A Great Weekend!

After having a mediocre week, what with my allergy flare-up/cold, I powered through and made it to the weekend! My symptoms still persisted, but, believe it or not, had actually improved! It all began on Saturday morning, when I started getting ready for my day. I had planned on going to meet my mom at work when she got off so that we could head into town. Our plans once we got to town included going to a party that my mom's boss was having and going to Cody's pinewood derby race for his scout troop. In the midst of getting ready, I happened to glance at my phone and see that Tevis had texted me. (Honestly, I was pretty shocked because it was much earlier than I expected him to be awake.) He invited me to supper with his family that night for his mom's birthday. So, that added another thing to my day, which made me happy.

I headed into Waukomis, got my mom, and we were off to town for the afternoon. The party at my mom's boss's house was nice, and the food there was just great! I had a nice time talking with her daughters, who are close to Gina & Emily's age, and her grandkids. I think that after having been an aunt for 7.5 years, I have finally developed my "aunt's touch" with children. I can almost carry on conversations with small children easier than I can with someone my own age! During a lag in the party, I stepped out for a few minutes to run a couple of errands, as we wouldn't have time between the party and Cody's derby. Also, Charla (my mom's boss) lives fairly close to a strip mall, so it was convenient for me to do so at that point. During my venture out, I got a birthday card for Kim (Tevis's mom) and a couple of other things my mom had asked me to get for her. On a whim, I even got myself a ski cap (with the ear flaps), which was on the 75% off shelf, for a whopping price of $1.50! I was excited about that! Shortly after I got back to Charla's house, my mom was ready to go, so we bid everyone adieu and headed over to the derby.

I have never been to a pinewood derby race in my life, but I do know that it is basically a rite of passage for all Boy Scouts and their dads. I also found it interesting that they have expanded the derby to the Girl Scout troops, although they had theirs that morning in a separate event. Cody was very excited about this, as he has been for the past few weeks. He and Scotty had worked pretty hard on his car, which they actually turned into a pickup. After waiting for a little bit, they were ready to start. They had a bracket set up so that everyone would race against each other, as there were quite a few cars in his division. When it was finally Cody's turn to race, he headed to the finish line with the other racers to retrieve their cars. As luck would have it, his pickup won! We were all pretty excited for him. He was in a few more races, and he also won those. He made it all the way to the end, when he was in the final race-off with another boy in his troop. As luck had it once again, he won! So, yes, Cody won his division, and he also won the right to compete in the final race-off against the winners of the other divisions! As excited as Gina, Emily, Kyle, my mom, Scotty's family, and I were, it was a completely different story with Scotty. He was very noncommittal and stoic. He was also a nervous wreck. As excited as we were for Cody, we had to remind him to be a good sport about everything. In the final race-off, he ended up getting fourth place, which still wasn't bad for his first year competing! Congratulations, Cody!!! Here are some pictures for your enjoyment...

Here is the excited Tiger Cub before the races started! (What a big boy he is becoming!)

Notice the look of excitement on his face, as he realized that he won!

There is his pickup in the lead, with the Stars & Stripes.

Part of Cody's support team...

Kyle was definitely Cody's biggest cheerleader of the day. He was right next to the track the entire time!

Kyle also learned the stance from Cody, if you couldn't tell!

Here are all of the division winners with their cars. Although he got fourth place, he was still grinning from ear to ear!

I love this picture of Scotty & Cody...the perfect father & son moment.

Very shortly after getting home and changing my shirt & shoes, Tevis arrived to pick me up for the evening. We headed off to town to join his mom for her birthday celebration. It turned out that his stepdad had to work on Saturday, so it was just Tevis, his mom, his brother, baby sister, and me. We enjoyed a nice supper at Rib Crib, complete with dessert! Tevis and I shared a slice of mile-high cheesecake, while his mom, brother, and sister shared a brownie sundae, which left his 2.5-year-old sister on a bit of a sugar high. Thankfully, the night was fairly young at that point. After supper, we rented a few movies to go back to their house and watch. When we got to their house, we settled in for a nice evening of watching movies and eating popcorn. Shortly before Tevis took me home, his step-sister and her fiance came over to stay the night. It was nice getting to see them for a while. After enjoying a nice ride home with Tevis, I was home for the night.

Sunday wasn't too terribly exciting through the day, although it progressively improved. We had a nice lunch of steak, baked potatoes, and asparagus, which was very delicious! I decided to head back to my dorm early, because I didn't want to get caught in the impending snow. Since it was early, I stopped by the grocery store on the way into town and picked up some brownie mix so that I could make a small pan of them. I invited Tonisha over, and we had a Grammy-watching party. Honestly, it wasn't that exciting, because most of the show was tributes, or so it seemed. We still had fun, though, so that was all that really mattered!

Now, I am sitting here, waiting to get ready for my Calc class this afternoon, since NOC only decided to start two hours late...while every other school in the greater Enid area is closed. (I'm not too excited about this, if you couldn't tell.) I hope that everyone stays safe and warm!