Catching up

Okay, so way back in January, Walker had his first ever Pinewood Derby. [Yes, he's 10 and yes, this should be his 3rd one, but we're just grateful that he has a good scout leader NOW. Back to the derby.] Jared and Walker planned out the design of this car, then they cut it out and sanded it, and added the lead to bring it up to weight. Then Walker decided on a paint job, and I donated some of my scrapbooking paint [gasp! such a sacrifice] and he painted his car. Now, we did this back at the beginning of January, since Jared was gone all of January, and the race was the 22nd of January. We will probably never have a pinewood derby car finished that early again! So, Thursday comes around, and we all walk over to the church for the race. First, there is an adult race, with all the leaders competing. The 16-year-old advisor won that one. Then, we move on to the boys' race. There is a lot of weighing, and 4 heats, and after the smoke clears, Walker is the winner!!! Yep, he won this Pinewood Derby, and also got a certificate for "Best Aerodynamic Design." To top it off, he raced against the winner of the adult's race, and beat him as well- with his wicked-fast race car ;). We texted Jared as soon as the results were in, and he called to congratulate Walker. Walker had to give him a play-by-play of the whole event, and I could tell he was enjoying all the attention.

I spent most of last week cleaning things up around the house, and trying to catch up my laundry in anticipation of my weekend trip to Iowa. Wednesday I packed, and decided that I'd better take 2 suitcases so I didn't exceed the weight limit :). Incidentally, did you know that the airlines now charge for EACH piece of luggage that you check?!? Guess their bail-out money hasn't arrived yet...

I made my connections fine, got my luggage, and then had to call for directions to my sister's house because the directions I'd printed were still at home on my computer desk. Rented a nice bright-red Toyota Corolla [speedy little thing], and had a peaceful drive to Cedar Rapids. When I pulled into her driveway, there were two little kids standing at the door and waving to me- so cute!! I have a lot of nieces and nephews, and they are all extremely adorable ;) and I am so glad I got to see 3 of them last week! I got to listen to Luke's stories about Star Wars, and legos, and the Star Wars Lego video game he loves to play [and how cool is it that we can combine the love of legos, Star Wars, and video games all into one package?!?]. I saw with my very own eyes Valerie's superhero jumps. It's amazing what a little cape can do for you. And Owen, well, he is one of the happiest little babies ever. Constant grin on his face, with his two bottom teeth showing, and he scoots everywhere. Oh, and the penguins: I got to read a whole lot of penguin stories, because that is the preschool theme this week, and I found out that Luke is exactly as tall as an Emperor Penguin. I tell you, education is a life-long experience.

I also got to see my cousin Mindy, and her two kids; they stopped by to visit Emily while I was there :). I finally headed back to Des Moines after lunch, and had another beautifully peaceful drive. You know, I don't mind driving at all when I'm alone LOL. I had to make another phone call to Jared, double-checking the address of the hotel, because I'd remembered that it was nearby a mall, but couldn't remember whether it was north, south, east, or west of said mall. He found the address just fine, and I found the hotel just fine :) I got myself checked in, unloaded my clothes, then trundled all my scrapbooking supplies down to the conference room and stayed there [except for the few hours I slept and showered]. LOL, the only time I even left the hotel was Saturday night, to walk across the parking lot and eat in a restaurant. But I had an awesome time :) and was sorry it ended so quickly.

Sunday, I got up about 4:30am Iowa time, and barely made my flight- I thought I had plenty of time, but somewhere I lost almost an hour, giving me 25 minutes to get from check-in through security and onto the plane. Thankfully, both myself and my luggage made it to SLC at the same time ;)

Jared and the kids picked me up at the airport, and we drove home, got our nice clothes on, and headed over to church. *sigh* I caught myself nodding off several times, which was understandable, but it made me nervous, since I was supposed to teach in Relief Society [women's meeting]. Thankfully, God blessed me to stay awake and make sense, and eventually I did get to go to sleep. I do not do well when I'm that tired!

The rest of this week is Jared's hunting time. Today he's tracking those 'red-legged devil birds' [aka chukar] by himself. This job will be much easier with last night's snowfall; instead of guessing where they are, he can follow the little birdie tracks all over the newly fallen snow. The rest of the week he'll have a buddy- his dad- to go with him. I'm not sure if they're hunting chukar or pheasant, but they are definitely looking for birds of some kind or another :).

Gratitude List:
* Airplanes. and cars. and email. and texts. and cellphones. and computers. I really like living here, and now. Oh, and flushing toilets!!!
* my ipod.
* a nice, warm bed at home. The one in the hotel was nice, but I like my own bed.
* Not driving in Iowa snow this trip :)
* going shopping with my niece and nephews to the little Kolona grocery store.
* holding a baby on my hip and pushing a shopping cart- brings back memories ;)
* My husband has NEVER made me feel like I'm skipping out on my mothering responsibilities, even when I abandon my family for a weekend of wild scrapping and pirate partying, and could legitimately be accused of such ;)
* friends- good friends- who welcome my once-a-year visits and put on such a great crop!
* Pirate challenges :) my personal favorite was trying to do a layout while wearing an eyepatch over one of my eyes. Depth perception really is a necessary component of good scrapping!
* that nobody spilled my buttons all over my suitcase on my return trip to SLC [they were everywhere when I opened the suitcase up in Des Moines]. I'm thinking I should not use metal tins to transport my scrapping supplies...
* We're one month closer to paying off Jared's student loan.
* I spent less than I had budgeted for food/gas this week, and had some left-over cash. Hmmm, what to do, what to do...
* My SIL is due today, with a little girl, and I cannot wait to see her baby and hear what they're calling her! [good luck on the whole labor/delivery thing, Amber!!]
* I am caught up on laundry. Not ahead [is that even possible?], but not behind either.
* Snow on the ground, and I don't have to go anywhere but the library today.
* Libraries. Have I mentioned how much I love borrowing books for free?
* Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. Mmmmm.
* God blessed me with the ability to stay awake and talk and actually make sense, after my very long Sunday :)
* the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and its impact on my life.
* kids who took an hour-long recess outside today, so I could have a nice long shower without worrying about pencil fights in the kitchen.