Car disaster

It has been a crazy two days. Yesterday I went to put the wheels on Alexander's car, and figured out I had no idea how to make it work. I called Russ in a panic and he told me what to do. Then- disaster. I broke the wood. A big piece came of of the wheel well. I called back in a panic. Thank Gosh for Russ. He went to Dads and got clamps and glue. He glued it last night. Today he went to put the wheels on and the clay making the tentacles broke into three pieces. Also he weighed the car. Disaster again- we were more than an ounce overweight! We carved out wood but it was clear we were getting nowhere. We had to carve into the epoxy holding the weights in, and pull weights out. Russ cursed my name. A lot. So there I was with a car that had been newly cut, clay broken, and a huge hole in the back I wouldn't be able to fill or it would be over weight. On top of that, the paint color was mixed, and changed under the finish I put on. So we rushed home and got to work. I remixed paint and repainted and touched up. Touched up the sharpie (Alexander 'painted' details with a sharpie because it is much easier to control). Painted the inside of the hole black. Glued the tentacles back on and together. Then I covered the wheels and axles and re-finished it. Between every coat of paint the car was drying under a hot light. Finally after every last thing was on I re-weighed. Pulled one more weight out for exactly 5 ounces. Painted the weights inside the hole black and really jammed them in because I wasn't going to be able to add glue or I might go over weight! As best as I can tell the wheels are fairly straight and flush. So after alllll of that I decided Alexander needs a box to carry the car in. No boxes. So I cut one up (like you do at Christmas, and was going to cut a blue gift bag up to cover it. Before I did, I noticed the box was about the same size as the bottom of the bag. Sure enough, I was able to slide the box down in the bag and then just fold all the sides in. Finally, something went right! I added a bright blue TU towel, and it's all ready. The graphite is tucked in the box under the towel, along with one little weight just in case we run light on the pack's scale tomorrow. That's right- tomorrow. This all happened JUST before race day! Miracle of miracles it got done (THANKS RUSS!).