#2065 weekend wrap-up

The pace of my summer is wearing me down a little!

On Friday night, MT and I went back up to Sundance for the second concert of the Bluebird Cafe series there. It was another wonderful night of music on the mountain. The songwriter/artists were Deric Rutan, Jonathan Singleton and Jessi Alexander. They were all good, but we thought Jessi Alexander was the stand-out of the night. That the was final show for July; there are two more shows in August. We are so glad we bought tickets to the entire series. It's a great venue and there is nothing like acoustic music under the stars.

The downside of the Sundance shows is that the venue is about an hour away, so we don't usually get home until close to midnight. When I get home I have a hard time getting right to sleep, so it's usually well after 1:00 when I finally drift off. I get up early on Saturdays to go to WW and then I'm on-the-go all day.

Yesterday during my docent shift at the Garden, it rained - more of a sprinkle, really - then it got muggy, then it got really pleasant, then it sprinkled again, then it cleared up and got hot. When I left, I stopped for some Mexican food, came home and ate, then took a little nap before I went back to RBG to attend the gate for a wedding. The weather was nice in the evening, then got breezy and a little chilly. One creepy thing is that as I was walking to the gate, I saw a snake on the trail. It wasn't a rattler, but it was still creepy. It kept me on edge because what if it slithered back to the bushes by where I was? I didn't see it, though, so everything was fine. I got home close to 11, then I chatted with T for awhile before getting to bed.

This morning MT and I got up early to go have breakfast. We've been going to Black Bear Diner in our neighborhood, but this morning we were disappointed with the pancakes. They were overcooked and tough. Might have to give it a rest for a week or find another place. We love a pancake on a Sunday morning!

We went to breakfast early because I wanted to get home by 9 AM to watch the World Cup final between France and Croatia. You probably already know that France won the match. After futbol, MT and I went to Costco because we wanted to buy some concert-going chairs.

We are going to a show at Red Butte Garden on Thursday night and these chairs will be super-nice to have!

After Costco, the day gets kind of blurry. I went to the gym to walk in circles for half an hour, then I took a shower and then I read and slept and read some more. I haven't done anything chore-wise like pay the bills or clean up stuff. I was beat and I just wanted to chill.

Summer is great because there's so much going on, but it's tiring too. The next couple of weeks are jam-packed with fun stuff.

I can rest in the winter :)

#2064 where's my energy?

I felt pretty good when I woke up this morning, but I tired out really fast. Maybe it was because I didn't have a solid breakfast. (I did have a protein shake though.) Maybe it was because it was hot and kind of muggy (at least for SLC). I have a stand-up desk, but I couldn't make myself stand very much. I was kind of pathetic.

When I got home, I read for a little while, then went over to the gym. I didn't feel like I had a hard work-out in me, so I walked inside on the track for half an hour. I listened to Drake's new album and didn't think about anything other than if I could quickly pass any person who was walking in front of me. I wasn't setting any speed records myself. Good thing there weren't too many people up on the track. At least there was air conditioning.

All three of us our home tonight, so we got some food from Panda Express. I don't have it very often, so when I do, it's a treat. Now T is on his computer, I'm on my computer and MT is downstairs watching a movie on TV. I'm going to do a couple of little chores, then lay on my bed and read.

Pretty relaxing evening, I think!

Hopefully I'll be a little more perky tomorrow.

#2063 today was delightful because...

I have a fun little book called Q & A a Day, a five year journal. 365 questions, five years, 1,825 answers. I totally enjoy answering a question every day. I'm almost through the first year; I started it on July 16 last year. What is extra fun is that I gave the same book to Mom and Lizzie on that same day. I wonder if they are still playing with it?

Sometimes trying to figure out what to write here can be hard. I have topics for each day of the week to fall back on when I get stuck, but I don't have a fall-back topic for Monday. Enter the little brown Q & A book.

Today's "question" is Today was delightful because ______

It was delightful because I didn't feel tired. I got a good night's sleep so I felt rested. I wasn't dreading going to work (sometimes that can happen on Monday, even when work doesn't suck). I felt comfortable in my clothes. My workload was manageable and kind of fun. I had my meals all planned and packed, so I wasn't stressed about what to eat. I had a chance to take a lunch break and I read a bit of one of my current books. (There are three.) I finished up what I was working on and left work a little early so I could get to the vet to pick up Osi's meds. I had the time to get a load of laundry going before I joined the discussion in the Twitter-based book club of one of the three books I'm reading. The discussion was interesting and intelligent. People "liked" what I had to say and there were even some retweets. (That always makes you feel good!) After the discussion, I prepared one of my favorite meals, sheet pan chicken fajitas which MT and I thoroughly enjoyed. I got my kitchen cleaned up, watered my plants and read for a few minutes before coming up to my room to wait for my sister and my mom to call for our regular Monday chat. It looks like it wants to storm outside; I saw some lightning when I was taking out the garbage. I'm hopeful that a little rain will cool everything off, a least for awhile.

Today was delightful.

#2062 Saturday with Sandy

I know that all of you have had days when the only thing you want to do is lay around and not do a dang thing. I was feeling that way this morning. MT and I went to the Sundance Resort last night to watch a concert and we got home around midnight. I was unable to fall asleep until around 1AM and I didn't sleep very well. It is hot AF here. It doesn't cool down at night and even though we have a fan in our room, it's still just yucky.

BUT...my alarm went off around 6:30 this morning and I knew I had a bunch of things to do, so I got up and got moving.

First thing on the agenda was to take MT's truck to Big O for some repairs. You know you're either making car payments or maintenance payments. The brakes needed to be repaired today. Our local Big O should send us a box of chocolates for Christmas. Between our three cars, we have spent a bunch of money over there in the past six weeks.

I planned to take MT over to the Kearns house so he could do some work on the property, but he had given the house keys to Big O (they are on his key chain), so he dropped me off at WW, got the keys to the Kearns house from Big O, then picked me up from the meeting afterward. I then dropped him off at Kearns and got some breakfast. I was just sitting down to eat and watch a little Sweden/England World Cup when MT called that he had forgotten something and could I come get him? SIGH. I finished my food and drove back over there, feeling a bit uncharitable. We went to Lowe's, got what he needed, looked at appliances, then I took him back to Kearns.

When I got back home, I had time for a quick shower, then I was off to Red Butte to sit in the courtyard for a couple of hours.

Did I mention it is hot? It is! It was  96 degrees (35.6 C) in the shade and no breeze to speak of. It is also super dry here (it is a high desert after all) with about 15% humidity. It's just hot and dry and soul-sucking. Because of all that, there weren't too many guests coming to the garden this afternoon. I was able to read a little bit.

Now I am home for a couple of hours until I head back to the garden for an evening wedding. I don't get to go to the wedding. I hang out at the gate and greet guests as they come and wish them well when they leave. It's easy and pleasant. Often there will be a breeze coming down the canyon. Last week I was cold. I don't think I'll be cold tonight, but I always take a jacket anyway. I listen to a ball game (with earbuds) or I read during the reception when no one is around.

Tomorrow I will be staying close to home, but I'll have to do weekend chores like grocery shopping and paying the bills. I don't have any plans to stray too far from home or do anything strenuous though. But that's tomorrow.

One more thing to note: my eyelids are itchy! There is something in the air that is aggravating my eyelids. Of course, there are wildfires in the state. I couldn't smell the smoke today, but the sky is hazy. I suspect smoke is to blame for my slight cough and itchy eyelids.

Stay hydrated my friends!

#2061 three things: music, music, music

There is a theme to tonight's post:

1. The Avett Brothers. I wrote last week (or sometime recently) that I had picked up a new volunteer gig at Red Butte Garden on the concert crew. The Avett Brothers show was on my list, but not one of the seven that I was scheduled to work. That changed on Monday when Lauren, the volunteer coordinator, called me to see if I would be interested in working at the show the next day. "Of course," I said. I had a super-easy and pleasant assignment hanging out on the Shoreline Trail between the volunteer gate, which was turned into the fan club gate, and the donor gate. Mostly I said hi to people that walked by and answered a few questions. Then I got to pull up a nice patch of grass and listen to good music. Lizzie likes their music, so I knew I would like it too, and I do! I especially like them live. I listened to their music on Google Play and it was good, but live music is always better, isn't it?

2. Home-sharing. T has a ginormous music library. His preferred genre is rap and hip-hop, so when I want the hook-up with that style of music, T homeshares his library with me. Yesterday we were both hanging out in the house at the same time, so we made the homeshare happen. I wanted to get the new CDs from Drake, the Carters (you know, Jay Z and Beyonce),  Cardi B, Post Malone and J. Cole. T suggested several other CDs, so now I have a bunch of new music. He overloads me but it's fun. Usually when I listen to my library, I just put it on shuffle songs unless I want to listen to something specific. That drives T nuts. He wants to me listen to an album front to back, which is ideal, but I don't do it very often. I will listen to Drake's Scorpion, though, because we'll be seeing him in a few weeks and I want to be familiar with the new stuff. By the way, Nice for What is currently my favorite song.

3. Bluebird Cafe at Sundance. MT and I went to a couple of Bluebird Cafe shows last year and we enjoyed them so much that we decided to buy ourselves tickets to all four shows in the series this year. Tomorrow night is the first show. The Bluebird Cafe is a songwriter's showcase venue in Nashville and they take selected songwriter/artists out on this tour. Being based in Nashville, you can imagine that most of the songwriters write country music. I'm not familiar with most country music, but good songs are good songs and when the songs are performed by the person who wrote them in a beautiful venue up in the mountains on a gorgeous summer night, it's pretty dang enjoyable. 

#2060 travel Tuesday: a cabin by the lake

MT and I were talking about going to Yellowstone later this month. I looked at hotels, Airbnb and even the KOA campground and everything in West Yellowstone was out of my price range. Forget about staying in the Park itself! If you want to spend a weekend in Yellowstone, you have to plan ahead. Even a tent spot was $72/night. For a tent spot! Yes, it had water and electricity, but I would be sleeping in my tent! Seemed high to me. Of course, it's been awhile since I've been camping, so maybe $72/night is reasonable.

We still want to go to Yellowstone, but we are now looking at weekends later in the year, maybe even after Labor Day.

It is camping season here in the west. Many of my friends have gone camping recently or are out camping right now. I'm not much of a camper. I like being outdoors, but I also like to be comfortable. I absolutely can't pee in the woods. Just no. So I have to be in a campground at the very least. When MT and I were dating way back when, I went camping with him because when you're trying to win the man's heart, you'll do stuff that's out of your comfort zone. For example, other than camping, I tried skiing and rock climbing. Neither were my favorite things, but I tried.

However, with all the talk about going to Yellowstone and hearing about my friends' camping, it made me have the urge to go to a cabin by a lake. In my mind, there are beautiful, fragrant pine trees all around. The lake has a rocky little beach. The cabin is close enough to the water that I can sit out on the deck of the cabin and sip a beverage while I contemplate the beauty of nature and the landscape around me. The sky, trees and mountains are reflected in the clear water of the lake. I read; I write. I go for nice walks along the shoreline and into the woods which are perfectly safe and free of scary things like bears and ticks.

In the evening we cook out on the grill. We have s'mores. (Lately everyone at WW has been talking about s'mores. It has been years since I had a s'more, but now it's almost all I can think about!) I sleep peacefully, snug in a warm blanket against the chill of the mountain air. In the morning I go outside and listen to the birds chirping and feel the sun begin to warm the forest. I drink hot chocolate. We cook bacon and eggs.

Are you feeling me?

The problem is that I am not exactly sure where this cabin is located or if it even exists near where I am.

Oh look! Here's one. It's in Canada. Probably won't work for a weekend getaway in my budget range.

I'll keep looking. If I find one, don't worry. I'll be sure to let you know. I'll most likely write all about it!

#2059 World Cup

Like many people in the world, I have been following the World Cup. I have found that I like to listen to the matches while I'm at work, streaming on the radio. I watch on TV when I can. I will certainly watch the final!

I've made myself a little bracket so I can keep track of what's happening. This weekend, of course, was the beginning of the knock-out round, the Round of 16. I'm very sorry to say that my favorite team, Spain, was knocked out this morning by Russia. I was also hoping that Argentina would advance, but they were knocked out by France yesterday. Is it terrible to say that I'm kind of glad Uruguay knocked out Portugal? I don't really like Cristiano Ronaldo. (I may be the only woman in the world who says that.)

I don't know who I hope will win. It would be fun to see Mexico beat Brazil, and I think I would choose Sweden over Switzerland in deference to my family in Sweden. Columbia and England should be interesting. I don't know anything about Belgium and Japan. I was happy for Croatia to beat Denmark today. Not that I have anything against Denmark, certainly. I guess I will just cheer match-by-match since Spain is out.

Sports are awesome!