Whew...

Just sat down for the first time today -- pretty much -- and I'm not sure I'll be able to get up again. Have had quite a busy 24 hours or so. But productive, so it's good kind of tired.

Yesterday afternoon I took advantage of our "summer hours" getting home early deal to pull some crap out of the formerly nice landscaping area turned weed festival in front of the house. Put it this way: I want a nicely manicured lawn. I just don't have the time, patience, skill or ambition to maintain it. So I "fix it" on occasion -- and the upcoming grad party demands some sort of fix-it.

I took a break in the evening so we could go to the races at Golden Sands. It was Chicken Night, which means they were having a sale on chicken sandwiches and strips, had an egg toss between fans and drivers, and required drivers in Victory Lane to do the Chicken Dance in order to claim a prize. Yup, it's entertainment on a Friday night in Wisconsin!

When we walked in, the announcer guy asked Carter if he wanted to do the egg toss with his favorite driver. Since his cousin Colin was already spoken for, he chose the next available guy that Dad knew. They started off doing well but Carter let the egg slip between his fingers and that was that. No win. No prize.

Good thing Colin had a better night. He had the fastest qualifying time again, finished OK in the heat race and gave us quite the nail-biting show in the 20-lap feature. He started back in the 10th or 12th position and gradually moved his way up.

There were 4 or 5 laps to go and he was in second but with a few car lengths separating him and leader. We really didn't think he'd be able to catch this guy. And when they started their final lap, he still hadn't. It was evident that they were eventually going to lap two slower cars at some point near the end. Colin took the outside lane -- which proved to be the smart move -- and when they came around Turn 4, he got past them and then, right at the finish line, got past the leader. He won by a foot, I swear. How exciting! (And yes, he did the Chicken Dance!)

Then it started raining and we decided to go home. We'd seen the main event in our minds.

This morning, I dragged Carter with me to town. We stopped at Home Depot to pick up some plants and flowers on sale. Then made a few more stops, including Wal-Mart. Carter just got another belated birthday gift this week in the form of a gift card (yes, he's spoiled by his aunts and uncles) and it was burning a hole in his pocket. So he picked out a stop watch (which has been on his list to buy for awhile now) and a Pink Floyd beach towel. That's our boy!

I spent most of the afternoon planting and piling on black dirt while Carter played at a friend's house and hubby mowed. (I have not had so much dirt under my fingernails since I was a child slave weeding my mother's garden!) I could have done more around the yard but opted for a shower instead.

After we picked Carter up at 5, we grabbed a pizza on the way home and then I did my domestic goddess thing and made banana bread (thankfully I could borrow 2 cups of flour from my neighbor) and the "dough" for my mints I'm making for the party. Then I decided to sit down.

I can tell you right now, I can feel the heat of a major sunburn on my neck and shoulders... and pain in my lower back. I think Jim and I are getting too old for this physical home maintenance crap. It's time we got some slave labor out of that spoiled 11-year-old freeloader -- says the tough mom who just cut him a fresh slice of banana bread while it was still warm from the oven...

TGIF (Thank God It's Fixed)

I've been having a major technical challenge in my new work project. In simple terms, when I had to save things I had altered in the computer, it would take a minute each time.

So I had two computers set up at my desk so that while one was saving, I'd be working on the other one and saving, then going back to the first one. The problem was that I still had about half a minute of waiting time before the first one was done saving. I told my boss a third (or even fourth) computer would help since we are on a tight deadline and I have massive amounts of "things" to alter and save for this project.

It just about took an audience with the Pope (and a few technical people armed with stopwatches) Thursday, but it somehow magically got fixed overnight and I had a much quicker program at my fingertips today. I was so relieved! I have been losing sleep about how this could all get done on time at such a slow pace. So I was ready to do my happy dance -- and dance like nobody's watchin' (and pray no one was!).

Earlier in the week, I brought a work laptop home but the wireless connection didn't work worth squat and neither did my cable connection. The laptop didn't like that. So I brought it back into work, knowing I needed two or more computers anyway so I wasn't going to be working from home (darn). Now that I only need one computer, though, I figured I would try the laptop again and save myself from driving to Iola in the morning.

Went to the library right before it closed tonight. They have wireless there but it didn't work so I obviously am missing a component for my laptop. They do allow patrons to check out a cord and plug it in for Internet in their "coffeehouse" area, so I am going to give that a try when they open in the morning. I didn't have time to test it since the library was closing but I did ask the staffer if it was OK if I was a squatter for the day (stealing their free Internet and electricity). I promised her I'd pay my "rent" by patronizing the coffeehouse so I think we're in business.

The other part of the process is that once the Internet part works, I still have to connect through another program to log on to our servers at work. If that doesn't work, I'm off to Iola for the day.

Of course, that means hubby may be stuck painting Carter's room by himself, but I don't think the room is ready. Sure it has new windows but the wall is still filled with posters of everything from cool cars and SpongeBob to Minnesota Vikings and Pink Floyd. Maybe we could just skip the painting a buy a few more posters!

Either way, it looks like we'll all be capitalizing on Sunday as the traditional day of rest. (And you know me. That's not how it works!)

Sprung Ahead

So we sprung ahead today but right back into winter. But it could have been worse.

We probably got 5 inches of the pretty white stuff but it wasn't an icy mix or blizzard-like conditions, so we just watched it fall and accumulate -- and stayed inside. I figured I'd be out snowblowing now but I obviously didn't look at the long-range forecast. Hubby says it's supposed to be back up to 40 tomorrow so we'll just let it melt. I knew the number 40 was good for something!

Had a fast day today. Got up for Sunday School, stopped at the store to pick up pizzas for the party later and then came home. Hopped on the treadmill for my 30 Lenten minutes (not one second more) and then waited for company to arrive.

We just had Jim's family over (parents and sister's family) for Casey's birthday so it was just enough to fill the house. Gift opening goes pretty fast by the time you're 18. Cards and money, cards and money. Carter did spring for a Pink Floyd T-shirt for Casey, though. I'm pretty sure he wanted it for himself. I think it's a big clue for Mommy and Daddy to get him one for the next holiday (does the Lucky Leprechaun visit on St. Paddy's Day?).

Had some of that tasty Wacky Cake for dessert -- after it took Casey two tries to blow out the candles. (It sucks to get old, man.)

We were thrilled to see it was still light out at 7 p.m. That's the part of Daylight Saving Time I like! We are sort of teased into thinking spring is almost here. My father-in-law reminded me that 9 years ago today we had temps in the 70s. I reminded him that last year it snowed pretty good in mid-April. That winter-spring transition is always a wacky one!

I'm just glad I can finally remember how to change the clock in the car ... without driving off the road!

Welcome to Wal*Mart

Apparently I need to expand my shopping horizons beyond the famous discount supercenter down the road. Now granted, there are weeks when I can go for days without passing through the blue arch, but some weeks (like this past one), I find myself there every other day because I have to be ... not like I'm hanging out waiting for them to roll back prices before my eyes.

My son Carter does not accompany me on every trip. Usually he's along for the ride if he thinks there's a likelihood I'll buy him something not on the list -- or if he needs his "cart corralling" fix. He's a bit on the anal retentive side (no comments about where he gets that from) and likes to capture stray carts in the parking lot. He's performing a nice public service while absorbing thousands of unneeded germs on his hands. Nice.

There are times, though, when he'll just sit in the car while Mom "just gets 5 quick things." (ha) I didn't realize he actually liked the store -- or thought about it even -- until this week.

When we picked him up from Kidz Camp, he mentioned they had done a craft project where they got to paint a fabric bag that they will get to use to haul their swimming stuff back and forth each day. He says, "Guess what I painted on mine?" So I go through his favorite things. Everything from Pink Floyd to Ken Griffey Jr. to the Vikings. No, no, no.

Then he shows me. See below. Yeah, Jeff Foxworthy would be proud.