Monday, April 16, 2007

3 Minutes

There are many things that you can safely assume will take a specific amount of time.


  • Watching a baseball game - 3 hours
  • Checking your personal email during work - 30 minutes
  • Watching a sitcom - 21 minutes (with Tivo)
  • Having your oil changed - 15 minutes
  • Solving a Soduko - 9 minutes (easy version)
  • Brushing your teeth - 3 minutes
  • Waiting at a typical Florida traffic light - 3 minutes
  • Changing a baby's diaper - 3 minutes
  • Returning clothes at the GAP? 3 minutes? Come on!
Sunday was Tara, Brian and Peyton's last full day here in Fort Myers and despite the Tornado Watch and the heavy downpours, the plan was still to head to the beach for one last walk in the sand. The storm warnings over, the bad weather past, it was time to head out. But the baby had to sleep.....2 hours later, the baby rested, it was time to head out. But Tara, feeding for two, needed to devour leftover General Tso's. 20 minutes later it was time to head out. But Brian decided he too was now hungry and served up a round of PB&Js. 15 minutes later it was time to head out. As the wind was now blowing the sun down towards tomorrow, Tara decided she needed to return a few things to the GAP before they closed at 5 pm. "It'll take just 3 minutes!" The urgency was understandable. Who knows when and where you'll find another GAP in Florida. And it would only take 3 minutes.....

Has a clothing return ever taken 3 minutes? or 15 for that matter! Thankfully Peyton had received Finding Nemo for her birthday and we could at least watch that again as we waited in the car. We had only seen it 4 times up to that point. I think Tara knew she was in trouble when she stepped out of the vehicle and looked around at the labyrinth-like shopping plaza. It would take at least 3 minutes to find the store, 5 to explain why she was returning the clothes, 5 to explain that she had a crying baby in the car (in truth, a fish-induced hypnotized baby) and another 8 making phone calls apologizing for taking longer than the original 3 minutes. For the record, it takes 28 minutes.

We made it to Sanibel, the top-rated beach in the US for seashells, just before sunset and had the fun of watching a 2 year old exploring the spoils of a storm-tossed seashell strewn beach. Sea Slugs, Pen Clams, Sand Dollars, Scallops and Starfish all lined the edge of the surf. Hard to imagine what a baby must think of it all.
Regardless of the gap of time lost to the opposite of shopping, every minute spent on the beach with the baby was worth the wait. For anyone that couldn't download Peyton's birthday balloon fest last blog, I've fixed the problem so you can see it now. MaLe and I have also added a new version - an homage to childish behavior.


8 comments:

  1. Ok, this is Tara you're talking about - did you believe her when she said it would take 3 minutes?

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  2. My instant reaction was "BS!"

    and no i did not swear in front of the baby.

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  3. thanks for fixing the video!

    It also takes 3 minutes to eat an entire package of peeps.

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  4. THE PEOPLE WANT MORE FOOTAGE OF PETE AND BALLOONS... your "specialness" brings tears to our eyes.

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  5. I only wish I had the video of me chasing the Iguanas. It would top the balloon footage by far.... I'll see what I can come up with.

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  6. I was in Manchester shopping for my sister's birthday with my mom and brothers yesterday. I had a few returns to make at the GAP, but I didn't think of your Blog until we actually pulled into the outlet parking lot. So, for the record, GAP returns in VERMONT (car door to car door) take 5 minutes and 2 seconds. Even.

    (I would have easily done it in three if I had kept my tags. Typing in codes caused all sorts of complications!)

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  7. i dunno - Is till have my doubts.....

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  8. Hey, this is Will (the kid who was bit by the bat last year). My mom is about ready to make my sister and I stop subscribing to your blog. It is causing a lot of disruption in our home school study time. For instance, this evening I couldn't resist timing how long it took me to eat an entire package of Peeps. I only had one left, so I got a lot of grief for hogging it all. However I managed to swallow all five Peeps in 1:28:82. I'd like to say the ordeal was worth it - given the bragging rights I have earned - but my belly is paying the price.

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