the super-long novel about my weekend (with pictures!)

twas a fun & happy weekend, but i'm sooooooo happy to be home!!  : )

i wrote a whole post from joy's yesterday, but it apparently did not post!  :(  and it didn't save, either, so idk what i wrote!  *laugh*  i have a very dichotomous brain - is that even a word?  i'll look it up later. (**yes, it is!**) anyway, what i mean by that is this - i hardly ever re-write anything exactly, and once i write something it is both gone and impressed.  i write in the moment, words flowing from my mind thru my fingertips onto the screen or piece of paper, when i'm writing about me or a letter or post card or something.  unless it's a form letter (like at work, where i have emails that go out that are standard & i only change the number of days requested or amount of claims processed, etc.)!  and i usually remember what i've written or what i've read (semi-photographic memory there).  however, i tend to forget it as well, unless i need it.  especially if it's a highly emotional something i'm writing.  it's like therapy - get it out & forget about it! 

but, for this post... i guess i'll just go back in time and start from the beginning of the trip!  : )

the Lord brought healing upon me (thank You, Lord!) and my tummy was much better by the time i left on friday.  the whole trip to omaha was amazingly beautiful - blue skies and some really neat sites along the way! 

i got to town around 9, i think, and stopped at the doubletree to see about a room friday & saturday.  the rate would have been okay, except they wanted a $50 "security deposit" for paying in cash.  CASH.  yeesh!  anyway, so i didn't have quite that much cash on me for 2 nights, the deposit, and spending money!  lol  i booked for saturday (or, held, can't really "pre-book" w/o a credit card) & headed to joy's.  stopped at runza first, and actually beat joy home (she had to run to the store), so chatted w/ jon & dee while i ate.  william was the first to come out of the bedroom, where the kids & a friend were watching Labyrinth.  he ran up & said, "Aunt Carrie!" and gave me a big ol' hug.  : )  kathryn didn't come out til later & william mustn't have told her i was there, cuz she, too, was surprised & ran yelling at me to give me a great big squeeze!  : ) 

had a nice night of visiting & whatnot, but sleeping was not so comfy!  joy'd turned the thermostat down ("not quite icebox," she said, "but to 70.") but apparently gracie turned it back up (cuz no one ever admits to messing w/ the thermostat!  LOL).  it was kinda warm for me!  i did eventually get to sleep about 3, i think.  and i wasn't achey or anything, so apparently the couple hours of sleep was okay!  heh. 

saturday, joy, omahamama & i went to WM for some groceries & the like.  i also picked up my Rx, which i'd been 1/2 way to des moines before remembering i'd forgotten at my WM!  interestingly, it was cheaper in NE!  hmm.  anyway, it was a nice little shopping trip, filled 2 carts of stuff, and lemme tell ya, i almost didn't come back today, because the stuff they were getting for their cookout was YUMMY!  they had kabobs!!  : )  after we brought the groceries back, we hung out for awhile & the kids semi-napped.

then, it was Party Time!  we loaded up the cars & headed to a really neat park for kathryn's birthday celebration.  everyone had lots of fun, and the weather was nearly perfect!  the kids played & played & played, i took lots of pictures, we had cake & ice cream, william buried stuff in the sand and climbed things, there was lots of spinning... heh.  good times!! 

it was very breezy, so no candle lighting!

after a couple hours, everyone was ready to get cleaned up & take naps.  i headed to the hotel to check in, but the room wasn't quite ready, so i read for awhile.  then, when it was ready... an hour & a half of quiet resting in a lovely iceboxy room, watching iron chef battles on the Food Network.  : )  went back to joy's at dinnertime & the four of us went to subway for eats.  Yummy, right?  well... okay, i know it's joy's WM, but i was not impressed.  i should've had the meatball sub like she & the kids had.  however, i ordered my seafood & crab.  w/ a little onion & a little spinach & a little mayo - all of which the guy making the sammich put too much. 

we watched the new Alice in Wonderland when we got back to joy's, waiting for fireworks time!  excited!  unfortunately, either the sammich or a random flu bug hit me about 20 minutes into the movie.  :(  so i headed back to the hotel, not sure if i'd make fireworks.  i moaned & groaned (and, interestingly, watched more food network...) and got directions to the show.  sadly, when joy texed me that they were leaving, my tummy was better but i had the start of a headache & fever.  WTH?!?  i was thinking it might've been heat exhaustion or whatever the cool kids are calling it now days.  i was really disappointed about the fireworks, i'd been looking forward to them all day!  so, i took some tylenol & went out on the balcony for a smoke...

and God gave me fireworks!!!!  : )  : )  : )   FOUR shows of fireworks, in fact!  there was one straight ahead (probably the ones joy was at) and then 3 other shows going on elsewhere.  i love being on a high floor at the hotel!  it was an amazing show, and i felt so blessed.  i know, to some, fireworks might seem like a small thing to get excited about.  aside from the fact that they are pretty and sparkly and generally make me happy, there's also this - much like a lot of things that i'm emotionally tied to, i have many special fireworks memories of dad. 

after the shows, i pretty much crashed!  comfy, comfy night's sleep.  i adore the doubletree bed, soooo sleep-friendly!  mr bear thinks so, too.  ; ) 

got up at 9 & breakfast was delivered 1/2 an hour later.  not impressed w/ the waffles, but the bacon was good!  however, they overcharged me.  d'oh!  i got it taken care of when i checked out, but i wonder how many ppl order the same thing & never even notice the extra $$?  and, even when i got the refund, it was just for the straight overcharge, not for the tax & tip, which are based on the total of the check.  (i did think of pointing that out at the time, but decided not to.)

i stopped by joy's to say goodbye (more hugs, love hugs!!) & hit the road a little after noon.  stopped at runza again for tastey goodness, too!  heh.  the drive was quite different from friday's!  rain rain rain, clouds, rain, following me... sometimes rain is kinda hypnotizing, ya know?  but it does make for awesome pictures, yes?  : ) 

it started to get sunny after des moines, and at a rest area after iowa city, i saw my cousin dawn & her hubby & chatted w/ them for awhile.  they were on their way home from a car show.  i love things like that!  (well, car shows, yes, but running into ppl i know in odd places.  *laugh*)

i made it to aunt nancy & uncle gene's at 6:30 (it took much longer to get home than to get to omaha, because i did a lot of stopping!  *laugh*  oh!  speaking of - this is one of the places i stopped - perfect day for it, too!)

so anyway, there wasn't really much food left by the time i got to the cookout, but i did have a cheeseburger & a really big gooey marshmallow that uncle frank made for me.  Yummy but messssy!  lots of visiting and playing and some sparklers and ... as always, it was a good time with family.  aunt patti & cousin rachael were there, visiting from kentucky and i got to chat w/ cousin amy, too.  she, btw, has this really neat watch from the museum of art or something.  : ) chatted w/ johnna & matt & took some cute pictures of them & nathan.  he's such a doll.  anthony & leyton were there, so of course lots of pictures!  i am the paparazzi!  lol 

(he wasn't sure if he liked it or not...)

SO CUTE!

(my battery was dying, so not a lot of CLEAR pictures from the cookout! *pout*)

i left around 9 & stopped at shell for gas & dew, then drove around looking at fireworks for awhile, before my bladder demanded i come home.  *laugh* 

(joy took a way better picture last night w/ her PHONE!)

all in all, this was an awesomely blessed weekend, and i'm so glad i have tomorrow off to recover!  : )  i hope you had a fun holiday, as well!  leave me a comment about what fun things you did, if you wanna.  ttfn!