Way, way back on Christmas day, owing to the fact that Mary is not currently employed and thus not making any real money (for things like Christmas presents), she gave her mother and I a nifty little Coupon Book, full of coupons for things like Giving You A Compliment When You Don't Deserve It, Doing Some Housework When I Don't Feel Like It, Listening To Your Blather About The Good Old Days, and Putting Up With Your Bad Puns. Or something like that. One coupon of each category for each of her parents.
Cheryl used one up a few weeks ago -- something about Doing An Activity With You Without Yawning Too Much -- so I figured it was my turn.
Mine was eminently more practical than shopping or going on a walk or watching a television show.
Mine was Going On A Trip To A Robotics Competition! Yay!! Total fun!!
See, our Robotics Team had a competition down at Gull Lake, which is only half an hour away (by car), and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to let Mary do a bit of driving, and possibly get addicted to Robotics.
(No one in the house has the least interest in any of my hobbies. Yet.)
So bright and early on Saturday morning, we went out to the car and started our pre-trip checklist: Tire Pressure OK. Fluids (Oil, Coolant, Brake fluid, Power Steering fluid, Coca-Cola) OK. Emergency kit in the trunk. Spare tire OK. Basic tools (including jumper cables, jack, duct tape & WD-40). Map. Cell phone. Snacks. Caffeine (for the nervous dad).
And then we got in the car and she started driving to Gull Lake. With my most excellent navigational assistance. Which meant we only made one wrong turn. I think.
She drove wonderfully. Safely. Carefully - other than a few quick swerves when she had to check out the road kill we passed. (I think we passed one of each kind of animal Noah put on the ark: squirrel, possum, skunk, deer, cat, dog, and something that looked like an armadillo...) And we finally arrived at our destination.
I was so excited! Now she would finally see how much fun it was to stand around and watch oversized remote-control toys ... stacking stuff!
{insert sound of crickets chirping}
She was not impressed.
Nevertheless, being the dutiful daughter she is, she patted me on the head and promised me that she would consider participating in the Robotics club during her Senior Year. If nothing else came up. And can we go home now?
After lunch, I said. Because there is Free Food. And no one should turn down Free Food. (Well, technically, it's not "free" because one of the parents donated it; but from our perspective, it was free.)
Thanks, she said. But can we have Subway instead? I'd rather have something healthy. (Apparently, Sloppy Joe's are not healthy. But these were really, really good Sloppy Joe's! With extra spices and everything!)
So we left the competition after about an hour, and we stopped by Subway on the way home, and then she had more "lunch" when we got home, and I watched the rest of the competition from the comfort of my own home, on the Internet streamcast.
Oh, well. At least I got to use up one of the Coupons!
Cheryl used one up a few weeks ago -- something about Doing An Activity With You Without Yawning Too Much -- so I figured it was my turn.
Mine was eminently more practical than shopping or going on a walk or watching a television show.
Mine was Going On A Trip To A Robotics Competition! Yay!! Total fun!!
See, our Robotics Team had a competition down at Gull Lake, which is only half an hour away (by car), and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to let Mary do a bit of driving, and possibly get addicted to Robotics.
(No one in the house has the least interest in any of my hobbies. Yet.)
So bright and early on Saturday morning, we went out to the car and started our pre-trip checklist: Tire Pressure OK. Fluids (Oil, Coolant, Brake fluid, Power Steering fluid, Coca-Cola) OK. Emergency kit in the trunk. Spare tire OK. Basic tools (including jumper cables, jack, duct tape & WD-40). Map. Cell phone. Snacks. Caffeine (for the nervous dad).
And then we got in the car and she started driving to Gull Lake. With my most excellent navigational assistance. Which meant we only made one wrong turn. I think.
She drove wonderfully. Safely. Carefully - other than a few quick swerves when she had to check out the road kill we passed. (I think we passed one of each kind of animal Noah put on the ark: squirrel, possum, skunk, deer, cat, dog, and something that looked like an armadillo...) And we finally arrived at our destination.
I was so excited! Now she would finally see how much fun it was to stand around and watch oversized remote-control toys ... stacking stuff!
{insert sound of crickets chirping}
She was not impressed.
Nevertheless, being the dutiful daughter she is, she patted me on the head and promised me that she would consider participating in the Robotics club during her Senior Year. If nothing else came up. And can we go home now?
After lunch, I said. Because there is Free Food. And no one should turn down Free Food. (Well, technically, it's not "free" because one of the parents donated it; but from our perspective, it was free.)
Thanks, she said. But can we have Subway instead? I'd rather have something healthy. (Apparently, Sloppy Joe's are not healthy. But these were really, really good Sloppy Joe's! With extra spices and everything!)
So we left the competition after about an hour, and we stopped by Subway on the way home, and then she had more "lunch" when we got home, and I watched the rest of the competition from the comfort of my own home, on the Internet streamcast.
Oh, well. At least I got to use up one of the Coupons!
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