broken

:-(

it's sad. i left my laptop in my sub-zero truck last night, and now it won't start up. it sits there with a gray screen an the apple logo and a little wheel spinning. i will try to boot it to the install disks when i get back to wyoming and see if disk utility can help me out at all. it's like it wants to go but it's confused.

meanwhile, i've been in iowa since monday. the trip over here went pretty well, save for some pretty big snowdrifts in eastern nebraska.

since then we've spent a lot of time with extended hemken family members, including a new years eve party for 30 here at my parents' house, during which we had lunch, played with four wheelers and guns, had a dutch blitz tournament, ate a lot of appetizers and had a gingerbread building competition. my mom and i spent the two days previous preparing the food.

i made a trip to ames yesterday to meet up with friends mike, holly and kid parker. we hung out for a bit and had a go at taking some family photos of them, which i could edit now if my computer would start up!

today my mom, sister m and i went back to ames, stopping at thrift stores along the way. i picked up a few things. my sister got some furniture, and now the back of my pickup is packed full for the drive back.

we're going to leave early like we did coming this way - i hope to be out of here by 4 a.m. that'll put us in casper by 4, if the roads hold, and my sister can get back to lander in good time.

i have quite a few photos, but i won't try to upload them off my parents' computer. it's rather slow and frustrating. :-)

******** fingers crossed i can get my laptop to work ************