Pet Snake / Crazy Weekend

Sammy is checking out a pet snake at the Cub Scout Pack meeting yesterday afternoon. We took our dog, Serena and she got to socialize with lots of other dogs that came. One brave guy brought his two cats - they even had leashes on. My cats would go ballistic if I tried to leash them.

The last two days at our house have been nuts. Thursday night Dave and I decided to check out the new Star Wars movie at 9:45. We bought our tickets online and there was a long line inside the theater for seats. The movie was good, although pretty violent. It was also long, so we didn't get to bed until around 1 am. We both got up early the next day and headed to work. Usually I only work until noon on Fridays, but I was pretty involved in something, so I stayed until about 3 pm. When I got home Maddie had to be driven to a sleepover, then I picked up Sammy from daycare and went to the bank. Back home, I drove Ben to his friend's house to play, then dropped Maddie's bathing suit off at her friend's house. Back home again I got Ellie ready for soccer practice and sent her off with Dave (and Sammy).

Then I started thinking about the pack meeting, trying to remember what we were doing. I did remember that Ben's scout shirt was still at his friend Matthew's house. I called Matthew's house a few times, but the line was busy. So I tried his dad's cell phone. I got hold of Jason (Matthew's dad) - he was stuck in traffic and had just dropped Annette (Matthew's mom) off at the airport. So, I offered to pick up Matthew and our shirt and take them to the meeting. Then Jason mentioned they were taking their two cats and told me they'd be in kennels. I suggested that he bring the cats later, when I started thinking about 2 kids, 2 cats and dog in my car.

At this point I realized I'd better pick up Ben, so I ran to get him. Back at home he got dressed in all of his uniform but the shirt. We were headed to the car, but I couldn't find Serena's leash. After a 15 minute search, I decided to buy another leash at the drugstore. On the way to the store I called Matthew's house to let him know I was on the way. Jason answered - he'd gotten home, so he would meet us there with the shirt. We stopped, bought a leash, and headed to church. Once we were there, I called Dave and told him to come over with the little kids after practice, so they could see all the animals.

Now that I've typed all this out, I realize how crazy it sounds. The scary part is that the day was far from done. A few weeks ago, Dave and I signed up for a shift at the Houston cannery - the peanut butter factory. Our ward's shift was from 9 pm to 2 am. So after the pack meeting we got the kids settled and headed to north Houston to make peanut butter. Dave and I mostly worked at the peanut hopper, where we used an electric pulley to hoist giant bags of raw peanuts into a bin that fed them to the roaster. I also spent a little while sorting the roasted peanuts ( you check for burned ones on a conveyer belt as they go by), twisting the lids onto jars, and checking every tenth jar for a good seal. At 2 am the next shift arrived. We stopped at I-HOP, where I made myself sick with a milkshake and roast beef sandwich, then fell into bed at home.

Ellie had an 8 am soccer game this morning, and Dave was nice enough to take her to it. I dragged myself out of bed at 11 am to pick up Maddie. Back at the house I showered, dressed and got the little kids ready for Ellie's soccer team party. We met the team at CiCi's pizza, then went to someone's house for a swimming party. Summer has arrived in full force here - it was in the high 90's by noon, so the pool felt great. Dave and the big kids went to see Star Wars (again, for Dave). At 3 pm I came home, showered and dressed again, and now I'm here posting. Dave and I are headed to the store to buy ingredients for gumbo, that we want to make tonight. Thank goodness tomorrow is Sunday - a supposed day of rest.