BETTER THAN JIM!

and this was my battle cry by the end of the day.

what?  you don't know what i'm talking about?

okay.  here we go.

[11 hours earlier]

chris and i (both off work for the day) depart from our wyoming apartment for the lovely lake isabella area.  my oldest friend aaron, and his wife lisa, had a baby girl 

(lauren elyse) two months ago.  because they're teachers, we offered to come visit on a wednesday (totally random, i know) since chris has it off all the time.  what do you know?!  they're not doing anything ;)

i was hoping to hit the road by 9:00 a.m.

so around 10:00 o'clock the engine is running and we're nearly ready to leave.  

chris is calling the bank because we discovered a few minutes before that he can't find his debit card.  we drove back home (we were just a few minutes away) so he could look for it, instead of canceling it and then potentially finding it on the counter later.

the sun is shining, there are clouds in the sky, and we're on the road at last.  top down. 

 snacks in hand.  we finally arrive at their house, despite the conspicuous lack of street signs (they think neighbors, who had a party a few months ago, stole them).  we spend some time catching up, having lunch, and smiling at the baby girl.

around 2pm aaron decides to launch the boat, taking chris and i for a tour around the private lake.  around 3pm we dock, walk back to the house, and wait for the babysitter to show up, allowing both aaron and lisa to hang out with us.  on a boat.  on a gorgeous day.  

and then it begins.  

now, chris and i aren't huge water people, but we certainly enjoy a boat ride, like any normal person.  (i nearly drowned swimming off a particular boat in lake michigan a couple summers ago with a bunch of particular musical people, and have since avoided such activity)

but aaron is bound and determined to get some kneeboarding in.  there's no one else on the lake mid-day on a wednesday, so it's perfect conditions.  

but apparently, lisa doesn't drive the boat.  chris is shaking his head.  

so what's a girl to do?

fine. 

i'll drive the boat.

i'm excercising that muscle that would rather stay in my comfort zone.  you know the one... the kind that DOESN'T WANT TO KILL ANYONE. 

 

so i get a quick tutorial, a couple practice runs, and we're off to the races.

i really, really didn't want to suck.  

I VOWED TO BE AWESOME.  

i really did.  out loud.

and i take my vows seriously.  i've only made two so far in my lifetime.  

aaron told us how bad his friend, jim, was at driving the boat. 

I WANTED VERY BADLY TO AT LEAST DRIVE THE BOAT BETTER THAN JIM.

So here i am, driving the boat -- ready for it?! -- better than jim.

that's right.

"BETTER THAN JIM!"

i said that loudly, too.  

there was a lot of laughing, a lot of wind, and a lot of gunning the boat full throttle.  

nobody lost any sunglasses, hats or cookies.

i also held a baby.  

of which there is photographic evidence.

and aaron said i drove the boat better than jim.

take that, jim.