The past few days have been so blissfully lazy that I just haven't worked up the motivation or desire, really, to write anything. The thought that I'm starting summer class tomorrow also fuels the laziness. Not like summer school will be terribly hard, mind you, but starting tomorrow, I'll be in class from 9-11:45am Monday through Thursday and then be at work from about 2-10 Monday through Friday. That's around 60 hours here, people - 60 hours spent at school every week. Gah. I imagine that I'll survive somehow... right?

The trip to Nevada, Lake Tahoe and Montana was mostly really really enjoyable with a side of agitation, a combination common to family roadtrips. I saw more family members in two weeks than I normally see in two years. The Stiles/Stapp family card game, Progressive Rummy, was played numerous times. Trivial Pursuit was played as well, with the Young People (me, my brother Ethan and my sister-in-law Jennie) against the Old Folks (my mom, Mike and my Grandma). If you think I know a lot of trivia you should see my brother and sister-in-law in action. Damn.

My nephews are cute and entertaining and a handful. They seemed to like me, right from the start, especially Tyler. I became his designated shoe-tier and he turned something I said into his own catchphrase - "Stop being so crazy!" My dad and I took him to see Shrek 2, his very first movie in a movie theater. He was mesmerized by the noise and sheer enormity of the screen which lasted for about, oh, half the movie. Then he started tugging on my sleeve occasionally, saying, "Yalexis, can we go yet?" Dad and I definitely enjoyed it more than he did. Tyler gives the best hugs. Jacob is much less outgoing than his big brother but he does have the cutest smile. I also discovered he's a lot tougher than his brother. After falling backward down the stairs and hitting his head on the railing, he didn't cry at all. He just sat there on my lap looking stunned, pointing to his head and saying, "Bonk." It's somewhat frightening and yet awe-inducing that these short people are my brother's kids and he's a daddy. Also frightening - somewhere in their wriggly little bodies they probably have some of the same genes I do. Interesting.

The recap:
I went on two boats (one on Lake Tahoe and one on the Missouri River), one "train" tour through historic Helena, MT, saw Reno, NV, visited the Montana Capitol building, saw two movies, made a candle, went hiking, met both of my brothers' numerous pets, saw Idaho for the first time, ate out constantly and had a lot of fun with my family. I also spent somewhere around 65 hours in the car. On top of all that, when I was leaving the Cities to drive back to Duluth last Thursday, one of my rear tires blew out. I ended up staying at home an extra day (thus successfully escaping another day of work) and drove back to Duluth on Friday, just barely in time to make it to work.

In other news, Chelsea is leaving Australia on Saturday and will be back to Minnesota next Monday! I'm so excited!