Of Hurst Skateland, Christmas Magic and zero down-time
Wow, this weekend blew, both in suckiness and just went by so fast.
As I mentioned previously, my son had some Dallas Cowboy events to attend Fri and Sat night. Since he, for lack of a better term, sucks at driving (directions, getting lost, etc) we decided to take him to these places Fri and Sat, meaning about an hour each way is lost to driving and I had to stay up late waiting for him to call to be picked up.
Sunday was the craziest however. Mason had a party at Hurst Skateland at noon. For those who don't frequent Facebook, let me just say that place hasn't changed. I mean, that place has NOT changed ANYTHING since I used to go there in the late 70s, early 80s. Wood paneling, faded carpet, displayed roller skate trophies on the wall from as early as 1972, same signs hanging on walls - everything. And I SWEAR they're using the same skates from the 70's as well. Rows and rows of faded tan, leather skates. If you piped Foghat's "Slow Ride" over the speakers you'd be back in 1978.
Anyhow, Mason had a bad experience the first 10 minutes. He kept falling on the same knee when he decided it was time to go home. So I grabbed a bunch of quarters and he played video games while others skated until it was time for cake and presents.
So, afterward we needed to grab the family and to visit my mother at the nursing home. Santa USA was visiting there at 3pm so we wanted to ge there to visit and have the kids see Santa. On the way home, Mason started asking some hard-hitting questions about Santa. Now, my wife doesn't do well with telling convincing stories and often gets "deer in headlights" syndrome when confronted. Mason was stating he absolutely refused to believe reindeer can fly. He's seen some at a zoo and they never did it. Maybe jump really, really, high but not fly. So Jen went on and on about believing in something even when you can't see, etc, etc and when she asked me to confirm her I just replied "I'm with Mason, reindeer can't fly."
She was about to punch me in the arm she was so pissed. I then added, "Well of course reindeer can't fly. That's stupid. Only Santa's can because of the magic Santa has." And guess what, Mason agreed with me.
So parents, a word to the wise, ALWAYS go with the simplest answers - duh. Don't make it complicated.
So, I say zero down-time, but I guess I had some because while waiting in the evenings for Jake's call to pick him up, I got to watch The Great Escape, and 30 Seconds Over Tokyo (BTW, if you EVER have an inkling to watch Pearl Harbor, save your grief and watch Tora! Tora! Tora! and 30 Seconds Over Tokyo back to back. Same stories, better films.) Unfortunately, I got to watch them alone as my better half went to bed early those nights.
Still not finished shopping either. I have two nights to finish it all so I need to make a list and hit a few places tonight and tomorrow. Plus I need to finalize what we're fixing for dishes to bring over Christmas evening to my sister's. Like I said, zero down-time.
As I mentioned previously, my son had some Dallas Cowboy events to attend Fri and Sat night. Since he, for lack of a better term, sucks at driving (directions, getting lost, etc) we decided to take him to these places Fri and Sat, meaning about an hour each way is lost to driving and I had to stay up late waiting for him to call to be picked up.
Sunday was the craziest however. Mason had a party at Hurst Skateland at noon. For those who don't frequent Facebook, let me just say that place hasn't changed. I mean, that place has NOT changed ANYTHING since I used to go there in the late 70s, early 80s. Wood paneling, faded carpet, displayed roller skate trophies on the wall from as early as 1972, same signs hanging on walls - everything. And I SWEAR they're using the same skates from the 70's as well. Rows and rows of faded tan, leather skates. If you piped Foghat's "Slow Ride" over the speakers you'd be back in 1978.
Anyhow, Mason had a bad experience the first 10 minutes. He kept falling on the same knee when he decided it was time to go home. So I grabbed a bunch of quarters and he played video games while others skated until it was time for cake and presents.
So, afterward we needed to grab the family and to visit my mother at the nursing home. Santa USA was visiting there at 3pm so we wanted to ge there to visit and have the kids see Santa. On the way home, Mason started asking some hard-hitting questions about Santa. Now, my wife doesn't do well with telling convincing stories and often gets "deer in headlights" syndrome when confronted. Mason was stating he absolutely refused to believe reindeer can fly. He's seen some at a zoo and they never did it. Maybe jump really, really, high but not fly. So Jen went on and on about believing in something even when you can't see, etc, etc and when she asked me to confirm her I just replied "I'm with Mason, reindeer can't fly."
She was about to punch me in the arm she was so pissed. I then added, "Well of course reindeer can't fly. That's stupid. Only Santa's can because of the magic Santa has." And guess what, Mason agreed with me.
So parents, a word to the wise, ALWAYS go with the simplest answers - duh. Don't make it complicated.
So, I say zero down-time, but I guess I had some because while waiting in the evenings for Jake's call to pick him up, I got to watch The Great Escape, and 30 Seconds Over Tokyo (BTW, if you EVER have an inkling to watch Pearl Harbor, save your grief and watch Tora! Tora! Tora! and 30 Seconds Over Tokyo back to back. Same stories, better films.) Unfortunately, I got to watch them alone as my better half went to bed early those nights.
Still not finished shopping either. I have two nights to finish it all so I need to make a list and hit a few places tonight and tomorrow. Plus I need to finalize what we're fixing for dishes to bring over Christmas evening to my sister's. Like I said, zero down-time.