of our belongings out to Cleveland OH, via a quick stop in Greenville NY. It took a 24 foot moving truck and approximately 11 hours to get this done.

Highlights of this road trip were:

• Seeing a bald eagle
• Almost hitting a fox
• Not getting lost!

Upon reaching Cleveland, we found our house to be ... extremely water damaged. Apparently, the valve with manually feeds water to our boiler was left on sometime in the winter, and as the temperatures got warmer, the radiators stopped boiling the water off. This resulted in water spewing out of all the radiators throughout the house. Plaster ceilings and walls fell down, wood floors buckled, and even the front door was damaged. So Mr. Casserole arrived to find the house in slight disarray. Hell, it felt like a disaster.

Construction started on the house a week later. This was early April. The next month or so were interesting. It was awkward to live in the house while contractors - who aren't directly working for me, but need to keep me happy - are working. But things were getting done quickly, and more importantly, as far as I could tell, getting done right. I hope!

By the end of May things were things were more or less finished! I was able finally move into the whole house! Up until this point, I had been living on the third floor. Most of the stuff moved out here was still in boxes out in the garage! So being about to finally unpack boxes, put things on actual non-damaged shelves, was kind of a big deal. I could finally watch netflix in the living room, just like a real home owner!

Lots has been happening the last couple of months. This mini post doesn't really go into any detail. I tried to write with more detail, but each time it just ended up feeling like a long gripe session. So I've tried to air on the side of brevity. Next time, I will post something a little more interesting...

Well. This has fulfilled my year's quota for blog posts. See you all next year!