365 Project - Day T H R E E

Today was quite a day.

Jack was in the Daffodil parade on the Fife Community Float. He would be riding with his friends on the float which was decked-out with a baseball theme. It was a scheduling nightmare and the logistics of coordinating my child with the float people, finding a parking spot as well as finding a seat lining the streets of Puyallup. Luckily, my mom was the 'seat scout' and she was able to find us some seats near the end of the parade. When we finally got there we were all geared-up to watch the parade and anticipate the cruising by of Jack's float. There was even cell phone exchanges between my sister's friends, who were sitting up farther in the parade route, "Have you seen him? Nope, not yet. Have you seen him? Nope, not yet. Have you seen him? Yes, he should be coming around the corner in 3 minutes 46 seconds behind a jazz team and a marching band." Jason even went up the street a little to watch for Jack's float and then radio back which side of the float he was on for prime picture taking. The moment arrived, Jack was rounding the corner. I could see him beaming and doing the wave that we discussed (make sure you wave, especially at the little kids - they love that). I jockeyed for position across the street so I was on the same side as Jack. I have the camera in hand...push the power button. Frown. Push the power button again. WTF? Push it harder this time. My heart pounding, I suddenly realize I have 0% battery. My moment; my child's moment that I had planned on capturing digitally...gone in a moment of lithium lifelessness. The moments of stress and anticipation suddenly culminated into a cataclysmic mix of emotions and what does any mother do? What does Megan do? Megan started crying. At the Daffodil Parade. It reminded me of the time that I cried at Disneyland because I got my Croc stuck in the trolley train tracks in the middle of Main Street (last year!). I seem to have the knack for crying at the happiest places on earth.

I can only hope that a few of the other parents posted along the parade route were able to capture an image of my son on that cheezy float.

Fast forward to 7:00pm...

So, for Jason's 38th bday, I got him tickets to see an MMA fight at the new Snoqualmie Casino up near Snoqualmie Pass. My brother actually watched the fight with Jason while my sister and I did some gambling. One thing I will say about playing slot machines is, I'm really consistent. I consistently lose. My friend Annie once told me that she's particular to justifying a trip to the casino by pointing out that every time you go it's a potential investment.

I have played this particular game, Rembrandt Riches, several times before, always looking in amazement at how one of the characters looks remarkably like my father when he had a comb-over and a few years of alcoholism under his belt. Probably around the time when he and my bio mom divorced. We'll refer to this time as, "When I was little..."

Anyway, since I bombed on capturing my child's parade moment on my camera, here's a snapshot from my camera phone of my dad pictured on a slot machine game.