I feel exhausted. That’s not how I am supposed to feel at the end of a weekend, right? This weekend was packed full of activities including a baby shower (post coming later!) and a work day for our Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute class project. This means I didn’t have a lot of free time to recharge, but it sure was a weekend packed full of fun.

On Friday morning we had some sad news in regards to our project — someone broke into the house Thursday night and stole a couple thousand of dollars worth of tools. KCCI did a great story on the theft — watch it here. It’s heartbreaking when people steal something that isn’t theirs, especially when it’s for an organization that helps so many people! The theft did set us back a little ways as it delayed our contractor’s work on Friday, but we powered through as a class, as we had a work weekend planned to get a lot of painting done!

Today I learned how to be a master painter with some of my classmates. It’s such a blast getting to renovate the new building for Amanda the Panda with everyone, as it provides a great opportunity to get to know each other and build this project together.

I do have to say that my hands are quite sore tonight from all the roller painting (apparently I don’t paint often enough), but my classmate Joe and I had to paint a room in the dark (no electricity in the room yet), so we had to be very meticulous. I think the room is nicknamed “the Ten Clay room” by those who were working today, so let’s hope it looks fantastic in the light!

Learn more about Project Panda here and how you can support the project. We appreciate your support to complete the project for a very important organization in our community!

Have a great week!

Angela