Oh What a Week!!!!

Monday

This week I had to go to Waco, TX to visit a jobsite with our NASCAR truck driver, David Starr. He races our compnay truck on the NASCAR truck series and will race in the Sprint and Nationwide series this year. The site visit was actually on Tuesday but I had to go up on Monday. With me out of town the kids get to out to dinner. We had purchased a Groupon for a pizza/game place, but it expired so they went to Chuck E Cheese, luckily we had a coupon. The kids had fun and Linda didn't have to cook or clean.

Tuesday

The site visit went well. The project, a large coal fired electricty plant, is going along nicely and they were very accommodating to us. We went on a tour and had a chance to take a few pictures of the site and David with the employees. With me out of town Linda found herself at the outlets looking for pre-spring break bargains for the kids. She found some things, but was a little disappointed in the "finds". We were looking for an outdoor table and chairs, nothing fancy just something that would allow us to take advantage of the weather and a covered porch. I suggested to Linda she stop at the Pottery Barn outlet to see what they had. They had some, way out of our price range, but there was one sad little scratched up one in the corner that was still pricey, but considering it had two leafs that made it capable of extending over 8 feet long, it was a deal. Linda called and I picked it up on my home from Waco.

Just to keep things really hopping, I had to be back in town in time for AnnaLynn's final choir performance. The sang several songs from Broadway and did a really cute job with them. Their opening number was different from past performances in that they started in the audience by their families under the ruse that they had to give us permission slips for a choir party in a few weeks. I think everyone was surprized when they started singing and commenced to go to the stage. They were pretty proud of themselves for tricking all of us!

Wednesday

On Tuesday night the brakes on my truck went out so I had to take my truck in Wednesday morning to get it fixed and was able to work from home with my Blackberry, call forwarding and VPN access. With all of the kids in school working from home actually works quite well. That night we had a Physical Education showcase that the girls were in. Taylor did some fun things with a parachute, while AnnaLynn did some kickboxing. The highlight of the whole activity was the portion of Taylor's performance where the class launched a huge octopus in the air.

I had my Stake Basketball championship. I missed part of the first game becasue I was at the school event. However, when I got there we were well ahead and I went in just to give someone a rest. We ended up winning that game and played in the finals. With as many players as we had we weren't tired from the first game and played a very good game. Although it was a physical game we adapted quickly and won easily. That makes it Back to Back to Back league Championships.

Thursday

Pretty normal day. Truck was fixed late Wednesday and I was back in business. Thursday the girls had crafting club and had an awesome opportunity. Joni Mitchell, a member of our church and one of the first friends we made when we moved to San Antonio is a terrific cake decorator. She was asked if she would be willing to share her talents with the girls. The leaders assumed that she would show the girls how to decorate cupcakes that they made but she volunteered to make each girl their own little cake. The 6 inch round cakes allowed the girls to do all aspects of cake decorating with multiple colors and decorating tips. Oh by the way, there were 13 girls in attendance. Needless to say the girls had a great time at this event.

Friday

This week more than most we found that we really needed a night out. Linda and I didn't do anything too exciting, but we had a great time. We were able to fullfil our goal of going to the temple every month. From past visits we have gotten to know one of the Sealers at the temple quite well. Well, at least I thought he knew us quite well. This week I arrived at his location first and he asked if, "My lovely wife will be joining us?" I told him she was on her way. He then asked, "How far along is she now?" My first thought was that I'm not quite sure, but I'm sure she is just putting on her last few things and will be out of the dressing area shortly. Then I remembered the last time that question was asked and the shock and immediate whiteness came over my face and he said, "Why did I think she was pregnant?" I responded, "Maybe you have more inspiration than you thought." This is not an announcment of number 5, at least not that I know of.

Saturday

This was another busy, but a productive one. I started out going to Home Depot to buy some ingredients to mix for our garden box. That's always fun. I mowed the grass in the front yard and turned on the sprinkler system, Spring is in full bloom here. Then as soon as I dumped the 20 plus bags on the driveway I had to go and help our Bishop clean out a semi-abandoned house. Some things going to storage the rest going to Goodwill. That was going smoothly until, and I send this out a friendly word of caution to those who may have to move themselves, the bungee cords did not hold the king sized mattress down by running the cords through the straps on the side. I'm sure the rest of you are thinking, "Duh" and you wouldn't be alone. Hunter thought the same thing and actually said, "That's not going to hold" to which I replied, "I tied down three places and we're not going very far." Apparently distance is not the issue, speed is. At 50 miles an hour that bungee cord didn't stand a chance. Luckily the Bishop had some real straps and after we pulled it out of the road we strapped it down. After everything was delivered we worked in the garden and prepped it for the seeds and plants.

Finally, we were able to get some tickets to the Hockey game and I took the three younger ones. We got there early and went down to the glass where 3 different players threw the kids a hockey puck. The game was good even though they, the San Antonio Rampage, were crushed 7-2.

I'm sure I have forgotten something, but nothing like a really busy week and daylight savings to kick off spring break!

John