Ok, before I tell you the string story, I want to close some loops:
Shootout for Soldiers - it raised well over $4 million for our veterans. I do want to personally thank those who played, put this event on, and anyone who has or is still serving for our country. I also forgot to note that I couldn't walk for a day or two after this tournament and went through a tub of Bengay on my hamstrings. Every time I walked into the room my kids would comment on how I smelled like a cross between a mint and an onion - it made their eyes water and the cats flee the room.
Birdhouse - Mia and I finished the project and she took on the task of painting it. We barely passed the city inspection due to many structural anomalies. Luckily the city inspector liked French cookie crackers so I slipped him a box and we passed. Now we just need to wait for our first tenants.
Indoor skydiving - I was ready to start the journey of conquering my fear of heights. I suited up and felt like Rocky before his big fight.
Then my ego was crushed as I looked around the room and noticed everyone else was about 10 years old and really excited to fly, except me. And just to set the record straight, the dark stains on my jump suit are shadows not something else. So, I get into the queue to jump and had a vision of the Great Escape scene when Steve McQueen jumps his motorcycle over the wall and me doing the same to get out of there. The only issue was that I was in a glass coffin and didn't have a motorcycle. So, I decided to just go for it. I stepped up to the door, pushed the instructor aside and jumped in. My kids will tell you that I was crying like a baby and the instructor had to physically pull me from the doorway but they are lying, my memory is correct.
It wasn't too bad other than the realization my two ways to die were to be shredded by the large fan 50 feet below me or crushed on the ceiling. I didn't let that faze me and decided to go for the high fly experience. The instructor thought I was kidding and then realized I was serious. I could see him chuckle as he helped me (or as my kids would say, pulled me) back into the tube.
Ok, on to the string story. I had a great idea to try some different art forms, starting with what I thought would be easy- string art. I have seen elementary kids do this so I assume it would be a 15 minute project - HA! I got my supplies all ready and created the frame. After the 50th nail and 10th time hitting my fingers, I took a break to calm down.
I got the nails in and added some cool paint with hand-touched marbling.
And then I went to work stringing the beast.
The first few runs were easy until it happened. I ran into a snag.
Now if you have ever seen the Matrix, there are these bad drones that look like mechanical octopuses, that is what this knot looked like. All of these little strings hanging off one ball of nastiness. I worked on it for about 30 minutes and made very little progress.
Chewing on it didn't help at all, in fact I think it made it worse. When I hit the hour mark, I decided I needed a new plan of attack.
Have a beer and go back to Michael's tomorrow and get some new string.
What I learned: the best way to gain self confidence is to do what you are afraid of.
What I appreciated: Seeing Mia so happy with the paint job she did on the birdhouse. She had so much fun she wants to build one from scratch just the two of us. Home Depot, here I come!
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