You would not believe the weekend I had. It was the second of the the two weekends for the Wood Badge SR-879. The weather was great, the food was great, the people were great, the whole experience was great!

I laughed,
sweated,
sang,
yelled,
lost my voice,
taught other scouters how to tie the monkey fist,
cooked in a dutch oven,
got scared by something moving in the woods,
rode in a canoe,
participated in a funny skit,
hiked in everything I would need for a three day camp-out (and did not pass out when we got to the destination),
wrote my ticket and got it approved,
survived not bringing our patrol flag to Gilwell (always bring your flag!),
got our patrol flag approved by the scoutmaster,
sang "Lean on me" with over forty-eight other scouters all swaying in a big circle with arms around each other,
ate strawberry short cake with whipped cream,
put together a program for a sunday service only to have someone question why I did it the way I did and then actually answered them with confidence that what I did was the best way to do it,
put on a presentation titled "It's KNOT hard" about how knots are used in every aspect of scouting advancement and then later had people remember it and quote things I said in it,
had the staff request to use the knot presentation in future leader trainings,
cried when the scoutmaster walked over to me and shook my hand and said my name and let me know that I was important.

Give me a T! T

give me a R! R

give me a O! O

give me another O! O

give me a P! P

give me a ONE! ONE

What's that spell? TROOP ONE

Who are we? TROOP ONE

I thought the weekend would never end. Both of my older boys went to friends houses from Friday through Sunday.
Jarrett went to Tylers and Ricky went to Louis' house. At Tyler's, they fished and went on the boat and then headed to Marco to visit his grandparents. Louis' Dad playes on a semi-pro football team and Ricky went with them up to Ocala to watch the game.
Chase and I stayed at home and made Easter decorations. We were going to color eggs on Saturday night but of course I forgot that you need vinegar for the dye. Also, when I boiled the eggs, the first batch came out perfect. But the second batch not so much. Most of the eggs broke open as soon as I put them into the water. Now I know to not add eggs to boiling water. I ended up using the broken ones for an egg salad for lunch on Sunday. So all was good in the end.
Chase loved coloring the eggs. He even used a wax crayon on them to decorate. He liked the pictures that showed up after he used his hands to pick the eggs up out of the dye. He ended up with mostly pink fingers cause that cup was on his side of the table. He even tried peel the eggs but he could not wait to peel the whole thing so he would take a bite into a half peeled egg and then hand it to me while he spit out the shells. I peeled the rest of it for him.
He had a great time finding his basket. And finding the twenty or so plastic eggs all around the living room. Later in the afternoon he took his car out for a spin and then the boys started to come home. He showed them his treats and was surprised that they got baskets too.

In other news: about scouts of course... I got an E-mail from one of my patrol mates for the wood badge course. He is informing us that he will not be able to go this weekend due to a health problem his father-in-law is having. I'm really bummed. There are only four of us Eagles to start with and he was a big part of our group. I don't know how we will manage without him...

My brother Chris is making his way down here from NC with Tina and the kids Kelsey and Colin. I can't wait to see them, however I will be at camp for the weekend and will only see them on Thursday night. Hopefully someone will take the lead and pick up my boys while I'm gone so they get to spend some time with them.

That's it for now...

I woke up last night in writhing pain. My stomache in knots. My head banging. I got a charlie horse when I atempted to get out of bed to head for the bathroom. I tripped on a large stuffed dog and hit my head on the closet door. I finally make it back to bed to find out that a toy airplane has found its way underneath my air bed and it has sprung a leak. So now I'm literally lying on the floor with a blanket and I grab the stuffed dog and wrap my arms around him and fall back to sleep. Chase wakes me up this morning by stealing the dog from me and proclaiming that its his. I think I told him to run into the wall for me, of course he did not listen. After two advil and a shower, I think I finally feel better.

It's my 200th post!

Can you imagine that I have posted 200 times. Wow! I'm really excited!

Ok, Now what?

Ummm...

Ah heck I don't really have anything.

My car is running, Rick is still a pain in the tush, scouts is still going on, kids are still funny, school is still school, work is still work, we still do lots of stuff, and the only thing I have to revue right now is the St Patricks day parade we went to on Saturday. (two words: Hot and Beads!)

So, thats all I got. I know, pathetic for such a monumental post but really thats it.

Sorry...

A little rant about my car, again...

Earlier this week my car was kinda misbehaving. It was sluggish when starting.
On Saturday after the scouting for food thing, Jarrett and I stopped at office max and the car would not start at all. It was a good bonding day for Jarrett and I. I gave him all the options available and he made the desisions on what to do. We called my Dad and he came to the rescue.
Then on Monday night when I went to leave work it would not start. So I called triple A and they sent a tow truck out to help me. It started up. I went home and then went to the scout meeting with the boys.
Tuesday morning I had to go get insurance on the car and go to the driver license place. The car was fine for all that. But I forgot something at home, (no, I lie, I had to pee) and when I got back out to the car it was off. Tried to start it and, nothing. So I had to call a cab and spend ten bucks to get to work a half hour late. Ugh! In the mean time Rick gets a battery for me and puts it in the car. (even though my dad told him it was the starter)
So car is ok till last night I wanted to get some milk. Won't start. By the time I get it started its too late to get milk. So hopefully I can get the car started when I leave here today.
Oh and I forgot, I have been leaking power stearing fluid and now I have no power stearing, at all. Really hard to turn without power stearing. So, now I need a power stearing pump, the hoses, and a starter.

I am not one of those people that beleive in omens or superstition. (I work for a mirror company and we break mirrors everyday...I can't be) With one exception...I strongly believe that if I have to defend my car three times or more than it kind of gives up. Stay with me here. Rick says that I need a new car and I tell him I love my car. Jarrett says that I need a better car and I tell him that there is no better car than one you own. Rick says again that I need a new car and that mine is a pile of crap. Again I defend my poor 16 year old baby. Bingo, car won't start...dah dah daaaaaaah Maybe its just me...

Still buzy as ever... This past week had flown by. Ricky went to an Order of the Arrow Ordeal campout and really enjoyed it. He is looking forward to more time in the OA. We picked up bags for Scouting for Food. So many E-mails flying around about the wood badge course. Go Eagles! I still need to come up with a skit for the campfire program, a prayer for the Interfaith Worship service, and my TICKET! I did get some great feedback from the committee members of my troop about what I am planning to do, so that was good. I have a few skits in mind, and a few prayers down on paper. I think the hardest part will be getting my Ticket down on paper.

There was a garage sale down the road from us this past weekend. Ricky saw that they had a go-cart frame there so he went to check it out. The kid wanted $20 for it. So now Ricky is the proud owner of a go-cart frame! It needs a seat and an engine. But its something for him to work on...