Shortly after the last post Rick's parents came up from Texas for a visit. Friday was Rick's dad (Roy's) birthday, and he chose Cars 2 for his birthday movie. It was cute, but I thought a little politically charged (it was about big oil, after all). Saturday evening we went to see comedian Ron White. Rick and I had seen him a few years ago in Ames, but his folk had not seen them before. It was a great show and they enjoyed it as well. By the time Sunday rolled around, their trip was coming to a close and my week was just getting started. Around noon on Sunday I headed to Ames for the retreat for the State 4-H Conference.
The conference didn't actually start until Tuesday, but the State Council that I help advise (40ish high school juniors and seniors, 3 adults) comes in on Sunday afternoon to prepare for the 850+ high schoolers that arrive on Tuesday. We stay on ISU campus (in non-air-conditioned dorms, by the way) Sunday through the end of the conference on Thursday. Because I am a volunteer and the corn season is getting very busy, I only take one day off to spend at the conference. So long days at work followed by chaperoning at night and very short nights, leaving for work before 7 to get to Johnston by 8. After the dances that end near midnight, our group stays up having a meeting about how the day went and practicing speeches for the next day. After the kids go to bed, the other 2 advisers and I walk around hanging goodies on everyone's door. After that, I unwind with my roommate, the other female adviser, who also runs the show at Conference. Though we did get to bed before midnight both Sunday and Monday nights, Tuesday I got 4 hours of sleep and Wednesday was closer to 3 1/2. I knew it would be draining before I showed up on Sunday, but I had forgotten how it felt.
The Conference went well, despite the fact that one kid was sent to the ER for 6 staples in his head before the opening session had even started. The Council really stepped up to the plate and their responsibilities. I was there all day on Tuesday, the first day, and it went smoothly. Wednesday I rushed back to make it to the banquet and my 10-year council reunion. There were five of us and Brenda, and it was great to catch up!
The entertainment for the night was the Dueling Pianos of Andy Anderson and Mike Leeds, the duo that played at our wedding reception. I felt like a friend setting up two people on a blind date: I knew that I loved them and I thought that that kids would love them too, so I suggested them to the council. I thought it was funny that none of the kids had ever heard of dueling pianos when I brought them up last fall, but, come to think of it, you don't seem them much outside of bars and an occasional wedding. The guys were great (and very excited to play for this group) and I think the kids loved it as well as the "distinguished" adult guests. I think it was a success, and I was grinning ear to ear on the success of it all.
And I drove away from conference Thursday morning, sad to not have that last day with the Council and not know if I would see some of them again, and had to give a field tour to the research scientists that afternoon at work. Tired, yes. Pulled it off as though I had prepared for the tour all week, I think so.
After work I was reminded that I had offered to watch some friends' almost-2-year-old while they played in a jazz group at a farmer's market. I was exhausted, but little Caelyn kept me going. She is so adorable, and so very bright. We walked around (in the head advisory, mind you), hand in hand, identifying colors, smells, vegetables, looking at the travelling reptile farm and face painting station. After splitting a piece of pizza, we split a bowl of ice cream (as I had promised), and talked about her upcoming birthday. She told me, "Two weeks," and the parents were as amazed as I was that she had any concept of when the big day was. It was a very nice evening, even though we just walked around for an hour and a half. I did tell her father, a Hawkeye fan, that he was lucky there weren't any Cyclone shirts her size or I would have returned her in one. She is the closest little person I spend time with, and I love that little girl. So sweet, almost makes me want to have kids. Until she has a bad day and cannot be messed with--we'll blame the red hair.
I'd like to say that the weekend was a time to recuperate, but sadly, no. Friday night I headed out to the barn to hose Maggie down since it was so hot, only to find her in the wash rack being washed by one of the kids in the family that is leasing her. The barn where Maggie is boarded had a fun show on Saturday (which sadly I missed), but the kids showed her in quite a few classes. The 10-year-old girl showed her in Western classes (walk-trot, pleasure, etc), and the 13-year-old boy showed her in English classes, including some jumping classes. Apparently, after 10 years of all 4 feet on the ground, she is being asked to jump. And, apparently, she will do 2 jumps, and not a jump more. I wish I was there to see it. The trainer said that she would like to take the girl to another local show and thinks she could do well. Maybe next time I can watch; I'm glad that she's getting a lot of attention and that the kids are learning a lot with her!
Friday night my sister stayed with me and we headed to Northwood on Saturday to spend some time with the family...painting the barn. Last year we painted Grandpa's house over the 4th, and this year Grandpa and Helen came up to help paint the barn. To be honest, not many of us were actually needed to paint the barn. Dad rented a scissors lift which Chad manned, Dad spray painted the barn with his fancy electric sprayer (paints 1/3 gallon per minute!) and Grandpa trimmed battings for them to hang and repaired holes in the barn. And the ladies prepared meals, and to be honest, I was happy to fill the stereotype. Allyson made a wonderful flag cake, and we made some dips, sandwiches, tons of food that was horrible for us, but oh so good.
We did have a near-miss, and I'm not sure that I can accurately describe the scene. The west side of the barn has a lean-to built on it so the scissors lift could not get to the peak of the barn. To reach the top, the guys first screwed some boards into the roof of the lean-to (which is sloped). They then took a Palco panel (gate) and laid it on the roof butting up against the boards for stabilization. They then placed the bottom of the ladder in a rung of the gate so it would be held in place. In theory, it worked. In reality, it mostly worked. Dad's paint sprayer is on wheels, and when he was spraying the first coat on the peak, the sprayer got away from him and took off down the roof. Instead of letting go of the hose so the paint wouldn't pull him backwards off the ladder on its way down, he held on to hopefully stop it. All I heard was yelling. Luckily, he stayed on the ladder, and the ladder stayed propped up against the barn. Unfortunately, a few gallons of paint was lost. Much better than what could have happened.
Saturday we went into town to take in the day's festivities, watching slow-pitch softball and bags int he park, and the street dance and live band. I was tired and didn't stay late (but still until midnight). Sunday morning I took Darby down to the duck pond near my parents' place. Darby has little to no interest in the baby pool we have for her in the backyard. She loves being outside but gets hot in the summer, so we thought the perfect solution for a lab would be a pool. She will walk in it but not lay or sit in the water to cool off. I thought maybe the duck pond would be better. She loved it. I'm not sure if I've ever seen her so happy. She ran like crazy in the tall grass, ran into and along the edge of the pond, and even swam a bit. She loved the water, and although I was eaten alive by mosquitoes, it was great to take her there. She swam and ran until she was exhausted, and we walked the quarter to half mile home and she spent the rest of the day sleeping on the porch.
I needed some sleep before work, so I headed home on Sunday evening and found 4 loads of forgotten laundry, so it was not an early night. Darby also got sick on the way home in the 5 minutes she was actually awake. Monday morning came too soon. I've always been a morning person and it's hard to sleep in with the sun sneaking through the curtains. I called a friend and headed to the Urbandale parade which was long (we left after an hour and a half and it wasn't over) but good. I swung by work to make sure I didn't have any notes to take and then headed to Altoona to meet up with some friends for the afternoon. By the time I got home on Monday evening, I was exhausted. I forced myself to stay up until 9 and was awakened by a firework finale and felt like a crotchety old woman getting angry at the noise.
Then things calmed down a little. Work is picking up (worked both days this weekend--it has begun), and we finally got around to cleaning the house and buying groceries (and spent a fortune--the cupboards were bare!). Yesterday we bought fishing gear for our upcoming family vacation to Canada and then immediately volunteered at the Corndog Kickoff. I was walking around Bass Pro Shops in a white flower print dress and pink polka dot heels. Very classy angler.
Today was finally a lazy day. Read the paper, bought some new clothes, got a tropical sno with the hubby. A very nice day. Refreshed and ready for a long week at work.
Sorry for the long post, but I hope the long explains the length of the absence of posting. I'll try to be more prompt, but life may get boring to read about in the very near future as I'll be working a lot!
No comments:
Post a Comment