A weekend full of a bunch of stuff that I didn't necessarily plan.

I'm sitting here munching on ginger snaps thinking of my weekend in review.

Thinking of it exhausts me.

I'll rewind slightly to say that I took my truck on Thursday to have Billy give it an alignment. The good news is that only the right side is out. The bad news is that we need two new front tires. My brother, Dumpy, has been telling me that since the truck was 6 months old, but this time I really did see significant wear on the tires. They ran the numbers to tell me how much the new tires and alignment would be. Since it was over the $100.00 limit we have for repairs/purchases without spousal consultation, I talked to them and said, "I need to check with my husband first." No use in aligning a vehicle that needs new tires anyhow. There was no charge, but since Billy had it up on a rack anyhow, he gave it a pull and tug to the driver's side. I thought I heard a clunk in the front end about a week ago. Turns out everything is good and everything is tight. Hooray. See what happens when you listen to your music loud and aren't used to how your car really sounds?

Friday we got internet so I posted. It was all good. I noticed that on the handy dandy calendar, we had a date for Lowe's in the AM. No problem.

We hit Lowe's at 10 AM. It was Kaleidoscope day and though it wasn't a hard project, it was tricky. All the bits had to go a certain way and whatnot. Ours worked out well, but folks all around us were putting theirs together wrong. Hooray!

We ran home for about a 45 minute break and took off to the Chuck E Cheese birthday party. K- had a great time. She was able to hang out with some class friends. She ended up with about 100 tickets, so she was able to walk away with some tiny little trinkets that she loved. An hour and 52 minutes was about my limit, though. We talked before we went in that I was buying nothing. We would use the tokens she was given (though I was armed just in case we didn't get any) and once they were gone, they were gone. When we left, she did get a great lenticular cup with a lid and a whistly straw and a balloon. The kid loves mylar balloons and cups with straws. (Hey, we try to be simple in our house!) Since it isn't California, mylar is still legal.

I got home to find out that my family was "working wood" next door and my mom had a big ole pot of soup on. I grabbed up a bag of coleslaw, a bag of lettuce (despite the article I read from a few weeks ago), made a quick dressing for the coleslaw and off we went. K- wanted to play with her cousins. My sister, her partner, his brother, my dad and Billy were all taking down a few trees for some elderly neighbors. I've never seen in person someone take a tree down, but they laid it down right where they wanted, missing all power lines, homes and structures nearby. My nephew hung out in my arms, playing gently with my necklace and enjoying my tracing the baby features on his face. We scadoo'd out and on to home in time for Hubs to return home from work.

I had plans to get into the studio, but by the time we got K- down to bed, I was yawning. "Yawning and going into the studio is just a recipe for disaster, isn't it?" my beloved husband asked. "Yes." I didn't go in.

This morning we got out to church. We ran home, got a quick lunch and off to swimming we went. My in-law's joined us, as they love to watch K- swim and to see what progress she is making. She did great! Her strokes are improving and she is doing a better job at floating. After swimming lessons, my in-law's took us to lunch. K- ate everything, except the pineapple, and was treated to a special little cup of vanilla ice cream for dessert. After lunch, we parted ways and I dashed over to Target for a few Easter egg fillers for K-. She gets candy from everyone else, so I don't generally put candy into her eggs or basket. I did pick up a multi pack of gum for her (sugar free) because she does enjoy the occasional piece of gum. I got Silly Putty, stackable crayons, punch balloons and some other things that I can't remember. I'm going to do an Easter basket trial run. I think everything will fit. We're going with a Ponyville theme this year, since I scored a bunch of Ponyville stuff off the Target clearance. I've thought of breaking the individual boxes of ponies down and depositing those in eggs, if needed. K- likes to save the pictures so that she knows "how to set it up." I don't know about that one yet.

Sorry. I was on a bit of a tangent.

Anyhow, we got home and Hubs decided to take K- birding. They were on the hunt for migratory water fowl. They saw a Greb, Sand Billed Piper (I think I have that one right, but might not) and saw and HEARD loons. Apparently, the birds don't call unless they are calling to mate and since we aren't Canada, it was amazing to hear the loons. Hubs was thrilled. He said that K- was very well behaved.

While Hubs and K- were out birding, I was able to work in the studio. I was able to foil 6 frames, which means that they are now ready to be soldered. On Friday, I have to bring in a body of work to show my boss. It isn't expected to be all encompassing, but she wants a general representation of what to expect. All work is due on April 16. I'll get these soldered, cleaned and standing (I won't necessarily fill them for Friday), and will consider that the half-way point of where I want to be for the final date of April 16.

They got in, we had dinner, K- and I worked on homework and here I sit. I'm pleased to say that K-'s compositional skills have improved immensely. Her handwriting has improved a lot, as well. For each 4 sentence paragraph they turn in to Mrs. H-, she gives them a "sweet treat." A nice incentive for them to ready themselves for the Kindergarten writing test.

Folks, I'm tired. With that, I'm shoving off. I need to deal with some laundry.

Smiles in my weekend:
- Sprinkled in above.