FIRST

robots are cool.

having groups of HS students (or younger) building robots is awesome.

getting up at 5:30 in the morning will make 8PM feel like midnight.

volunteering is fun.

arriving first for volunteering opportunities is quite fun!

so yeah, i got up on time (yay!) at 5:30 (boo!), ate some yogurt & headed out to the Putnam.  it was daaaark!  there were like 3 cars in the parking lot & i had that anxiety going on in the pit of my stomach.  but i got out of the car & purposefully made my way to the doors, which were thankfully propped open... i met the head of the museum (nicole)(well, she was the head of something at the museum, idk that she was the HEAD of the MUSEUM *laugh*) & the head guy who put everything together (pat) & for the first 15 - 20 minutes i held the doors open for ppl coming in cuz they were still locked.  heh.

i'd been told i would be helping w/ volunteer check in, but as it happened i ended up at the team registration table.  which i liked a lot, because i got to meet all of the team coaches!  

the other volunteers i met were super nice & one guy who is some sort of an engineer for my company & another guy, who ... idk what he does but i think he works at my company LOL, both helped me w/ some prep work & we had fun.  later i went upstairs to register (because i was the first volunteer there, and i hadn't registered yet!  LOL  i just dove right into the work!) & they invited me to breakfast, but because i was at the front table now i didn't have time.  i shouted to the engineer (and i am kicking myself because i LOOKED at his name tag so i'd remember his name & now i can't remember it!!) to bring me coffee (hahaha) w/ 1 cream & 1 sugar (hahaha) & then went downstairs & immersed in the registering of teams.  well, 1/2 an hour later or so, he came down w/ a cup of coffee for me!!  :D  i was honestly surprised & pleasantly thankful!  : )  and that coffee really hit the spot!  it is just more proof (not that i needed proof) that little kindnesses bring GIANT happiness!  : )  

i'd been scheduled to work til 11, but team registration was over by 8.  i hung around for another hour, helping w/ pizza orders & whatnot, chatting w/ pat & mr. coffee engineer & one of the coaches who had a cool last name & another volunteer who was at the registration table w/ me & is also on the FIRST committee.  then i went upstairs to see if there was anything else i could do, but the important stuff was done (registering) & i'd been planning to leave at 11, so pat said i could go.  : )  

i got a nifty pin & t-shirt for volunteering, and a lanyard w/ my name badge.  and it was still early enough for breakfast when i left, so i stopped at hardee's for a sausage cheese and a diet pepsi.  mmmmm!

when i got home, i finally finished Double Booked For Death & watched some Revenge & GH & waited for mom & leyton to pick me up.  i THOUGHT they were picking me up after church for lunch.  in reality, they weren't picking me up til like 1:30.  i had them bring me some lunch, tho.  heh.  we picked up anthony from his friend's weekend party & headed to the Putnam to watch the robot battles.

now, when i say "battles" i don't mean like they were attacking each other - remember that show?  i can't remember what it was called (robot wars?  idk!) but it was a neat show, robots all chopping at each other & stuff.  grant imahara was a big part of it... anyway, this wasn't like that.  the robots were programmed to do a series of tasks autonomously in the first bit, and then the kids took up game controls that were programmed to control the bots.  there were bowling balls & raquet balls & baskets that they had to move into certain areas.  

leyton loved it, and had so much fun!  

anthony did NOT have fun & was kinda a brat about it.  :(  

i love the boy, but there are few things that truly UPSET me, and being ungrateful or rude are two of those things.  meh.  i didn't let it ruin my good time.  : )  neither did leyton or mom, so that's good!  

oh, and mr. engineer was still working on the computer for the comp - and he'd had his hair sprayed pinky/purple!!  lol  i wish i'd gotten a picture of that, or of the giant robot who was a mascot for one of the teams...alas, i did not.  but i assure you, they were both quite neat!  

we left after the qualifying rounds, stopped at hy vee & then headed to mom's for a couple hours.  we ate some dinner & the boys & mom played some payday while i took a little nap... LOL  we left a little after 5, stopped at WM for me to pick up my Rx (and look at billfolds because the one marcie kindly gave me is coming apart, sadly!) & then mom dropped anthony home & then me home.  

ahhhh, so nice to be home!  finished up the week's GH & now i'm watching Fringe & then i am going to SLEEP!  tomorrow starts another buuuuusy week!  : )  

what'd you get up to this weekend?

ttfn!