Mulligan Monday: Chuck E. Cheese & Teenagers on Bikes

I need a day to recuperate from my weekend.  Some really strange things happened.

For some strange reason unbeknownst to myself or anyone who knows me, I thought it would be a good idea to take Jayna to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate her potty training feat. 

When I got up on Saturday, I was determined to make it a good day, but to not put too much pressure or too many expectations on the day.  So I did what I always do on Saturday:  I cleaned.  I cleaned the house, cleaned the couch and bathed the stank-ass dog.  I was feeling good!! 

Doing productive things is good for the soul, you know.

I ran out of time when I got to the half bath, so I just left the cleaner in there. It should be said that I make my own household cleaners from things such as Borax, vinegar and water. The bottle is clearly marked, but it looks just like the one I use to spray my hair with water. (And those of you who know me well will certainly see where this is going.)

While Jayna was napping, I got dressed and did the hair/makeup thing.  I did NOT shower...why would I waste that time before going to a germ-infested kid's place?  I needed my hair to curl up a bit, so I reached for the water bottle.  On the second spray, I realized that I was spraying cleaner in my hair.  Good thing there was no bleach in there. 

I should've just stayed home after that happened.

We had planned to take along my friend, Michelle and her little guy Sam (who Jayna adores), my mom and my brother and his family that consisted of my 8-year-old nephew, my sister-in-law, her nephew Dillon and my Brother.  In all, we had 4 kids and 6 adults.  And even though the kids were complete angels, we probably could've used a couple more adults.  We had a group of 10 people.  The only tables that would hold more than 4 people were all reserved for parties.  There were no 2 tables together.  Luckily, the place began to clear out about an hour after we got there, so we were able to all sit together.

The place was a nightmare.  I've never seen that many people in one place with such a few number of staff.  All the games were out of tickets.  All the ticket redemption machines were full of tickets.  Michelle and I stood in line for no less than 20 minutes to spend WAY too much money on pizza. 

I can't believe how many parents out there think that Chuck E. Cheese is a place where children can run free and climb on everything and steal things off of tables and do things they aren't allowed to do at home or at any other civilized place on earth.  I'm not sure I'll ever go back to that place.

All in all, everything went well.  I only had to excuse myself one time to go outside and catch my breath.  And I'm super glad that the kids had fun.

Jayna was a nightmare when we got home, so straight to bath and bed it was.  She woke up Sunday morning a new little girl. 

Sunday was a good day until around 2:30pm.

I was at my mom's all morning, so I didn't get to run until 2:15 or so.  I didn't have enough time to drive to a park or the gym to run due to another dinner obligation, so I decided to brave the brutal wind and run in my neighborhood.  FAIL.

I was about a half mile into the run when I saw a group of teenage boys ahead...2 on bikes and the others just standing on the sidewalk.  My initial thought was, "Oh boy...here we go."  But I just kept running.  And then they noticed me.

I ran off of the sidewalk and into the street to go around them.  I was still a ways away from them at that point.  One of the boys on a bike, probably a 15-year-old kid, decided it would be a good idea to ride down the street to me and circle me while I was running.  He also would ride directly at me and swerve just before he hit me.  Then came the tight S pattern literally 2 feet in front of me.  By this time his friends were even telling him that he should leave me alone.  He ignored them.  I had on sunglasses so he couldn't see my expressions.  That seemed to work in my favor...because I was getting a little scared.  I'm glad that he couldn't see that.  I simply said, "I'm not sure this is a good idea, dude."  He mocked me a little, rode one circle around me and then SLAMMED ON HIS BREAKS directly in front of me.  He then immediately turned to circle me again.

I felt seemingly ALL of my blood rush to my ears.  When I get pissed, my ears turn blood red. 

I had no other option than to extend my foot and kick his bike.  I hit the frame hard and right under the seat.  Karma was on my side at that moment.

It caused his bike to fall over in front of me.  He fell directly to the ground and winced as if he were going to burst into tears.

As I jumped over his front tire to continue running, I said, "Sounds like you should've listened to your friends."

I ran the fastest mile of my life after that.  I'm not sure if it was because I was afraid of backlash or if I was proud of myself, but the adrenaline was pumping after that.  Had I not been slightly freaked out to make the lap again, I probably could've run atleast 3 more 10 minute miles.  Probably not, but a girl can dream. :)

I'm still waiting for a parent or the cops to show up at my house.  I'm claiming self defense, if not sexual harrassment.  He wouldn't have done that to a guy.  That kid was bigger than me (not by much, but still) and was literally inches from me on several occasions. 

That's what I get for running in the neighborhood when the teenagers are out.

What did y'all do this weekend?