Boys

I went to a robotics competition over the weekend, traveling up to Kansas City in a van full of boys (only four of whom were around my age). After initially being against the trip--I was seriously thinking that I was going to sit shotgun next to the robotics instructor for eight straight hours--now that it's over I can comfortably say that it was very fun.

Why?

I'm not good at robotics. I cannot program our little Lego robots to follow a straight line. If someone asked me to program it to go through an obstacle course on my own, without the help of a few nerdy twelve year-olds, I think I would start crying. 

Luckily, though, I did not hardly touch the robots the entire trip. 

See, I was in charge of presentation, and graphic design. I designed a sweet logo for our team (it's like a cross between the Avengers logo and the LA Dodgers--and also charity : water for good measure--but it's so cool) and we had them printed on t-shirts. All weekend people were telling us how much they liked my t-shirt design. 

This GIF amuses me.

Which was awesome.

My team actually placed in the top ten, out of thirty six teams. I am a very happy clam based on that, but if the weekend was just contest then it would have been a complete bore.

I do robotics through a homeschool group that meets every Friday. And because the homeschoolers there are all more or less nerds, and because I am a nerd, I fit in. Heck, I might as well say it:

I AM POPULAR. 

*confetti bombs*

*fireworks*

*falls out of chair in surprise*

It's true. So I did have a smashing good time--if I want to go British on ye all--because I got to hang out with friends. Oh, how glorious it is to say that word. Friends. Having gone without any besides Hope and her boyfriend's sister for some time, it is so refreshing to have other people that I can have a good time with. When I went to the Autumn Camp a few weeks ago I did make a ton of friends, I have to tell you. I have most of their phone numbers in my phone, but I have only consistently texted with one since then. 

*climbs back into chair and falls back out of it again*

Settle down, dear reader. He's just a friend.

Anyway, while at the robotics competition there was about an hour and-a-half intermission. After taking group photos, some people named Abby, Corbin, and Dawson* went outside with me to the local track (may I mention that this contest was held at a middle school?), where we tumbled and danced on the astro-turf until it was time to go back inside. 

I suppose the only downside, if there is one, is that my hair was constantly compared to the Disney princess Merida's the entire trip. We watched Brave on the way up, which I think really put the idea in their minds that I have the hair of a Disney princess.

 I guess it's not that bad, then.

All-in-all, I'm glad that I did not fake the plague in order to skip this contest, which I was seriously considering up until the moment when I was wedged between two people in the middle seat, listening to a shoddy MP3 player and going down the road jamming out to Cray Button.

 

* Names have not been changed