Ugggh! What a loooong week!

But a fun one!!

I hate driving...even if it is a big part of my job! Monday, I had to be in Chicago. If I hate driving on the highways, I REALLY hate city driving! But it was a great meeting, so I'm glad I made it!!

On Wednesday, I had to drive down for the Watershed Leadership Academy. Which was SOOOO exciting, and so much fun! But I'll get to that in a minute

One of my BFFs wanted to go to Bloomington, so I told her I would give her a ride! Well, her and her 27-month-old daughter. Which is where the fun begins...did you know that two year old children do NOT like being woken up and strapped in a car seat for 2+ hours? And that when they are NOT HAPPY they scream and kick?

Well, it was an interesting drive down there. I love little Luci to DEATH, but I was ready to snap by the time she fell asleep! The drive home was a lot better...it was late afternoon, so she wasn't sleepy and grumpy, and the first time around it was too dark to see anything. Driving home, we pointed out the cows and the trees, and the rivers and bridges and anything else we could think of to keep her occupied! And she told me all about her trip to the library, and sang me the sweetest little songs...even though she got a little fussy at a couple of points, she did really well driving back since we could see everything!

The academy itself was AMAZING! I have about 30 classmates, all from really different backgrounds, so it was really cool learning more about them, and why they were there and what they wanted to get out of it!

I did have a roommate for the night, which was a big change, but she was really nice! So it worked out pretty well!!

And -- being environmentalists -- we had some breaks scheduled for outdoor time. There was a rugged hike scheduled, and of course I went! See pictures below....

It's going to be rough, during our busiest time of the year at work, to keep up with the workload. But the instructors and staff and team leaders are really supportive, and so are my co-workers, so I'll find a way to make it work!

Tomorrow is the Grand Opening for City Foods (the local food co-op, I'm on the board and the events committee) so it's going to be a great weekend! I'll be bringing hummus -- any other ideas for easy finger foods?!