half the banner is missing
so I give you half the message
tonight I went to the ANC meeting with involved and open discussion on the bike lane and traffic calming issue in Mount Pleasant
was thirty minutes late
in short... there was stuff to do at home
hung out with the boys
actually got home pretty early as my post work ride was pretty much straight home
well... pretty much
got 45 nice fall minutes in the dark canopy of Rock Creek Park
once home
hung with the boys and the new babysitter
the wife got home from a post work hike with the dog and then joined us on the deck out back
we quickly moved inside as we said our goodbyes to the new babysitter
only after a short little guideline about no McDonalds... okay... once a month
it was taken a little harsh
but that was not my intention
just starting to set guidelines
thus far the new babysitter is awesome
the kids love her
and she is very active and keeps the kids entertained
it is either a play date or a trip somewhere
once home and inside lisa started to cook some fajitas
grilling flank steak that she had marinaded overnight
while I worked with Dean on homework project that had been overlooked
we had it all weekend without glancing at the instructions
but at Dean's alert we started on the little indian doll project
it was a toilet paper roll, some yarn, and some cloth
which was supposed to morph into a Hopi Indian doll whose name I forget
as dean did some darth vader stuff
and grant ate some avacado I plotted the direction of the toilet paper roll becoming a Hopi Indian doll
some slips
some cuts
the enlisting of a few more pipe cleaners and I was started
by this time the glue gun was warming up
while I cut some of the cloth to size
with some effort I got dean involved in the project
we were ready to roll
so I brought him in with momentum
first we looked for a head for the doll
a ball would work
I found a golf ball
dean thought it would work
but I lured him to pic a larger ball that could be more easily written on
we returned to the dinning room table where Dean traced with a sharpie pen the smiley face I drew on the ball
tracing for a five year old is not a given
Dean did an excellent job
a job that involved coaching and verbal guidance
the project gets moderately adult guided from here
the pieces were cut
so I instructed dean with the glue gun
it it an awkward tool
not easy for a 5 year old
rather than lines of glue
I learned that Dean needed to just to dabs
even that was not easy
as the trigger onthe device is not so fluid
just the nature of the glue gun
in no time we had the basic fabric glued on the indian
dean placed the feathers on the head
a rubber ball where he had drawn the face
I tied the feathers in place
piece by piece dean put glue on the cloth
then I put the cloth on the tube
dean weaved pipe cleaners through the tube for arms
then dean wrapped ribbon for a belt on our little indian
then dean cut the remaining pipe cleaner so I could fabricate bow and arrow
the crowning jewel of a doll for boys
it all turned out pretty cool
but
even after getting home early
this had me leaving the house late
left the house and marched up to the ANC meeting that had an open discussion about the bike lane issue in Mount Pleasant
I was a half hour late
not cool
but... I am less than perfect
walked in late
things were formal and going through a process
I would have loved to arrive early
but ended up arriving late
basically walked in and got handed the mic (microphone)
I had no desire for any public speaking
I love to talk
but I hate public speaking
yet I had to answer a question
a local resident wanted to know why bike lanes were part of the traffic calming effort
and well
I had to answer how these things got paired
as it turns out
I know this guy
rob and i are on the same mountain bike team
we have ridden and raced together
the meeting went by
a few more times I had to hold the mic
there was some one minute time limit issue
well... I did not come prepared
time limits are not my strength
there was talk
there was discussion
there need to be bike lanes
there needs to be a study
bikes need to be measured when they do this study
not sure what was established
I need another glass of wine
oh
the Hoppi doll turned out quite well
dean contributed a fair amount
I was concious not to be the dad doing the sicience project
I have a Phd dad
I know about a dad doing the science project
dean was involved
it was a parent child project
with a definite parent touch