New Stuff

I generally have a strong spirit of adventure. It's a good thing because it was put to the test in the last 24 hours.

With all three kids headed to a sleepover last night, Vanessa informed me at lunch to be ready for a "girly date" that evening. Gulp. My friends at work speculated about what was in store for me: Mama Mia! or painting pottery or ice skating or drinking fruit-flavored cosmos. Yikes.

The kids headed off to their fun, and so did we.

First up. Surprise, surprise - painting pottery. I wasn't feeling especially artsy fartsy last night, and this turned out to be one of the most stressful things I've ever done in my life. Vanessa who is a very talented artist took right off on a business card holder with her vintagebutterfly logo on it. I struggled. I ended up painting green, gray, and orange stripes on a cell phone / ipod holder. We get our creations back on Friday, and when we do, if it's as bad as I think it is, I might just post some pictures here.

Then ... we're off to ... ice skating. Until last night, I had only ice skated once in my life. When I was in fourth grade. Like 25 years ago. And I wasn't very good at it. Last night was my second (and last ?) time. This was also one of the most stressful things I have ever done in my life. I am happy to report, however, that I DID NOT FALL. That is an accomplishment in my mind. I also did not knock down any of the young children who were as dependent on the wall as I was. On my final lap around the rink, I made it without touching the wall. I am pretty sure I'll be ready to do a triple sowcow next time I go.

After these very girly things, we headed off to B-dubs. That was much more comfortable for me. We ate some wings, drank some beer (not fruity girly drinks), and joined several dozen people in cheering our heads off for Michael Phelps as he eeked out his seventh gold medal.

Luckily, there was no Mama Mia! after the wings. I won't go into what there was ...

This morning, I became, for the first time, a football dad. Vin is going to be playing football this fall at the Boys and Girls Club. He and like 199 other boys had a football clinic this morning at Fayetteville High School. He did pretty well for being exhausted after his sleepover. He wasn't able to move the blocking bag during the defensive lineman drills, but he did make every catch in the wide receiver drills and wrapped up a nice tackle in the linebacker drills. I worked hard at not being douche bag dad like the guy next to me. This week will hold another first - taking my son to buy his first cup.

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