Friday Photos

A look back at the week, Monday through Friday, through photos.

Beautiful weather, having to deal with things that I'd been procrastinating, going to a track meet and getting ready for guests comprised part of the week. 

Alyssa's track team had a meet early in the week and it was a good one all around- it was a home meet so no far distance to traverse to get there, it was a small one- a quad, in track parlance, with four teams competing, and Alyssa ran well. So, I couldn't have asked for much more. Did I mention the weather was great all week? Oh yes, this was one of those rare outdoor sporting events when spectators were not freezing, melting from heat, or trying to keep dry from precipitation. The temperature was about the best it could be and the sun was shining. Truly a rare but much appreciated afternoon/ evening at the track... I also got to chat with the mom of one of Alyssa's good friends. We watched the girls run and then she had to skedaddle (she has four kids and her daughter Alyssa's age is the oldest of the four so she and her husband are in busy mode 24/7). I signed up to do a shift volunteering in the concession stand. Another of Alyssa's good friend's mom volunteered at the same time so we got to catch up in between filling nacho, candy and PowerAid orders ;).

Alyssa ran around the track two times. First in the girls 400 and then in the 4x400 relay. The girls open 400 had the most runners of any event- there were two heats for a total of 16 runners. Alyssa ran in the fast heat and came in 3rd place overall with a good time. She did not run much over spring break and especially in light of that, I thought she did great.

The 4x400 relay was the exact opposite. For some reason, it was the least participated in running event. It was just our team and two teams from one school. Alyssa ran the first leg of the relay.

Not sure what the guy pictured near the runners is telling the girls, "You run around track one time and then hand the baton over." Maybe?

When you've got some ground to cover....

...you just keep truckin'

It was fun watching her catch the other runners and overtaking them.

Watching a hand off

Donnie asked me a few weeks ago if I realized that my drivers license expired on my birthday this year. (He had put a reminder on his phone. Bless him. I am not that organized/ on top of things.) No, as it were, I did not know that. I didn't technically wait until the last minute to renew it. But I waited until the last week. My new picture is almost comically bad but, whatever, I have my license.

Actually, I have my paper. Ohio no longer gives you the plastic license card on the date you pass or renew your driver's license. You're given an interim license which is a piece of paper and then the card is sent in the mail. 

But first, caramel apples. I stopped at our local caramel apple shop before getting my license renewed. I love that our town has such a shop and I liked the juxtaposition of the fun and serious.

Our town has a caramel apple shop but it does not have a driver's license branch. I had to drive to nearby Franklin to get to the nearest BMV office. Franklin has several murals in town including this one that you can't help but see because it's on a building that is right where the parking lot for the BMV is. 

The top on the convertible ceased closing when we pushed the button that should have resulted in closure  so we had to take it in to get repaired. I was hoping it would get done in one day because I was scheduled to sub the next day. Alyssa needed to drive herself to school and her activities and Donnie needed to drive to work. If we didn't get the car back, we'd have two cars and three people who needed cars. If we played musical chairs/ cars, I would likely be the one standing when the music stopped and be bereft of a chair/ car. That's because I could walk to and from the school where I was subbing whereas Donnie and Alyssa couldn't walk to and from their destinations. The car not only didn't get done in a day, but additional repairs were *needed* (per the repair shop) to the tune of $3,500. Since the school I was subbing at was within walking distance of our house, it made sense for me to be carless. Donnie ended up being able to drop me off and I found a ride home. But I was prepared to walk- the weather was nice and I don't mind the exercise. 

The car didn't end up getting done for another two days. They finished it up just as Alyssa was leaving the house for track practice. She couldn't be late for practice or she'd have to do fifty burpees (and the place would be closed by the time Donnie got home from work). So, I set about to walk to the repair shop. Conveniently, it's only a mile from our house. And, the temperature was in the 70's so it was a nice day to walk to pick to up a car.

I didn't want to walk with a purse but of course I'd need payment of some kind to get the car back. I bought a pair of Athleta shorts at Goodwill over the winter and I'm now beginning to be able to wear them. They have this little zipper that's perfect to fit a credit card in so that's what I did. 

I needed some liquid courage to begin the task of doing our taxes. Yes, I started working on them the week before they were due. Our taxes aren't complicated but they're not uncomplicated either. Lots of paperwork and I'm always worried that I don't have all of the papers that I need. I would have a tax preparer do our taxes but the most troublesome thing for me is hoping that I have all of the paperwork that I need. I would have that stressor whether someone else was doing our taxes or I was. So I do them myself with TurboTax. My liquid courage was in the form of Diet Dr. Pepper.

You spend money and time shuffling your kids to and fro activities when they are young and can't drive. You are happy to do this (I mean, you complain sometimes but overall you're happy to do it). And you realize that all those gymnastics classes paid off when your daughter in college tells you that her friends wanted to see her do a round off back handspring and though she hadn't done one in a long time, she was happy to see that she could still do one and her friend recorded it and she sent it to me. 

This is a still shot from the video that Abby sent me.