Diary of a Pinewood Derby Car

Dear Diary,

Today I have been sheathed and unsheathed several times by a curious boy. He takes me out of the comfort of my box to handle me and stare to only put me back in and close me up once again. I like him. I wish he would just let me hang out - outside my box that is.

**********

Dear Diary,

Today I was outside my box for most the day. In fact, I had quite the field trip with a little girl. I was almost convinced she should be my creator until she shoved me in a basket and piled clothes all over me. It wasn't so bad at first. However, something furry and big started moving around in the same basket with me. My panic left me stiff with fear until the thing jumped out. I was grateful when a big person found me in the basket and placed me back in the safety of my box. I hope they find my wheels soon.

**********

Dear Diary,

Today was a special day. The boy who tries to keep track of me has transformed me into the most amazing car. He did all the work himself. I've heard of cars being created by big people or cars created by boys with aggressive help from big people. I was so excited to find that I would be created by him and only him. I could feel the creative juices pumping through his hands as he formed and shaped me to his liking. He looks at me in such a brotherly way. He loves his creation. I love him back. I hope his mom remembers to buy that paint he keeps reminding her about.

Dear Diary,

I am almost complete! I received a healthy coat of orange paint today. My boy was so excited to almost have me done he could barely wait 10 minutes after covering me with paint to put my wheels on (thank goodness he kept track of those four essential parts!) He got paint on his hands, but he didn't care. It's the same paint that covers my body. We are now bonded. We are "paint brothers."

*********

Dear Diary,

Today is the big day. We have the race tonight and my boy found his way to me as soon as school was over. He is trying out all kinds of ways to add to my weight. He is worried I am not heavy enough. He has settled on some quarters and nickels that he is going to tape to my car body. I hope I don't let him down tonight. I love him. He is so nice to me.

**********

Dear Diary,

We won! We won the "Sportiest Car" award. Almost everyone passed me on the track, but my boy didn't care. He was just happy to have some fun. He had a great cheer team to give him support. I am so grateful to have a wonderful, creative and fun boy to hang with for the rest of my car years. I will always remember this night.

Cheer team: Ammy, Shelby, and Kami with Nathan.

Congratulations on the "Sportiest Car Award" Nathan. Good Job!

Seth's Eagle Project Status . . . COMPLETE!

Seth made it perfectly clear, "I'm not doing anything with digging!" The last few Eagle Projects he helped out on involved lots and lots of digging. Digging that was needed for electrical lines at a park, digging for play equipment at another nearby park . . . digging, digging, DIGGING! Seth knew exactly what he DID NOT want to do for his Eagle Project. So, in an effort to find something that he DID want to do, he asked his principal at school if he had any ideas. Well, he did. In fact, he has quite a few ideas involving getting all the classroom prepared for an emergency lock down. The principals plan includes a porta-potty, food and water, and first-aid kits in each of the 50 classrooms. Seth took on putting together the first-aid kits.

Seth had to do some research (with the help of Carp) to figure out how much it would cost to put a first-aid kit in each classroom. At $15.00 a kit, Seth had to raise $750.00. That was no small feat! So, during SEP conferences in October, Seth set up tables with information about what his Eagle Project was and how it benefited his school. He was given permission to ask for donations. He made over $400.00 in the two nights he and Carson camped out at the entrances upstairs and downstairs at the school.

Seth greeted the parents and students that entered the junior high upstairs. I sat with Seth and was entirely impressed with his sales pitch. He knew what his goal was and what he talking about!

Carson manned a booth downstairs. He was really helpful!

Seth received additional donations from family members and friends. He also wrote letters to nearby businesses and received gift cards from Walmart and Costco. It took him a while, but by December he was ready to place orders for the supplies. He and his Dad went through information on the internet and our school district catalogue and placed the orders with the help from a sweetheart of a finance gal at the junior high. (Kudos to K'Ann! You are a gem!) He also used the gift cards to purchase items at Walmart. Some of the stuff was on back order from the district. We got the last of the stuff a couple weeks ago. Seth was set. He had to iron out a plan on how to get the kits put together.

This last weekend Seth had the kids separate the cotton swabs into snack baggies in preparation for his project on Tuesday. On Tuesday we set up tables and with the help of friends and scout leaders, Seth ended up with 50 wonderful first aid kits.

The most time consuming part was putting a variety band-aids, wipes, tweezers and tongue depressers in baseball card holders. The baseball card holders allow the small items to stay separated and easy to access.

Lots of people showed up to help!

The end product: 50 first-aid kits ready to go in each classroom at Seth's school.

There might be some of you out there wondering why Seth didn't just buy a pre-made first-aid kit instead of going through all the trouble to plan the contents of each kit, ordering each item, prepping the to show volunteers how he wanted to put them together, and then actually putting them together. Yeah, it would have been quicker. Yeah, it would have been easier. BUT - what would Seth have learned? That's why this process is often refered to "earning his Eagle Scout Award." He had to go through all those steps to "earn" it.

David vs. David Guitar Hero

Yeah, I was wastin' some time on the internet today. I confess, I waste time. There, it's out in the open and I named it. Oh well.

So, during my ritual time wasting moment, I found this advertisement for Guitar Hero on good ole' youtube. Of course I was intrigued because, hey, I love to play guitar hero. It's fun!

So, I want to hear your opinion. Did you like David Cook or David Archuleta's rendition of "Old Time Rock and Roll" guitar playin'. I know which I like, but what about you?



If you need something to compare it to, here's one of the most memorable moments in movie making - Tom Cruse in Risky Business. Brings back memories!



I can't help myself with this one. There is just something funny about grown men dancin' around in underwear.