You Know That I Could Use Somebody

I'm a tenderfoot scout. It is as low on the totem pole as it sounds. I've gotten some ribbing over it occasionally, but it is what it is. In my defense, they didn't have merit badges in baseball or contra so it didn't really draw me in. I enjoyed going to scout camp every summer and have sash full of merit badges to prove it, but I never did the little things to move up to the upper ranks. Little things like cooking a meal over a firepit, or camping X consecutive nights. To be honest, I don't see how any of that can be difficult. If a group of twelve-year-old pyromaniacs can execute it perfectly, surely I can handle it.

Went camping the other night. I know, it may be hard to believe, but it happened. Barely. Almost spent the night in the car. We pulled into the campsite around 11:30pm, and began setting up the tent using my car's headlights for illumination. We roll it, and stake it out and my brother slides one of the support poles through the top. He gets to lift it, and I realize that it would probably be a nightmare to slide the other one through with the top already arched. So we pull the other bar out and watch as it falls apart into about six pieces. The elastic cord that holds them all together had snapped about of third of the way down. It took over 30 minutes to re-thread them all, at one point I had to use dental floss and medical tape to get it all done.

So to you all you self-righteous eagle scouts (if they even exist), eat it. This tenderfoot got it done. I actually took a picture.

To tell you the truth, lately I have had too many things going on to allow me a significant amount of time to give anyone a full update on things, or formulate any extemporaneous ideas. That camping story came about because my brother and I went to Atlanta to watch the Braves get to Tim Lincecum and then caught Rascal Flatts and Darius Rucker perform their own songs as well as some old school Hootie and the Blowfish tracks. Drove up one night, caught the game, camped, drove down the next day and caught the concert on the way. You ask why, I ask, as always, why not.

The kicker is that it is only going to get more hectic over the next 17 days. In that time period I will drive over 4000 miles, traverse across 12 states, watch ball games in 5 different parks and makes two independent trips to the west coast of Florida. Oh, and then how about I pack up for a two week trip to two different islands, and then head off to a third to start medical school. Believe me when I say that I had to cancel a date night with The Girlfriend just so I could spend one night with my parents to celebrate my brother's belated birthday and talk about how things will be while I'm at school. Tonight is my last unplanned night for the next... I don't know really.

Needless to say, there are still stories that should be shared because funny stuff happens. And everyone needs a good laugh.

So, I'm at church with the Girlfriend, and in walks the former girlfriend. She was visiting a mutual friend that was in town for the weekend. Between Sunday School and priesthood, mutual friend and former girlfriend were in the lobby just chatting with people. I started talking with the mutual friend and looked over to see my granddad talking with the former. Now, you have to realize that there is nothing odd about my granddad walking up to unknown girls sixty years his junior and starting conversation.

After a couple minutes, I started heading into priesthood. Granddad had been talking with someone else for a little bit, but he shanghai'd me. He leads me over and introduces me to the former, calling her by a completely incorrect name. I gently tapped him on the shoulder, told him her real name, and told him, "I already know her. I know her pretty well."

He doesn't say a thing. Just flashes the old man Oops grin, turns and walks away. Hilarious.

It also should be noted that The Girlfriend became admittedly territorial upon seeing the former walk in. It was great.

Word.