In the afternoon I got a call from Ryan and he told me the university was having a family-friendly presentation that evening about the eclipse, and he would be speaking. The kids enjoyed the science night the previous fall and Heidi had been telling me all about the things she learned about the eclipse at school, so I figured this would be a fun activity for them.
The presentation was supposed to start at 6:30, but in case of traffic I decided to leave at 5:30 so we could make it in time. Surprisingly, Heidi cried and threw a fit when I said we were going because she didn't want to ride in a car, but I really wanted to go, so I got her in the car anyway, and eventually she calmed down.
At 5:58 we were just a couple of minutes from the university when Ryan texted me saying they were starting early and they were going to do one presentation at 6:00 and another at 7:00. Initially I thought maybe we would just hurry and park and be a few minutes late for the first presentation, but by the time we got a parking space it was pretty late.
So I made a spur-of-the-moment decision and said, "Let's get back in the car, we're going to get donuts!" If you know me you know I never just go get food at a restaurant, but for some reason this seemed like a fun idea and it was something that would take about enough time for us to get back by 7:00.
So we went to Krispy Kreme. The kids all picked the kind they wanted. We watched the fresh donuts going down the conveyor belt to get glazed and Kevin figured out how the whole apparatus worked. It was fun.
Then as we were driving back to the university the cheapskate side of me spoke up and started making me feel super guilty for all the money I had just spent on donuts. "You just did it because you were feeling sorry for yourself and you were dumb to think that spending money would make you feel better." But for once I fought back against Cheapskate, because the thing is, I really did it because I thought the kids would think it was fun, and I wanted to do something fun for them, and I didn't appreciate Cheapskate coming in and trying to destroy the fun. It's just money. It wasn't a lot of money. It wasn't a planned purchase, but we could afford it. So on the drive home this was the wrestle I was having in my head, and Cheapskate mostly lost.
We drove back to the university and the kids ate their donuts on the way to the theater.
We got there and there was a long line of people waiting outside. Ryan had texted me saying the line was for people who wanted to get eclipse glasses, but we didn't need to wait in line for those because we already have some, so I didn't worry about the line.
We had a little time before 7:00, so the kids and I looked at the sun in the telescope (with a filter) that was set up outside the building. They had another fancier telescope out, but it hadn't worked out, but the girl who was manning the telescopes was super panicky about anyone going near that telescope because it was really expensive, so anytime anyone went near it she would tell them to stay away from it.
We went inside to ask about the presentation starting at 7:00, and the security guy at the front said it wasn't starting until 7:20 and that was what the line was for, and the solar eclipse glasses would be given out after the presentation. Like I said, I didn't care about the glasses because we already had some, I just wanted to see the presentation about eclipses with my kids and hear Ryan's part. But I guess he'd had a hundred people already ask about the glasses and he was sick of explaining it, so maybe that's why he was kind of curt. Then when I suggested to the kids that we go sit on some benches by the window he told me we had to go outside unless there was a medical reason because of fire safety standards.
So we went outside and I sat down, and that's kind of when I had my breakdown, and I know it was kind of silly to cry about it all. But I had hauled my kids into the car even though one of them was throwing a tantrum, and then I found out we were going to have to kill an hour because they started a half hour early, and now I was finding out that we had to wait even longer and we weren't even allowed inside and people were kind of rude to me about it. Plus, it was 100 degrees outside and super muggy, and I was going to have to keep my kids contained in the heat for 20 minutes (which, by the way, turned into 30 minutes). And I knew it wasn't a big enough deal to cry about, but I'm pregnant and tired and I just couldn't stop it, so I had to go around the corner of the building and just work through it. A sweet black lady who was passing stopped and asked if I was okay, and I didn't want to explain the whole dumb situation, so I pulled the pregnancy card and just told her I was pregnant and for some reason I was just randomly feeling emotional. She told me she totally understood and gave me a hug, which was really sweet. This was right after the terrible events that happened at the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, so for me it was so touching that this woman reached across that racial barrier to treat me like a sister.
Anyway, I finally got myself under control and we went and waited in line, and finally at 7:30 the first presentation was over and the line started moving. Ryan came out and found us in line, and then we got the rest of the story.
It turns out they way underestimated the number of people who were going to show up. By 6:00 they already had several hundred people lined up to get solar glasses. (This was just a few days before the solar eclipse, and eclipse glasses were getting difficult to find.) So they made a quick decision and changed how they were going to do it. They told people they would get a ticket as they came in for the presentation, and after the presentation was over they could turn in their ticket for a pair of solar glasses. Then they started the presentation at 6:00 and planned to do a second one at 7:00 since the theater was packed. But the presentation went longer than they expected and there were a lot of questions, so it lasted until 7:30, and of course meanwhile everyone associated with the department was getting pestered with questions about when they'd be giving out solar glasses and when the next presentation was going to start, so they probably got a little stressed.
Anyway, we finally were able to go in, and of course 30 seconds into the first person talking Ann Marie declared that she had to go potty. I ended up telling Kevin and Heidi to stay put while I took Ann Marie to the bathroom, and that worked out okay (the only reason I was okay with doing that was because Ryan was sitting in the front of the room). But even after we got back Ann Marie was incredibly naughty the entire time. I had to keep grabbing her so she wouldn't run off, and whenever she was on my lap she was constantly wiggling and jerking, and she even hit me in the jaw once, so that was really annoying and exhausting.
Kevin and Heidi, on the other hand, were very good and mostly paid attention the entire time. Kevin asked each presenter a question. I love how he feels like he has just as much right as any adult to ask his questions. When he raised his hand to ask Ryan a question, he had forgotten the question, so Ryan said, "We can talk about it later. I know where you live. [He's my son.]"
Ryan spoke last about safely viewing the eclipse, and he did an excellent job. He spoke with a lot of energy and kept cracking jokes. I was glad we were able to go to support him. Ann Marie did finally escape from me at the very end, but at that point Ryan was taking questions and most people were trickling out, so I guess it was okay. It was probably better that we ended up in the second group, because the theater was completely full for the first group, which would have made Ann Marie's behavior a lot worse to deal with.
When we got home (late) we hurried and made some leftovers and put the kids to bed, and then I enjoyed my donuts and an episode of Downton Abbey.
The day after the eclipse, the department chair sent Ryan a note of recognition and CCed the dean, which means the department was officially recognizing his contribution. The memo mentioned all he had done to help with interacting with the public, preparing informational materials about the eclipse, and especially giving his presentation and being willing to give a second presentation when the number of people who came far surpassed their expectations. It was very nice that he got that recognition (and made me feel a little better about wrangling the kids by myself while Ryan was inside giving the first presentation).
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