[dc]P[/dc]lenty of folks think Stephanie is the saner of the two of us. 93.3% of the time, this is true. Stephanie puts up with my special kind of crazy with a smile and a shake of her head, and bless her for it.
But that remaining 7% 6.7% of the time, look out.
Such a scenario played out in public last weekend. Stephanie and I were shopping for her niece’s second birthday present, and after she shot down my (practical) suggestion of a shoe repair kit, we looked for toys at Schuler Books & Music (a great place for gifts in general, not just birthday presents).
I’m all for reasonably priced, practical gifts, for Christmas/Valentine’s Day/Mother’s Day/Snowman Melting Day/birthday presents, like the time I gave Stephanie a new cutting board. But, things really went off the birthday present shopping rails when Stephanie found the hand puppets, and proceeded to try them out, with voices.
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Put your hand inside me. Image via Amazon.
To be fair, I’m a fan of puppets too, and most of the time I would have either a) joined in or b) started such a performance myself. That afternoon, however, the overcast weather zapped all my energy,¹ and left me as animated as a snail in wet cement.
Stephanie grinned, and pulled an alpaca puppet off the rack. It was a full body alpaca puppet with a movable mouth. Stephanie giggled as she worked the mouth.
“Hi Dan! I’m Allie the Alpaca!” she made no attempt to whisper in the crowded store. I squeezed Allie’s mouth shut, hoping Stephanie would take the hint.
Nope.