If the head don't bobble, it's a fake

School's out for summer! And with summer comes one thing I've come to miss desperately. Time. I'm excited about having time again. Time to read. Time to get my craft on. Time to blog.

 

Before I use my newfound free time to read and get crafty, I have to catch up on Ghetto Barbie's front page news.

 

Today's headline: King Felix! Bring on the fun with dear friends!

 
Our journey to the Emerald City had less to do with King Felix pitching and everything to do with the opportunity to snag a coveted King Felix Perfect Game bobble head. And this wasn't one of those "every kid who enters the ball park gets one" kind of deals, folks. We needed to be four of the first 20,000 fans. With the first pitch scheduled to cross home plate at 7:05, our wheels would be cruising down the freeway at 1:00. We figured in a two hour drive, time to park, time to stuff our faces at The Pyramid Brewery across from the stadium (the ONLY place to eat before the game, TRUST ME) and some time to stand in line before entering the stadium to claim our heads that bobble. We were all set to go.

And then this happened.

For those of you non-Washington readers, this is a collapsed bridge. The problem isn't so much that there is now a bridge in the water, but more that the freeway that connects Lynden to Seattle was ON this bridge that is now in the water.

Hello, Mr. Detour. Let's be friends for the next ONE HUNDRED MONTHS while they fix the bridge.

Operation "I MUST get a Felix head that bobbles!" is now set to commence at noon. We must allow time to go all the jolly way around during Memorial Day weekend. We were prepared for the worst.

***Fast Forward through an incredibly undramatic 13 minute detour around Mt. Vernon***

We're now in Seattle. We are driving around the stadium looking to park. Nobody is out stuffing parking money into his/her tool belt, because the game doesn't start for THREE AND A HALF hours.

So, we parked for free. FREE. Right there on the side of the road. Three blocks from the stadium.

And then we walked to the restaurant and got far too comfortable. An hour and a half later, we felt the sudden urge to "Check out the line".

OH. MY. STARS. Where did all of these people come from?! When did all of these cops and barricades show up?! It's just a bobble head!!

Apparently, it was far more than "just a bobble head", because as sister-from-another-mister, Mel, and I attempted to merge, we were rebuked by more than one bobble head Nazi.

"The line starts waaaaaaaaaay back there!!!!" And then they would point to help us understand the gravity of their statement.

So we walked. And we walked. And we walked. And all the while that we walked we kept muttering amongst ourselves, "We were here 2 hours ago!" Finally, the line turned and began the journey back down the sidewalk to the Left Field entrance. The picture below shows us walking in line toward the entrance. The people walking toward us are actually behind us in line. Suckers.

And just about the time we had convinced ourselves that we were undoubtedly going to be numbers 20,001-20,004 in line, we arrived at the entrance and were handed the crown jewel.

Score. After a quick snap of the camera, King Felix went back into his plastic mold and spent the rest of the game in the box. I wasn't taking any chances. I had fought tooth and nail to get my hands on this priceless, one in 20,000, gift.

And then five days later I gave it away to this guy.

He's the biggest Mariner's fan I know, and he was green with envy when I came home with a King Felix perfect game bobble head. So, since he turned the big 3-0 last week, I surprised him with a birthday gift that bobbles alongside a contract that states if he ever sells it for a profit, I get half.

The contract reads as follows:

Persons Entering Agreement

Emily Kooistra

Daniel Vander Kooi

 

Agreement:

The agreement between persons is as follows: If the coveted item shown above is ever sold for a profit - LIKE, EVER - the recipient of the item on this day, May 30, 2013, will agree to split the profit RIGHT SMACK DOWN THE MIDDLE with the presenter of said item. This means $50, $500, $50,000, to infinity and beyond.

The contract was signed and dated and is now locked up in a safety deposit box at an undisclosed local bank. And Daniel is one happy happy happy owner of a King Felix bobble head.

 

And the bridge is still out over the Skagit River.

 

The end.