Long weekend (and week!)

So much to write about.. so not motivated to do it.

Highlights (or at least memorable happenings) from the lake. Oh, we went to Northern Minnesota to spend time at my grandparents lake cabin on lower whitefish.

• loaded the car fabulously so we could leave bright and early at 6am Friday. The car didn't start.
• 20 minutes into driving we ran into MAJOR storm. 90mph winds. Would have missed storm if car had started and we didn't have to switch everything to my moms van.
• cousins took mark and I out in the boat around midnight because the sky was AMAZINGLY clear. Paco stayed back on land to take some star trail pictures with the 3 cameras he brought. We had an extremely entertaining time on the boat sharing tales of woe (being suckered into purchases or scams).
• Marks kayak is pretty awesome. He fell in within 3 minutes on the first try, but had perfected it by the next run. He made it look easy so I really thought of trying it. I figured my time before tipping could be counted in seconds instead of minutes so I passed this time.
• Lilly quite enjoyed the boat ride. Did not enjoy the life jacket though. I don't blame her! She also thought the water was a tad cold for swimming. But we had to get her in!
• I totally fell through my grandparents dock. Not kidding. It was a full out cartoon worthy move. Here I was, walking along, then bam! A board breaks at the edge because it was rotted (much like the rest of the boards on the dock) and I fall through, okay, one leg fell through. Enough to smack the rocks below hurting my ankle a bit, scraping my leg, and my arm is sore where I caught myself.
  
• My uncle proceeded to pull one of the dock boards and ladder off when getting out of the lake from swimming. This made me not feel quite so bad (or obese..) it really is the docks fault!
• My grandma is the cutest thing ever and when they were working on leaving Monday morning said in a very casual tone "well... I guess we'll get moving like a herd of turtles." .... "What do you call a group of turtles?" I don't think turtles typically travel in packs to be dubbed anything to be honest.

All in all it was a good trip. I doubt we'll make it back up this year. I have Tastefully Simple's national convention in Minneapolis August 13-16 so I would feel bad leaving Paco a for a week at the end of July. Besides, I think I may have other things going on. I need to keep a better calendar.


Upon arriving home I had the van to deal with. I wish I had taken the battery somewhere to get it tested. Instead I had a tow truck take it somewhere (good thing we have towing insurance) and turns out it WAS the battery. It cost me $186 for a new battery, labor, and tax. This does not include the $70 towing. I don't have $186 to spend on a car battery! The garage door is also acting up. I think it is because of the heat but it will close and then open right away again. We need to check the senors to make sure they are aligned properly since nothing is obstructing them.

Due to my reluctancy to get the van taken anywhere and then staying overnight when it did.. I didn't go anywhere this week. I had color guard practice, but waited until Paco got home so I could take his deathtrap of a car.

After we got that back today Lilly and I went to the hospital to visit my grandma. She had knee surgery Wednesday. She probably wont be released until Sunday so I think I will pick some more Lillies and hydrangea from my yard and take them to her. She loves the ones my mom picked and took in.

Tonight I finished painting the bathroom. Well... I should do another coat of the green. And I need to take the toilet tank off to paint behind that... But it is for the most part painted. I'm so excited! I looks pretty good. It is at least a considerable improvement from the horrible wall paper that was there. I just need to put Paco to work getting the towel bars on the wall! then it will be DONE!!! completely. utterly. DONE. So excited. Unfortunately I now don't know what to do about the porch. I need to get it fixed, but I just don't see how we can afford to get it taken care of. I am already at a bit of a loss of how to pay the house payment on time. Too bad you cant live in your student loans. We'd have a nice place if that were the case, seeing as they are worth more than our house. sigh.

Well I have a Tastefully Simple Open house tomorrow. I am doing a joint venture with my friend that sells Mary Kay. I truly hope some people come! If you live in CR stop on by! There will be lots of great food, Drawings for prizes, and fabulous makeup!

"A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties." ~ Harry Truman

I like to think of myself as primarily an optimist. I have had an awful lot of hurdles lately though that make that difficult to keep up. again, sigh.