Meh.

That pretty much sums up the weekend, I'm afraid. A bit of a dud, really.

After a few chilly, rainy, gloomy days, we were looking forward to a nicer weekend. Saturday was indeed warmer, but it rained pretty much all day, which ruled out most anything outdoors we might have considered. So instead I took the two older girls to the science center for a few hours, which was a pretty good time--though a lot of other people had the same idea, so it was a bit crowded. Still, they had a good time and it got us out of the house for a while.

Sunday looked to finally bring an end to the rain, so we planned to head out to the Magic Kingdom for one last visit before our passes expire. My thought was to wait until late morning and stop for lunch before going to the park, but I was overruled because everyone was eager to get out of the house. That meant dealing with the morning rush of people parking and heading to the park, and the crowds near the entrance. It also turned out to be a busier day than expected, so lines were long. And the rain did indeed stop, but it left lots of humidity and stickiness in its wake, which made the weather a bit stifling and uncomfortable. Hermione and I tried to go on Pirates, only to have it break down while we were in line, so we ditched that. The main thing Hallie wanted to ride was the Haunted Mansion, and we checked it a few times but the line was always too long. So we really only went on a couple things before calling it a day, and it made for a not very good last visit. Ah well, on the other hand it reinforced our decision to take a Disney break when our passes do expire. :)

We took the car to Disney because I checked the oil in the van that morning and found it quite low, and rather than just add oil I wanted to do an oil change since it's been a while. So when we got home I got cracking on that. At first I thought I had everything I needed, but it turned out I needed a filter, so I headed to the auto parts store for that, and I also figured I'd get oil and a filter for my car, which is about due as well. Turns out the car uses the exact same filter as the van, so that'll be convenient! I'd already drained the oil from the van, so all I needed to do was install the filter and fill up the oil, no problem there. Then I started on the car. And I must say, I finally found something to really dislike about my car. The filter is only accessible from the bottom of the engine, which is unusual for me. And it's hidden by a plastic panel, something else to remove. As is the drain plug, which is also pretty far back from the front of the car, making it rather difficult to reach. Plus the plug was apparently really overtightened whenever it was last changed, because I could not get it to budge, and in fact I was starting to round off the damn bolt head. So I eventually gave up since I was doing more harm than good. I'll have to attack it with the floor jack and stands next time so I can really get under there, maybe even get the impact wrench involved if that might help. But first I think I need to order a new drain plug. :/ One of those things, I guess--once I get it done once, doing it in the future shouldn't be so bad. But sheesh, it should not be this hard!

What else.. oh yeah, we got our info together to file our taxes. We knew we'd owe since I had nothing withheld all year, we just wanted to get it overwith so we'd know how much, and from that we could take a guess at how much will be leftover from my upcoming annual bonus. The tax bill came to just over $1k, which was a bit more than I expected but apparently less than Heather feared, so I guess that's not too bad. We'll use the bonus to catch up on a couple things, and probably put the rest aside as a buffer for my upcoming trips--I get paid back for them, but the delay between paying for the airfare and whatnot and the reimbursement sometimes takes more than one billing cycle of the credit card, and it doesn't make sense to pay finance charges on business travel that technically shouldn't be costing me anything.

Oh, and my poor Amy. Apparently Friday she was goofing around and smacked her mouth on the coffee table. Heather said there was a lot of blood, so at first she was afraid she'd copied her older sister Hallie, who knocked a front tooth out at about the same age (though that one happened on my watch). So far the teeth seem okay, but she had a pretty swollen upper lip all weekend, and obviously complained a lot that eating hurt, poor kid. Hopefully that will all heal up good as new in another couple days.

So yeah, a bit of a subpar weekend, no paddling (again), not a whole lot of fun, and not even really any photos worth sharing. Hopefully this week will go quickly and next weekend will be better! Hope everyone out there had a better weekend.

Nice!

Funny, just this morning I was thinking of checking in on various musical groups and artists I like to see if they're working on anything new. Nickel Creek probably would not have been on that list since I figured them to be over and done, so I was a bit surprised to come across this--a new song from a forthcoming new album! Not bad, nice to hear them together again. Oooohhh, and they'll be playing the Ryman around when I'll be at that conference in Nashville. It's the day after the conference wraps up, but maybe I can extend the visit by a day or two. Hmmmm..

I am still struggling with the cold I had last week! My nose is still a bit leaky (though not as bad as it was), and the goop is very stubbornly clinging to my throat. I closed my office door so as not to drive everyone crazy with the incessant coughing and throat-clearing attempts. Not that any of it is doing any good. Bah.

One bright spot, I went ahead and applied for the credit card I wanted to get for business travel--we usually fly Southwest, and they're doing the deal where you can get 50,000 reward points for getting the credit card. I would have done it before, but the card has a $99 annual fee and that's always been a dealbreaker. But I was approved to get the company to foot the bill, so I was just waiting until my next round of trips were coming up to pull the trigger. I used to have crappy credit, so every time I apply for credit I still have that sensation of doubt. But obviously my credit has gotten a lot better, because they approved me right away and the credit limit was much higher than I expected to boot (not that I ever expect to run it up that high). So there's that.

Now I think I'll run out and get a new 13mm wrench. Sounds exciting, right?