#2415 July wrap up

First, let's review the COVID-19 stats for the month. The numbers I'm writing here are the change from June 30 to July 31.

Globally, there were nearly 7.2 million new cases and just over 169K deaths.

In the United States, thee were almost 1.2 million new cases reported and over 26,000 deaths. 

In Utah, there were nearly 18,000 new cases and 132 deaths.

In Salt Lake County, there were just over 7800 new cases and 68 deaths.

Overall numbers since the beginning of the pandemic:

There are 17.7 million cases worldwide and there have been nearly 683,000 deaths.

In the U.S. there are 4.7 million cases and over 156,000 deaths.

In Utah, there are over 40,000 cases and over 300 deaths. The state's population is just over three million.

In Salt Lake County, there are over 19,000 cases and 175 deaths.  The County's population is over one million.

In July we continued our split and staggered schedule at work. I like it. There are projects /tasks I plan to do on the days when I am in the office, so that works well. I like the days when I am at home too. The commute is fantastic and I get a lot of work done here. 

July was kind of a mixed bag of good and bad for me:

The fan wasn't working in my car, so I had to take it to the shop. This started in June and I took it in then, but the repair that was made didn't quite take care of the problem, so I had to take it back (and pay more) in July. I wasn't charged for the replacement of the part they put in back in June, but I was charged for the other part of the problem they found. The good news is that the fan, and therefore the AC, works well now. 

Another bad thing was the kidney/back problem. The back pain is mostly gone now, I'm happy to say, but sometimes it does sneak back up on me. 

,

Mostly everything was good:

I took off all the Fridays in July. I had two freebies because of holidays, so I just had to take three vacations days. I enjoyed having these days off. I didn't go anywhere or do anything noteworthy - except that one morning I took a walk at Red Butte Garden. Another thing I have done this month is step up my physical activity mostly with the FitOn app, but also with walks at the fitness center park with MT and weekly bike rides. I feel good about that. I've been reading a lot. In July I finished eight books, which I believe is a personal record. The first book I finished this month was mostly read in June and finished in July, but that's how I count them, but finish date. I'm up to 40 books for the year, well on my way to my goal of 67! I'll be updated my Reading tab tonight.

In other good news, T got a job. MT is doing well. Mac is growing and growing. MT weighed her the other day and she was over 30 lbs and she's not even four months old yet. She's going to be a big girl. 

What am I looking forward to in August? I'll take Mac to get her last set of puppy shots next week. That's cool because then I will be able to take her out for walks in the park and maybe even to a dog park to play. I also signed us up for puppy training which starts on the 10th. She could definitely stand to learn some manners and I will benefit from learning training techniques. I've never had a dog that frustrates me as much as she does. I've never had a dog this big either. She is so different from Osi. Of course Osi was an energetic pupper who was a mouthy nibbler, but she was a pleaser even as a pup. Mac is my loyal shadow, but not as much of a snuggly pleaser. She wants to be by me, but she doesn't like to be petted when she is resting. 

MT and I will celebrate our 27th wedding anniversary on August 15.  

At work we will continue our split and staggered schedule in August. 

That's pretty much it, I guess. I'll be back on Sunday with more words, probably. Have a great weekend!

#2407 Saturday with Sandy

Greetings from the backyard deck at my house. It's just after 9 pm. The sun is setting, there is a very light breeze, and it the air feels good on wet hair and clean skin. I just got out of the shower, washing away the ick of this hot summer day. Mac is playing with a stock she found. She is rolling around on the deck and leaning against a pillow bed I originally bought for Osi that she totally hated. Mac seems to think it is okay.

Yesterday I took Mac to the vet for her second set of shots. I wasn't able to go in with her, but the vet called me while I waited in the parking lot to tell me how cute she is, that she is healthy and what shots he gave her. She will have her last set of puppy shots in three to four weeks. She is 22 lbs. 

Last night T, Mac, and I went for a drive. Mac was standing in the front seat on T's lap with her head on my shoulder when I heard the tell-tale "I'm about to barf" noise. I thought I felt something on my shoulder, but didn't feel anything. She kept making the noise, so I told T to put her in the back seat where I have a sheet for her to lay on. She stayed back there and I didn't hear anything else. When we got home, she came back to the front seat, we got out, and went inside.

This morning Mac and I were going to Starbucks. I opened the back door for her to get in and there was a giant pile of puke on the seat. EWWW. She must have had a bit of a reaction to the shots and dewormer medication. I'm thankful that MT had a shop vac handy so I could easily clean up the mess and vacuum my car while I was at it. Also, there was a bit of puke between my seat and the center console, so she did barf on me. Mac is fine today, as energetic and playful as ever. 

Last night I stayed up late watching the series High Fidelity on Hulu. I really liked it.  Zoe Kravitz is awesome and I liked all of the characters. The dude who plays Mac is gorgeous.  I was up until about 1:30, so I didn't bother to put Mac in her crate. She slept on the bed with me, I guess. That's where she started anyway. She woke me up this morning around 7 by scratching at my leg from the side of the bed. I didn't see any signs of destruction or messes, so that's good.  I'm not sure what I'll do tonight. (MT is in Idaho this weekend, but I doubt he would care that she was on the bed. He loves her,)

Today I have been active. Aside from Starbucks and cleaning my car, I also went to Target and to the grocery store. For a late lunch I had street fries from Spitz after which I took a glorious nap. This evening I went for a walk at the park and now I'm going to watch something on TV. I can't decide whether to watch Hamilton or Little Fires Everywhere. 

Now it's getting too dark to see the keys on my Chromebook. Good thing I am familiar with where the letters are, so I don't have to look for them. Guess that's my cue to wrap up this post and go inside. Such a beautiful evening. I wish you could sit here on the deck with me and enjoy the solar lights I have here, and sip a cold drink (ice water for me today; it was such a hot day!). 

Enjoy your Sunday. Do something nice for yourself. Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Stay safe.

#2401 end of the month wrap up

Today is the last day of June. This month seemed to go by quickly. I realized that I didn't ride my bike at all in June. Why? It's not like we were super-busy or had places to go.  What were things that happened this month?

• I went back to the office to work a couple of days a week. I'm there on Monday, Thursday and every other Friday. Mostly it's pretty quiet. I often wonder what the purpose of actually being in the building is other than to give the receptionist a break. I have taken to wearing my mask when I leave my room. Even though there aren't many people there, it's pretty easy to come within less than six feet of a person when you're in the breakroom or near the copy machine. 

• I had a mammogram. Clean!

• I celebrated my 54th birthday. Sometimes I feel every single day of those years. Most of the time I feel pretty good. 

• We've had Mac for a month. She's growing a lot and has quite a personality. She gets a little wild at times and her sharp little teeth and claws have drawn blood, though not on purpose. We are all learning. She is my shadow on the days when I am home. She is rarely out of my sight. Right now she is sleeping under my chair, probably wondering why we are not in bed when everyone else is already asleep (and it's only 9:55). 

• I only finished four books this month. One book was over 500 pages and it was fun. Another book I started to read, then stopped, then started over. It was a tough read. One book was just meh and another book was fun.

Let's check in with COVID-19. Yep, it's still here and going strong. These are totals since the start of the pandemic. (Sorry the table isn't aligned and pretty. It tells the story anyway.)

                            June 30                May 30                Increase

Global cases        10,585,641        6,096,799                4,488,842

Global deaths        513,913            368,871                    145,042

US cases                2,727,853        1,783,132                944,721

US deaths                130,122            104,166                25,956

Utah cases            22,217                9,264                    12,953 => about 432 new cases/day

Utah deaths            172                        107                    65

SL County cases    11,227                5,013                6,214 => about 207 new cases/day

SL County deaths    107                    71                        36

 

The fact that Salt Lake County has about half of Utah's total cases is the reason why I stay to myself as much as possible. Still, I don't know anyone personally who has the virus. I know people who know people who have tested positive though. There is a quote from a movie that was quoted in the book I finished tonight. Loosely, it said that fear is a choice. Danger is real, but fear is a choice. I wouldn't say I'm afraid, necessarily, of the virus. I do what I need to do to keep myself protected, and I understand the danger is real. 

What does July have in store? Globally, nationally, locally - who knows? In my house, I know that we have two three-day holiday weekends. I have decided to take the 17th and the 31st off as well, so I'll have four three-day weekends. I'm not going anywhere, but it will be nice to leave the work computer turned off and lay about as I see fit.  I'm looking forward to watching the film of the musical Hamilton on Disney+ on Friday (and probably repeatedly through the month LOL). I'll take Mac to get her second set of puppy shots and I'll start walking her around in the back yard on a leash to get her used to that activity.  Hopefully I will read a few more books and watch a few more movies and go for bike rides. It looks like one ride would be a 100% improvement over last month!

And I'll keep washing my hands and wearing my mask and social distancing as if my life depends on it. I hope you do the same. 

July is an odd-number month, so I'll be back tomorrow with more words.

virtual xo

#2396 Saturday with Sandy

Mac and I were up by 6 AM. She actually slept really well. I didn't have to put on our relaxing music; she went right into the crate and went to sleep and didn't even wake up when MT came to bed a bit later. 

She is a pretty good puppy, but she does get a little excited and nips pretty hard sometimes. I am learning to just walk away from her when she behaves like that. I admit that sometimes I react harshly, especially when her bite or scratch hurts me. People training and puppy training. 

I had to buy a new vacuum cleaner today. I vacuumed my bedroom and the hallway and then the machine just died. I went to Target to replace it. I hadn't been to Target for almost two months. The mask-wearing people were outnumbered by the non-masked. 

We picked up lunch from Chicken Express, then I went grocery shopping. Not to rant, but the mask-wearers were seriously outnumbered by the unmasked. Also, the store has designated one-way aisles. My newest pet peeve is when unmasked people walk the wrong way down the aisle. 

It seems like people are so complacent about the pandemic. Everything shut down in mid-March, and we were seeing less than 100 cases a day in the state. Now the economy is re-opening and cases are growing in a big way. There were over 600 new cases in the state today alone. I mostly focus on what is happening in Salt Lake County since that is where I live and work and I haven't gone anywhere else. Yesterday, June 19, there were 256 new cases reported in the county, the highest since the pandemic started. And yet, there are people walking around in Target and at the grocery store without a mask when every health expert says that wearing a mask can definitely limit the spread of the virus. 

At the office on Thursday, there was a meeting in the main conference room. There were at least 12 men sitting shoulder to shoulder, not a mask in sight. I wasn't in the meeting, but I could see the group sitting around talking, releasing their moist breath air into the atmosphere. Seeing that behavior makes me cringe. 

On with the day's events...

When I got home from the grocery store, I made a banana cake. I had ripe bananas and fond memories of the last banana cake I made. This one is good too. 

This evening MT and I went for a walk around the fitness center perimeter. The park was full of people. There seemed to be a pickle-ball tournament going on. There were two groups of people playing volleyball. All the basketball courts were full. The skate park area was packed. There weren't many people walking on the path. I think we passed two people going the opposite direction, one of them wearing a mask. We weren't wearing our masks because we were outside and not near any of the people. 

Now here it is 10 PM already. Mac is already asleep, laying on top of the air vent. I think I'll head upstairs and get to bed. It will be 6 AM before I know it. 

Stay safe. Be kind. 

#2391 wonderful Wednesday

Today was a good day. I got up a little earlier than I wanted because Mac came into my bedroom in the morning (MT let her in) and she cannot be trusted. She puts everything in her mouth. I got up to play with her a little, then went over to Starbucks to get some coffee. When I got back home, I sat out on the deck in the sunshine, sipped my drink, watched the birds gather at the seed sock, read, and watched Mac run around in the yard. Such a great start to the day!

I fired up my computer just before 8 AM. I had a ton of tasks on my list and I got most of them done over the course of the day.

At lunchtime, I went for a walk. The WW app has an audio exercise guide called Aaptiv, and I chose a 23 minute power walk activity. Across the road from my house there is a pretty path that winds along the back of a neighborhood and past a couple of parks. I've walked over there a few times and it is quite pleasant. Quiet, shady, lots of birds, not many people. It was just warm enough that I got a little sweaty. It felt good. 

This evening Mac and I went back out on the deck when the work day was done. I read for a bit. She laid on my feet. Super pleasant. 

I cooked up some juicy burgers for dinner, then we watched an episode of Killing Eve. (Season 1, Episode 6) After I took a nice shower. I've been enjoying showering in the evening. It cools me off and relaxes me. Also, I can sleep a bit later in the morning. I did my language lessons, and now I'm going to get ready for bed. 

There wasn't anything exciting about the day, but it just went well. 

#2362 Saturday with Sandy

First of all, thanks Mom, for pointing out that some of the photos in the last post were not visible. I think I have fixed the issue and all the pics are there now.

I read or heard somewhere recently that in this time of social distancing, just hearing about a loved one's everyday activities through the stay at home time can be reassuring in that you know your people are doing okay. So, here's what I did today, in all it's monotonous detail.

I did not set an alarm today, and I slept all the way until 8AM. I laid in bed and looked at stuff on my phone. My usual routine is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, email, weather, and then maybe play a game like Two Dots. MT got up and started moving around because he was going to do a bid then go to work on the rental. The new tenants are moving in on Monday.

I wrote in my journal while MT and I chatted about what everything looks like when the restaurants open again and things go "back to normal". I think it's too soon to think about getting everyone back in offices and movie theaters and restaurants, even with social distancing. You can't really wear a face mask to a restaurant, can you? MT left shortly after we were having this discussion and my thoughts swirled around about being scared to go back to the office and having people all over the place when this virus is still rampant, as far as I can tell from the websites I look at that track the numbers. I was reminded of what my therapist told me regarding my anxieties about these types of things. She says, "If it's a fact, act. If it's a thought, let it go." So I let my anxiety about going back to the office go. I still have a couple of weeks of working at home. As we get closer to the first of May, I'm sure we'll have more information about what's going to happen and I will act at that time.

A thing that I have found very helpful is the WW virtual workshops. I usually attend a couple meetings each week because I like to hear what other WW people are doing to control their stress-eating and anxieties. The leaders are upbeat and helpful, and it is a good way for me to spend half an hour and remember that I don't need to eat my feelings. So I did that, then went downstairs and fixed myself a sandwich and read for awhile.

Next up, a bit of cleaning. I cleaned the kitchen, which included throwing away Osi's meds (which made me cry). Next I swept the floors, which included sweeping up stray kibbles that had escaped my notice. I swear, the kibbles multiply. They hide and reappear at random times. Sweeping up the kibbles made me cry. After all the dirt and kibbles were swept, it was time to mop. Osi frequently had accidents, so I had to clean up the floors quite a lot. The smell of the floor cleaner made me cry because it reminded me of cleaning up after her and that I wouldn't clean up after her ever again, which is good, but sad, too.

I did a little household bookkeeping and clean-up at my desk, but I set a timer for that because I can get really sucked into the minutia and I wanted to do other stuff.

It was a nice spring day here, so I decided to go for a walk. I put in my airpods and listened to a playlist of (maybe) Brazilian dance music. That was fun. I walked a couple of times around the track at the park, being careful to keep the appropriate distance between myself and anyone coming up the path. One bummer thing was that at the end of the walk, I began to have a pain in the ball of my right foot. Turns out that my shoe is completely worn out in that spot and there was no cushion left there. Bye-bye to those shoes. They served me well.

I went over to check out the house that MT has been working on this year. I've seen it a few times over the months, and today it looked finished. It really looks nice on the inside. He and Kelly did a good job. I'm sure the new renters will be happy there. MT is going to put new siding on the house and paint all the trim, so the outside will look as nice as the inside within a few weeks. The place needed some TLC.

My next stop was Walgreens where I had to pick up some medicine for myself (a regular prescription, nothing new) and some photos that I ordered. There aren't many family pics in the house, so I wanted some faces. I got a couple of pics of  Mom, Lizzie and I, a photo of MT, T, and I in Mexico, and a photo of T with Osi. I will find frames for them tomorrow. I'm excited about it. I also stopped at Crumbl for some cookies. I wanted a treat. It was crazy delicious.

When I got home, I flopped myself on the couch in my front room, snuggled in a blanket, and read "American Dirt". So good. Are they gonna make it to el norte? I'll probably finish the book tomorrow.

For dinner tonight we had cheeseburgers from Atlantis Burger. It's a drive-though. They cook a good burger, and the fries with fry sauce...mwah!

MT and I watched One World Together at Home. Did you see it? Some of the performances were so good. My favorite was The Rolling Stones. I thought Mick sounded great. I also really liked John Legend and Sam Smith and the Keith Urban(s) performance.  The final performance with Andrea Bocelli, Celine Dion, Lady Gaga, Lang Lang, and John Legend was beautiful. One of my most favorite things about the whole show was that most of the singers looked like normal people, albeit attractive people,  because they don't have their whole teams of stylists with them. Jennifer Lopez still looked pretty, but her hair wasn't over-the-top JLo hair, you know what I mean? Oh yeah, and I cried several times during the show. Depression is a soggy bitch.

Now here I am, writing all the mundane details of my Saturday.  Don't you kind of feel like you were with me the whole time?

Have a wonderful Sunday. Take care of yourselves. Stay home! If you have to go out, wear a face mask! Love you!!

#2311 Happy New Year

I didn't make it until midnight last night. I hadn't slept well the night before, work was weird, and I was just out of sorts. To top it all off, the Utes lost the bowl game and the sausage balls I made were dry and not what I dreamed they would be. So I cleaned up the kitchen, came up to my room, did a couple of French lessons and went to sleep.

This morning when I woke up, my throat was scratchy and my nose was stuffy. Dang it! I took a couple of ibuprofen and felt better. I made some pancakes, warmed up a couple of sausage balls (still dry and strange but improved with a drizzle of syrup). This afternoon I spent time unraveling, or maybe it is raveling, as I looked at the year ahead and dreamed of what could be and what I hope to achieve in 2020. I got a set of noise-cancelling headphones for Christmas from work and they are great. I could barely hear the show that MT was watching.

Maybe the idea of spending a couple of hours sitting at a table and being introspective isn't your idea of a good time, but I really like it. I don't know if I could have done it when T was younger, actually. It works out well now, though, and it helps me somehow.

Now I'm watching one of my favorite movies, The Holiday, and just chilling. It's been a good day. I feel good and I think I'm probably going to be okay to get through the next couple of days at work.

Happy 2020. Hope it's a good one!

"Talk" to you in a couple of days.

#2307 Saturday with Sandy

This morning at WW I saw the ugly truth about my pre-Christmas, Christmas Day, and post-Christmas eating. I pretty much had whatever I wanted and it showed on the scale. Actually, the number was smaller than the number I saw on my scale on Thursday morning, so I got hold of myself a little over the last couple of days. LOL  It's all okay.

Once a month, usually on the last Saturday or Sunday, I spend a couple of hours at my neighborhood Starbucks, writing and thinking and drinking a mocha. Today's session was a little longer than usual because I was Unraveling. I spent time looking back at 2019, thinking about the good things and the not so good things. When I reflect back on it, 2019 was a good year. I got to go on two big vacations and I got to spend good time with my sister and my mom. Those are wins for me! Additionally, I think T is in a pretty good place mentally and emotionally (usually). MT is doing well. Osi has good days and bad days but seems to be hanging on.

My biggest disappointment this year has been in myself. I have struggled with my weight most all my life and the struggle continues.  I've been involved with WW for ten years and have been successful and also not successful. This year I really half-assed it. Through the year I have watched my weight go up and come back down. I'm actually up one lb from this time last year. It's not terrible, but it's not great either. I can do better. I will do better.

The next step in the unraveling process is to look forward to the new year. Susannah Conway, creator of the Unravel workbook, suggests choosing a word to guide you through the year. I am thisclose to choosing my word for 2020. I played around with it today and it feels good and right. I just want to sleep on it one more night. I usually do the unravel for the next year on new year's eve. I grab a tasty adult beverage, shut myself in my room, and write, dream, and plan. It's my way.

After the epic Starbucks session, I went to the grocery store. I have been craving tacos. Not just any tacos...my tacos, the ones with the fried corn shells and refried beans. MMMM. That's what we had for late lunch/early dinner. I'm so full! It was delicious!



I've been reading a good book, The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah. It's about a family who lives in Alaska. I am devouring it. I don't know if I'll be able to finish it before the end of the year, but I'm gonna try.


By the way, I updated my Reading List page yesterday. I've read 65 books this year. Click on the 2019 Reading List tab to check it out..




I've got a bunch of stuff on my to-do list, so I think I'll go see what I can get done and maybe watch a little of the Jazz game. They are playing the Clippers tonight in LA, so the game doesn't start until 8:00 or 8:30, so I've got some time to do laundry or clean the bathroom or whatever else I wrote down for myself to do. Who knows; maybe I'll just grab my book and keep reading. LOL

#2288 Saturday with Sandy

It has been a good day. I'll tell you about it, and I even have a few pics!

I started out, as I do most Saturdays, at WW.  I knew I would hit a big milestone today, one that I have been working toward (again) for awhile. It's not the first time I've done it, but I sincerely hope it is the last time. Today my weight was 50 pounds less than the first day I started at Weight Watchers! I showed the group a photo of me 11 years and 50 pounds ago. This group never saw me when I was at my heaviest weight, and there was a lot of positive reaction, including a few hugs. It was really nice and made me feel good. :)

Next stop was to see my hair stylist Lanna. I've been getting my hair trimmed about every three months. It is down past my shoulders now! Lanna has been doing my hair for well over 15 years. She has seen it all lengths and various shades of red. She's great and I like the way she cuts and styles my hair. She is also superb at washing my hair. The little extra scalp massage is heavenly.

I met MT for lunch at Corner Bakery up on Foothill Blvd., then the two of us went to Red Butte Garden. The holiday boutique was happening there as well as a glass show. We did a bit of Christmas shopping then took a stroll through the garden.

There has been a yucky inversion in the valley for the past week. The air has been kind of thick and crunchy. Up at Red Butte, in the foothills, the sky is blue and the air is more clear. Check this out:

Look at that layer of gunk hovering over the valley. It's not nice,

Here are MT and I with the grey gunk behind us:

The sky right above the garden was pretty though. Check out the semi-frozen pond:

After our stroll, we headed back down into the hazy, foggy valley. I wanted to stop at Target to do some Christmas shopping before I went home. As I was walking away from my car, I heard a guy yell, "Hey!" I kept walking. He wasn't yelling at me. Then I heard it again, more emphatically, "Hey!" I turned my head to see what was going on, and there was my brother-in-law Kelly! He was with his wife Denise, her sister Vickie and Vickie's daughter. Vickie lives in Tooele, a town west of Salt Lake City.

I called MT and told him to swing by Target on the way home so he could see his brother. What are the chances that we would meet up in the parking lot of Target in West Valley like that? It was fun to see them!

After we chatted and I shopped, I was ready to come home. I had steak left over from last night's meal and I was planning to have steak and eggs. That plan changed when I saw the On the Hook fish and chips truck was in the neighborhood! I haven't had food from On the Hook for months. I usually miss it; they only come to the neighborhood once a month and it is not a set date. That steak will be in my fridge tomorrow, but the fish and chip truck won't be in the neighborhood tomorrow, so I had fish and chips. It tasted so good. Totally worth the splurge on WW points. I'm really full now, though.

MT and I watched a movie on HBO,  Long Shot. We've seen it before and enjoyed it. It was just as good the second time through.  Now we are watching the Jazz game. I'm feeling tired and happy and full.

#2275 Saturday with Sandy

It's a strange thing...during the summer, Saturday is structured. I have things to do, places I commit to being. Sometimes I feel a little resentful, even though it is my choice. During the other three seasons, though, Saturdays are wide open and I find I feel kind of lost without the structure. At least during the summer when Saturday is done and I haven't accomplished anything around the house I can say that I was busy doing other things. I have no excuse for a wasted day during the other three seasons.

Oh well.

You've probably guessed that I didn't do much at all today. I'll tell you about it anyway.

I was up early, around 6:00, because Osi doesn't know the difference between Friday and Saturday. She wants her food at the same time every day. I wanted to go back to sleep, but I couldn't so I played on my phone and read and fell asleep again around 7:30, waking up at 9:00. I went to WW. The big news there is that they are rolling out another new program update on Monday. I'll have to go one night this week since I will miss the next couple of Saturdays. I really want to know about the new plan.

After the meeting, I had my first peppermint mocha of the season from Starbucks. YUM!! I drank it as I drove over to Jordan Landing to get my vacation pedicure. I really liked the girl who took care of my eyebrows and toes today. I hope she stays. They have a lot of turnover at the day spa where I go. I only recognized one name on the staff list. My toes look great, by the way. So do my eyebrows.

I've been giving Osi CBD oil on a fairly regular basis. It seems to help her relax and get back to normal after a seizure. There are some times she seems to be in pain: she pants and paces. I give her a little oil and it calms her down so she can rest. I'd purchased the oil in San Diego last year and it's almost gone, so the vet recommended a place here in town. I went there today. The lady was really nice and helpful. Osi is doing okay tonight so I haven't given her any. It's nice to have it around though.

MT was working at the flip, so I picked him up and we had a late lunch at El Habanero in Magna. We hadn't been there in a long, long time. I had an enchilada style burrito with cochinita pibil. It tasted good, but it kind of messed with my tummy.

I took MT back to the house, then I came home, read for a little while and took a nap. I am feeling better from the cold, but it is still lingering with a stuffy nose and a little cough. I meant to sleep for about 40 minutes, but it was a lot longer than that. Listen to your body!

MT was sad because his Kindle Fire gave up the ghost and could not be resurrected, so we went to Best Buy to get a new one. He got a Fire 7 for only $50!. That was his choice. There is a Fire 10 that is about the size of an iPad for $150, but he didn't want that one. He likes the smaller size of the 7. The price was good. Surprisingly, the paperwhite kindles were much more expensive. His paperwhite is fine, though. The thing he doesn't like so much about the paperwhite is that you can't browse on it.

I just took some more cold medicine and I'm getting reading to go back to bed.  Tomorrow I have a whole bunch of things to do because I didn't do much of anything today. It's okay, though. I think it's good to have a day to screw around and chill.

Hope y'all had a great day!

~~~~~~

I finally updated my reading list. I'm up to 56 books for the year, so my goal of 60 is totally within reach. Check it out!

#2262 it's been a day

Today started out just fine. I got right out of bed and quickly got ready for work. I was so quick, I had a few extra minutes before I had to leave, so I read a few pages in my book. Always a nice way to chill and get prepare for the day.

Then I left the house.

My commute usually takes about 24 minutes. Today it took closer to 90 minutes. There was a car fire on the highway, so traffic was at a crawl. Since I was just sitting on the road, I checked the traffic app and that's when I found out about the fire. Unfortunately I was stuck in the middle lane going nowhere, so I put on Post Malone music and rocked out.

By the time I got up to the car that had been on fire, I could see that is was thoroughly burned. I hope the driver and passengers are safe. The car was a burned up shell.

I get to the office about half an hour late, turn on my computer, and am immediately swamped with stuff. A customer who needs a credit was calling. A co-worker wanted to know how and if he should respond to an email from a supervisor. Had I input an adjustment correctly? One of the customers was upset that we called them about money they owe us. The cost on some inventory items wasn't right. Had I sent in the backlog report? It was just one thing after another. It's not usually like that for me. Stuff comes along and I deal with it, and today it just all seemed to come in the first hour and took hours to handle.

Then, suddenly, it was noon.

I thought we'd be bringing in pizza today to work on a project, but the project was done, so no pizza. I hadn't brought lunch, so I had to leave to get some. That was fine and good. The only problem was that my right eye was twitching badly. It had been doing that since I'd been in the car that morning. Maybe it was the manifestation of anxiety (because I'm good now).  Eye be damned, I got in my car and went to Chick-fil-A where I happily ordered the Cobb salad, a Diet Coke, and a frosted caramel coffee. It was like a caramel coffee milkshake. Delicious. I could only drink half of it though. The sugar and the coffee weren't helping my eye twitch.

Back at work, I was finishing up my salad and reading a few pages of my book when I was confronted with another crisis. Tomorrow we (my fellow middle-managers and I) are preparing lunch for our team. We were planning to have soup in bread bowls. (Oh! I forgot to mention that it suddenly got really f'ing cold here. This morning it was 32 degrees and only warmed up to around 44 degrees.) The problem was that the store from which the soup was ordered called to say they would be unable to fill the order because the warehouse was out of soup and it wouldn't be in until Saturday. That will not do. We spent the next clump of time looking for restaurants who sold soup in bulk at a fairly reasonable price. We found some, so that crisis was handled. Then we talked about other office-related issues for awhile, although we didn't resolve very much, then it was back to my room where more mini-crises sprung up and had to be dealt with.

By 4:00, my brain was toast and my eye was twitching like a feather was tickling it. I stuck it out until around 4:45, and left the building.

The commute home was fine.

I decided to stop at Starbucks for a pumpkin spice steamer. The line at the drive-through was ten cars long, so I pulled into the parking lot and did the mobile order, thinking that I'd go inside and chill for ten minutes or so, get my drink and head home to participate in book club. 30 minutes later I was still waiting for my drink. When I had the gall to ask about it, I was told that they had "lots of mobile orders" and that they'd give me a refund if I didn't want to wait. I explained that I'd been sitting there for 30 minutes. Would they check to see if my order went through? With a sigh, they did check the long mobile order print out and there was my order, next in line, if you can believe it. Moments later I had my beverage and I was out the door.  <>

Everything got better once I got home. I put on some soft, cozy relaxin' clothes, fired up Twitter and participated in #Ekpesbookclub. We are reading The Boys in the Boat. I had some good comments, a few of which were liked by Ekpe, so that was cool. He asked for suggestions on the next book we will read. I immediately tweeted Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. Several other members agreed and that's the book Ekpe picked! YAY! I've been wanting to read that book for months and haven't been able to get it at the library. It will be more fun to read with the club.

For dinner I made my favorite comfort food meal: eggs and potatoes. T got home from work just in time to eat with us, so that was nice. I even drank part of a beer to relax a bit and take the edge off the weird day. Now I'm fixing to get ready for bed and to read a little before I head to Sleepytown.

Hopefully tomorrow is a little more smooth. I didn't like today's rough edges.

#2260 a full day of play with LA

Late Saturday morning, MT and I headed up to Park City to meet with our friends Rob and LA who were visiting from Pocatello. We have been friends for, well, let's see... I started working at the paper in Poky in 1988, and that's where I met LA. I think we started hanging out regularly in  early 1989, so that's 30 years. Rob and MT became climbing and skiing buddies, and the four of us were tight. There was a lull in the friendship when MT and I moved to Salt Lake and were getting settled in, but we have stayed in touch and visited each other as much as we can.

We planned this visit so we could hear about their recent trip to Iceland and to get in a bike ride. Of course, it is getting cold now, so we decided to meet at noon at the outlet mall at Kimball Junction. We had a good time shopping in Eddie Bauer. I got a pair of jeans, a vest, and a sweatshirt, if you are interested. I can't wait to wear that down vest!

For lunch we went into Park City itself. LA mentioned a place she and Rob had breakfast once that she remembered as being very good, but she couldn't remember the name of the restaurant. She did remember the approximate location, so we started walking up Main Street. She led us to The Eating Establishment, which happened to be the place Lizzie and I had dinner before our ghost tour back in June, so I knew it was good too. We wanted to eat outside because even though it was chilly, it was sunny and we were all eager to get a bit more sun before the grey, cold winter sets in.

It should have been a clue to us that at 1:30 in the afternoon the breakfast dishes had not been cleared from the patio, but we did not heed the clue. Inside, the restaurant was very busy, but the host had someone clear the tables outside and we were seated there after about a ten minute wait. We got menus and that's it. Soon other diners were seated, their water was poured and their orders were taken. We were still sitting there with just our menus. We sat there for about 20 minutes before we decided to find another place to eat. Very disappointing.

We wandered down the street to a place called The Spur Bar & Grill. They have a patio on the second floor. We were seated immediately, given water and menus. I have to say it was a lot warmer up on that patio than down on the street level, both in temperature and in welcome. The smiling server quickly took our order and made sure we didn't want anything else to drink. Rob and LA told us stories about their time in Iceland and showed us some photos. LA gave me a gift: a unique and beautiful bracelet handmade from native volcanic stone. LOVE!!

The food at The Spur was delicious. We all had the same thing - the Spur burger. I like it when you can taste the beef in a burger. So good! I would have been happy to sit up there drinking a beer or two, but we all wanted to ride our bikes and temperature was at the warmest it would get that day, so after lunch, we drove back down to Kimball Junction to start the ride. We all agreed it would be nicer to do the hard work of pedaling uphill at the start of the ride, then coast back down to our cars at the end.

My personal goal was to make it to the barn, which is four miles up from Kimball Junction. I don't know if I have ever ridden wearing so many layers of clothing. Going uphill I got plenty warm. The menfolk got out to a fast start and were pedaling ahead of us. LA has a bad back, so she has an electric bike. She still has to pedal, but she gets an assist from the motor. I was the slowest and the heaviest breather (and heaviest in general) by far. The air was brisk, but I got warm and sweaty.

We made it to the barn (YAY!) There is an underpass that you can take to get from the west side of the road over to the barn, so we did that. It was a gorgeous afternoon, so I took photos of course.

Fall is definitely in the air and you can see it in the changing colors of the leaves.

Over on the east side of the highway, we noticed there was a trail that would take us back to Kimball Junction. We would be farther away from the highway, so it would be more quiet plus there was the added bonus of the view of the quaking aspen trees.

I mean, that's a pretty trail!

So we rode our bikes down this trail and it was gorgeous and we were happy. The men picked up speed and zoomed down. LA and I took our time, chatting and taking photos.

selfie!

We met up with the men. Rob pointed out that we would either have to cross the highway - without a light - or ride uphill a little ways until we could find a light. There was no way I was going to cross the highway without a light, so we had to pedal. It was steep. I was in the lowest gear I have on my bike and I was struggling. We got to a place where the road was being repaired, so we had to get off our bikes and push them around some construction machinery. The road after the equipment was even more steep, so LA and I ended up pushing our bikes for maybe a quarter of a mile uphill. I am saying now that I *probably* could have rode up that small but steep hill, but I didn't. No shame!

After that, it was all literally downhill. We safely crossed the highway at a light, then coasted down the rest of the hill to parking lot. We were out a total of one hour and 24 minutes; total distance was 8.3 miles. My average speed was a blistering 5.8 MPH (lol). Don't judge me! hahahaha At least I was out there doing it even though my personal rule is that I don't ride if it's not at least 70 degrees. LA must be a damn good friend for me to lower my temperature rule by a good 15 degrees.

After the bike ride, our fun was not over! We were fortunate enough to get tickets to the Jazz game. It was the first preseason game of the 2019-2020 season. The Jazz were playing a team from Australia. The big three stars for the Jazz - Conley, Gobert, and Mitchell - did not play, but it was still fun to be in the suite and see the new guys on the team. Since the game was a blowout - the Jazz won by over 50 points - we talked more about Iceland and looked at more photos. I liked that!

Extra bonus: one of the guys on the other team missed two free throws in the fourth quarter which means we all get a free chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A. HOORAY!!

When the game was over, so was our day of fun. We bid our pals farewell until we meet again. They went back up to Park City where they spent the night at a hotel. They went back to Idaho this morning.  Both MT and I miss Rob and LA. It is fun to do stuff with friends!

I hope y'all had a wonderful weekend and have some fun plans for the week.

#2257 weekend wrap-up

This weekend signaled a shift in my routine. My regular Saturday docent gig at the Garden ended last weekend, so I didn't have to rush up there after the WW meeting to record blooms and then hangout in the Courtyard. Instead, I spent the late morning at Starbucks thinking deep thoughts (lol), writing in my journal, and  jotting down my goals and tasks for the month ahead.

Later in the afternoon, MT and I went to lunch at a Mexican restaurant we like, then I did the grocery shopping. It was grey, rainy and cool most of the day. I was scheduled to volunteer for the gate at a wedding at the Garden in the evening and my plan was to go up a bit early and record blooms, but it was cold and wet, so I decided to postpone blooms until Monday since I didn't want to be outside more than necessary.

I did do the wedding. The staff put up a tent, so I was protected from the rain, and boy, did it rain! There was even some thunder and lightning on occasion. Fortunately, it wasn't windy, so the rain just came straight down. I was wearing lots of layers of clothing: an undershirt, a long sleeve waffle-knit shirt, a t-shirt, yoga pants under my jeans, heavy socks and of course shoes. I also had a fleece jacket, a heavy sweater with a wind-breaker barrier, a scarf, a hat, gloves and my long coat with a hood. By the end of the night I was wearing everything I'd brought. The temperature was around 47 degrees. Because there was no wind, I felt okay, although I did crank up the heat when I got in my car at the end of the shift around 10:30.

Utah had a football game that night. I downloaded an app called Simple Radio and I was able to find the local station that had the game. I put in one ear pod and happily listened to the game the whole time. It worked out well for me and Utah won the game! #GoUtes

Today I slept in until almost 11. I did wake up early because Osi doesn't understand weekends and always wants her food at the same time every day. After I fed and medicated her, I climbed right back in bed. I had to put on an extra blanket last night and it was so cozy and warm under all the blankets!

There were five things on my to-do list today: laundry, pay the bills, cook, read, and watch football. I'm sorry to say that I did not complete this simple and concise task list. I didn't get to the bills. I blame Harry Potter.

'Tis the season for the Harry Potter movies to be on at random times and I get sucked in every single time. The Harry Potter movies are ones that I will watch no matter what time of day, what time of year, or where the movie is - start, middle or end. I'm in. I love them. Today we watched the end of Order of the Phoenix and all of Half-Blood Prince. Yes, we have all the movies on DVD, but here's the thing: if I take the time to find the movie and put it in the player, I feel like I must sit and watch without disturbance. When the movies are on TV and there are commercials, I feel free to move around and do other stuff like cook, do laundry, and even read. I know the movies so well that I can just pick up the story from wherever it is.

I think the channel that had the movies was going to continue with the Deathly Hallows, so I had to get up and leave before it got started. MT is binge-watching a show downstairs and I am watching the Cowboys and the Saints upstairs and reading and doing other stuff, like writing here (it's half-time).

Want to know what I cooked? I made a pasta dish with mild Italian sausage and a tasty marinara sauce from the store to which I added mushrooms, onions, and garlic. I topped the penne pasta with the sauce and freshly grated mozzarella cheese. It was good! Something about a bowl of pasta on a cold, rainy day that is comforting. I also made these cookies and this meatloaf. I added green peppers and garlic to the meatloaf, plus I sauteed those veggies with the onion for a little extra flavor. The sweet chili topping was way tasty. Even T liked it. I'd been craving meatloaf for some reason and it hit the spot.

I haven't been outside today except to throw out garbage. It's been rainy and chilly today, and I have enjoyed being inside. I had a bunch of laundry to do. Still working on it, in fact. My plan now is to go to my room, read my book club selection, finish the laundry and get to bed on time. I've got a busy week ahead of me.

Since October is an even-numbered month, I will be writing on even-numbered days, so I'll chat with you here on Tuesday the second. Hope you had a great weekend!

#2239 finally Friday

Although this week didn't seem as interminably long as last week, I was still glad to know it was Friday when I woke up this morning. I had fun this week. Let me tell you about it.

Monday evening after work I walked around the track at the office. It's a quarter mile paved trail in roughly an oval shape. There is a big field behind the office and some of the women requested that a track be put in. I work for a paving company, and after awhile, the region manager decided to put in the trail. It was done a few years ago, and the track does get used daily, although not as much in the winter since we don't shovel it. I decided to walk on Monday evening to get all my steps in. The fitness challenge ends in a week or so and I want to finish strong. After the walk I came home and made dinner. What did I make? Sloppy joes.

Tuesday was a concert night. My check-in time was 8:00, so I decided to walk around the track a few times, then head up to the Garden. The show was sold out and I was late enough that I didn't get to park in my usual spot at the visitor center. I ended up parking far, far away in the big parking lot behind the medical buildings. I didn't necessarily need to walk at the track at all because I got plenty of steps that night walking to and from my car!

The artists that night were Dr. Dog and Shakey Graves. I enjoyed both sets. One of the highlights for me was when I was down to the volunteer area to sign in, I saw Shakey Graves walking around back there. In fact, I think when I came in the volunteer gate, a couple of guys in the band were playing cornhole in the shade outside the gate and Shakey was in a hammock. Kinda cool and laid back. If you're interested in hearing his music, I recommend checking out "Dearly Departed." That's a good one!

On Wednesday the highlight of the day was taking a spinning class at Rideology. I hadn't been there for awhile and I must have felt the need to push myself when I made my class reservation the previous week. What a sweat-fest. I took Ali B's class and her playlist that night was all Lady Gaga. It was pretty awesome. After class I just came home and made dinner: carnitas tacos with Trader Joe's refrigerated carnitas. Such a quick, easy meal!

Yesterday, Thursday, was our 26th wedding anniversary! To celebrate, we went out for dinner to Sawadee, a Thai restaurant located near downtown. It had been recommended to me by one of my friends at work and has high ratings on Yelp and Trip Advisor. I liked the location and the fact that they had parking. I also liked that they had Singha beer, which is what we drank in Thailand. The food was good, but totally lacking in spicy heat. It was flavorful and tasty, but I like my Thai food with a kick. In Thailand, everything was already mildly spicy (or more) and you could kick up the heat with chilis or other sauces. This place offered no form of spicing. We had plenty to take home though, so for lunch today I had some pineapple fried rice with liberal splotches of sriracha. Delicious! The same friend who told me about Sawadee recommended another Thai restaurant, Skewered Thai. I think we'll try that place soon.

Tonight has been mellow. I had an early dinner, then when MT got home from work, we went for a walk at the fitness center park. I've been reading and sort of planning my evenings for next week. I was thinking of going to bed a little early, but heck, it's already 9:30 which is when I start getting ready for bed on normal nights anyway!

Tomorrow night we are heading up to Sundance Resort for a Bluebird Cafe show.  I'll let you know how that goes when I talk to you again on Sunday.

Have a great weekend!

#2222 Saturday with Sandy

I have good news! The quaking aspen is NOT dead! When I was leaving home this morning I looked at it and thought I saw leaves, so I went to examine it more closely just now and I was right, there are new leaves! YAY!

My Saturdays are mostly always the same. Broad outline: I go to WW, I go to the Garden, I come home for some food, and I go back to the Garden.

Here are some details about today:

 At WW, my weight was down, which is great. I did a good job of focusing on making good food choices and not overeating, so I was happy with the result.

At the Garden this afternoon, the sky was overcast and there were occasional raindrops. There was a nice, cool breeze so the temperature was pleasant. We did not have a lot of visitors the first hour I was there, but it picked up in the second hour. I didn't really chat with anyone except the tram driver today, during that first hour when we were just hanging out.

There was a family that came in and had a picnic at one of the Courtyard tables. The mom left with a tiny baby to change it's diaper, then the dad left too, leaving Grandma and Grandpa with a four year old girl. The little girl sort of lost her mind when her dad left and started crying and yelling "Daddy! Daddy!"  The grandma was having a hell of a time holding on to the writhing, screaming, crying, teary-faced child. The child did escape the grandma and made a run for the visitor's center. Grandma didn't think the kid would be able to open the door, but that little girl had a strong need for her dad and pulled the heavy door right open, causing the grandma to sprint across the Courtyard. Grandpa was just hanging out in the shade.

Grandma caught the child and brought her back to the picnic table where crying continued for the next 20 minutes or so until she either tired herself out or the grandpa's monotone voice soothed her. The dad came back five or ten minutes later and all was well. I never saw the mom and the tiny baby again, though.

After Garden time, I went to the library where I picked up a new book, then I got some food for T and I from Chick-Fil-A. Don't judge me; they know how to cook some chicken.

I've got just over an hour before I need to head back up to the Garden for a wedding this evening. The bad news is that the local weatherman says there will be thunder and lightning over the Wasatch this evening. Seems like I better take a raincoat.

For some reason I've been having a powerful desire to go to Costco. I think I'm going to do that tomorrow morning.

Have a great rest of the weekend!


PSSST...

I updated my reading page! Go check it out.

#2219 weekend wrap-up

The four day weekend is nearly over. My quest to have four days of fun is complete and I am ready for bed. But first, a recap:

The Bluebird Cafe concert at Sundance on Friday night was good. The songwriter/artists included a father and a daughter, which was cool. The dad was old-school country, having written songs for Mel Tillis and other '70s stars. All three writers had songs cut by George Strait, a man even I have heard of. All in all, it wasn't my favorite of the Bluebird shows, but it was still pretty great. I mean that I did not know any of the songs they had written, but I enjoyed hearing the stories and watching the crowd reaction. The dude next to me was singing along happily to several of the songs. In addition, the weather was very nice and the drive home was quick and easy.

On Saturday I went to WW and then came home for a bite to eat and a chat with my sister which is always great. In the afternoon I went to Red Butte Garden to hang out in the Courtyard. I chatted with a young man who was very interested in the various varieties of mint that can be found in the garden. Fortunately, one that he specifically asked about - he even knew the "official" name of it - was a variety that I am familiar with because there is a lot of it in the Children's Garden. I told him where to find it. He came back with a couple of different leaves and I was able to tell him what both of the mints were. He was excited and I was glad to be able to make this kid so happy.

In the afternoon, MT and I went for a bike ride on  the I-80 frontage road at the Great Salt Lake. We started out at Saltair, road west to the marina, then east with I-80 on one side and the lake on the other. The road is flat and doesn't get much traffic, even though it is a live road. The best thing about it is that it is very close to our house. I can definitely see us riding out there more often.

The bad thing about the ride was that I wasn't feeling very well. I had a sore throat and a big headache. I think I was dehydrated. I hadn't had as much water as I usually drink and I just felt like hell. I was glad to get through the 12 mile ride. Marty was way ahead of me. I just didn't have much energy. Plus it was hot, around 90 degrees. Even the breeze was warm.

Last night we finished watching Stranger Things 3. It was awesome. The monster was plenty scary. I teared up at the end.

This morning my throat hurt so much it woke me up at 5:30. It was like I had a big wad of cotton or something stuck in there. It hurts to swallow. I got a glass of ice water and went back to sleep for a couple of hours. I got up in time to watch the full World Cup final match between the U.S. and the Netherlands. USA wins!! YAY! Those women are amazing athletes. Their greatness awes me.

MT and I went out for lunch. We had yummy Mexican food, then he went back over to the new flip property and I went back to bed. I slept, with the fan on and a blanket over me, for a couple of hours. I still feel yucky. My throat still hurts and I have no energy. I have spent the day napping and reading. You know what though? It is exactly what I wanted to do (except for the sore throat), so even though I didn't do anything exciting and "fun" today was pretty great anyway.

I've got a busy week coming up. I think I'm going to take a sleeping aid, grab my book and get some good sleep. I'd love to wake up in the morning feeling refreshed and ready to go.

Hope y'all had a great weekend! Talk to you on Tuesday!

#2214 two concerts, two book club meetings and a wedding

I am wiped out, but I really wanted to write, so here I am. Prepare to read all the details of my week.

On Tuesday night I had a book club meeting. We were reading Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens which was my favorite book that I read last year. I was excited to reread it with the club and hear their takes. There are a lot of smart people in the group and I enjoy reading their comments. I tend to be literal so I like that they make me think about the symbolism and meanings of things as well as exploring what I call "deep thoughts" about abstract ideals like forgiveness. We were supposed to meet again next Tuesday to wrap up the discussion of the novel, but many people had already finished it, so Ekpe changed the meeting to Thursday. More on that coming up.

After the book club meeting, I zoomed up to Red Butte Garden to volunteer at the Howard Jones concert. My reporting time was 8:30 and I got there around 8:15, just in time to see the opening act, Men Without Hats (remember them?) perform their biggest (only?) hit, Safety Dance. The place was packed so I found a little patch of grass over near the waterfall and settled in for the show. I sat next to another volunteer who was also doing clean-up. I hadn't met her before and she was nice. I don't think she knew any of HoJo's songs. He did a bunch I didn't know, but he also did a bunch that I did know and it was fun to sing along and eventually dance a little. I thought HoJo was charming and funny and he sounded great. It was a good show! I got home around 11:30, cleaned up the kitchen, then stayed up for about an hour reading Where the Crawdads Sing so I would be finished with the book on Thursday. Got to bed around 1:30. The stupid alarm went off a mere four hours later. Brutal.

Wednesday I dragged myself through the day with the help of Diet Coke and found myself back up at Red Butte Garden at 6:00 pm for the Lucinda Williams concert. I listened to her music on Apple Music that day, so I was a little familiar with her tunes. She is touring to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of her classic album Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. She performed the album cover to cover with stories about each of the songs. When she was through that album, she rocked out for another half an hour or so. She has a unique vocal style that takes some getting used to. Her Louisiana drawl makes it sound like the words are tripping over themselves as they come out of her mouth. Once I got used to it, though, I liked it very much. I got home around 11:00 and read for an hour, and hit the bed by midnight. I got five hours of sleep.

Thursday morning was rough. Over the previous two nights I'd had nine total hours of sleep. That is not enough for this woman! I tried to boost myself with a mocha from Starbucks - a real mocha, not a a mocha Frappuccino. I could only drink half of it (a tall). It was too bitter or strong or whatever. I need the blonde espresso roast. I can handle that.

Somehow I made it through the day and came home for book club. We all liked the book very much and spirits were high as we discussed it. Such a fun group! Ekpe says that he will pick our next book by this weekend. I did get to bed before 10 that night. I also had the chance to talk with my mom and my sister, so it was a good evening.

Today is Friday. I was in slow motion, but I got through the day and all is well. Right after work I went back up to - where? - Red Butte Garden to record blooms and then to guard the gate at a wedding. It seems like this year there will be two docents and a tram driver. Usually I am the lone gate-keeper and I hang out with the tram driver. I didn't mind being alone, but it gets dark and somewhat creepy sometimes. I'll be glad to have a partner. Tonight's wedding ended way early and I was home by 9:30.

MT has gone to Idaho for his family reunion and to work on Kevin's house this weekend. T was working (he's home now). Tomorrow I have another double shift at RBG. I'll be in the courtyard in the afternoon and back at the gate for another wedding tomorrow night. I'm getting in a bunch of volunteer hours this week! All the weeks won't be like this though, thankfully.

I'm going to put nice, fresh, clean sheets on my bed and go to sleep. Have a great weekend!

#2194 weekend wrap-up

Another quick and busy weekend is over already.

Yesterday I went to the 8 AM  WW workshop and I was reassured that my decision to be part of the 10 AM group was correct. The group at 8 is fine, but I just feel more comfortable with all the people at 10. I had a (big) gain, so I wasn't very pleased with myself. I wasn't surprised either, though.

The reason I went to the 8:00 group was that I was taking a walking tour at Red Butte Garden with other guides and docents at 10 AM. It was an absolutely beautiful day and I enjoyed walking around talking about the plants and trees with other guides. None of us were master gardeners, so we just  shared knowledge with each other and talked about the plants we especially like.

After that I spent some time at Starbucks writing in my journal and texting with my mom. I relish the couple of hours I spend at Starbucks on the final weekend of the month. I don't get distracted by my dog, laundry, what the guys are doing, or TV. I pop in my airpods, turn on some music and just write. It's good for my soul and my brain.

When I was on the way home I noticed that the On the Hook food truck was at the Ace Hardware store parking lot, so I kind of zoomed home to get MT so we could get fish and chips. They are truly the best fish and chips ever. Last month when they were in the neighborhood, they sold out before I could get some and I wasn't about to let that happen again. So, so good!

After lunch I went to the grocery store, then I don't remember what I did - I think I read - and I went to bed by 9:30. I was really tired and it felt good to just shut down. T had some friends over around midnight because I briefly woke up to text him to be quiet and then went right back to sleep. At one point I was sure that MT woke up, got dressed and told all the friends - there must have been 10 friends or so - to get out of the house. It made me sad that he would do that, but I kind of understood too. When I asked MT about it this morning, he told me that though he heard some music, it was pretty quiet and he did NOT get up and tell everyone to leave. I just had a dream! AND there were only three other people here besides T and I know all of them. They weren't very loud and they were respectful of the fact that MT and I were sleeping. I just a dream.  What does that say about me?

This morning MT and I went to breakfast, as usual, then we went to the outdoor track at the fitness center for a couple of laps. As lovely and warm as yesterday was, today was grey and cloudy and windy and kinda cold. Typical Utah spring - although sometimes we have all the weathers in a single day. Still, we were okay because we wore jackets and once we started walking at pace, we were comfortable.

I paid the bill and balanced the checking accounts.

This afternoon the three of us went to see Avengers: Endgame.  I wrote earlier in the month about how I excited I was to see this movie and that I contemplated taking a few days off work to binge watch the entire MCU. I didn't do it though. I realized that I had seen almost all of them already. It was hard to find three seats together to see the movie this weekend, but I persevered and it all worked out. It was a cool show. I won't tell anything about it except that there were funny parts and sad parts and plenty of action. The dude next to me was openly weeping during one particular scene. He was full-on sniffling and wiping his eyes and making quiet whimpering noises. Also, all the Avenger women are total bad asses. 

The movie is three hours long, so when I bought the tickets I wanted to make sure to see it early enough that we would be home in time for tonight's Game of Thrones episode. We made it in plenty of time. The guys have watched all the episodes for six or seven seasons and I've just picked up the story through osmosis and seeing parts here and there. Tonight I decided to sit down with them to watch the third of the final six episodes. It was the battle of Winterfell, after all, and I have a serious case of FOMO (fear of missing out). It's probably going to be like Breaking Bad: I only watched the last four or five episodes of that series. I always tell myself that someday I will watch the whole series, but so far I haven't. Those last five episodes were really good though.

The GoT episode tonight was very dark. I mean that in a literal sense. Most of the action happened in the dark of night and as Roxanne Gay tweeted "lit by one slender candle." Still, it was a giant battle, so it was probably okay not to actually see all the blood and stuff. The sound effects left little to the imagination. No spoilers from me on this either, but I'll be watching next Sunday too. It was all good.

Now, fulfilled by my entertainment fix, I will go to bed. I hope y'all had a great weekend!

#2163 travel Tuesday: getting closer

Trip preparation continues! We are now just ten little days away from our southeast Asia adventure!

I've been reading through my guidebooks, checking out pins on Pinterest, and looking at comments on TripAdvisor. Today I downloaded a couple of apps that can be used offline: one for the town of Siem Reap and one for Angkor Wat, (though we will have a guide there.) Even with all my reading and various preparations, I know that once I get there I will be overwhelmed. Hopefully I will retain at least some of the information I am trying to soak up beforehand.

My dad had purchased a Kodak camera a few months before he died. He gave the camera to our family, and it's been sitting in MT's dresser drawer for about a year. I was thinking about all the photos I'm going to take next month and I remembered the camera. Today I took it out for a test drive, so to speak. I went for a walk at Red Butte Garden and took a few (18) photos with the camera to make sure I knew how to use it and how to get the photos off the SD card. It'b been awhile since I used one of those! What I like about the little Kodak is that it is small. I have a Canon, but it's pretty old now and it's sort of big and heavy. I think the Kodak will be a lot more convenient. I will be using my beloved iPhone to take photos as well. This is a trip of a lifetime. I want to make sure I have plenty of space for photos, which are my very most favorite souvenirs.

The photos from RBG came out okay. Here is a sample:

Red Butte Creek

I love how they wrap these trees. I wish I could remember the name of them. Something Scotland something. 

So cute! 

In the bottom photo, the camera focused on the whatever-they-are's in the middle and I kinda like how the ones closest to the camera are kinda blurry.

I will be practicing a little bit more before we go. I read the user manual. This camera can do a lot of stuff!

I've pretty much got my clothing picked out and ready to go. I need to pick up some toiletries, but nothing major. I've got a few things to do around the house, but I feel pretty good about what I have left to do. Of course I have a list and I refer to it daily.

T will be house and dog sitting and I have a list of rules/tasks for him. If he wasn't here I would be paying someone to take care of Osi and keep an eye on the house, so I figure I can pay him for those services and it would be less than I'd have to pay someone else because he already lives here.

I had a weird conversation with a couple of co-workers yesterday. I was in the breakroom getting a glass of water and two men, I'll call them Paul and Mike, were in there getting coffee. Paul has a son who just got back from Thailand. The conversation went something like this:

Paul: So when are you leaving for Thailand?

Me: The 8th.

Paul: Where are you flying into?

Me: Actually, we are starting our trip in Cambodia.

Mike: Cambodia? (his voice went up an octave at the end of the word)

Me: (chuckling) Yep.

Mike: Cambodia. (his voice went down an octave in the middle of the word)

Me: Yes

Mike: Are you going on a mission? (I think he means a religious mission. It's a thing around here)

Me: No. I'm going on vacation.

Mike: Are you going to build houses?

Me: No.

Paul: Are you going with a group?

Me: No I...

Paul: YOU'RE GOING BY YOURSELF???

Me: No. I'm going with my husband on vacation.

Mike: To Cambodia?

Me: Yes, Cambodia. Have you ever heard of Angkor Wat?

Mike: Yeeeeeaaaah. (I could see his mind working through this one.)

Me: It's a big historical site. Lots of Buddhist and Hindu temples. Ancient. I want to see that. Then we are going to Thailand.

Mike: (waggling his eyebrows) Oooooh...you're going to the red light district?

Me: Um...no. We're going to the beach.

...SIGH...

How did I go from building houses to hanging out at the red light district in this guy's mind?

#2145 it's almost time!

After all the waiting and thinking and planning, it's finally almost time to go to Savannah with Mom and Lizzie! I think we have our days and nights planned with fun things to do and see. We leave on Friday morning. This week is pretty packed as I prepare to leave.

Tonight I've been putting out our Christmas decorations. I may have mentioned a time or two that I have a small army of nutcrackers. T has been giving me nutcrackers for Christmas since he was four years old. Some of the older ones are looking a little raggedy, but there's no way I wouldn't put each of them out on display. I love that he gets one for me every year. I wish I'd had the presence of mind to write the year on the bottom of the nutcracker. Oh well. I love them all.

Our tree is up, the nutcrackers are out and I feel good about it.

Here's a tricky part: MT and I decided to put carpet in our bedroom, the upstairs hallway and down the stairs. Great! Fine! The installers will be here on Monday the 17th to get it all done. The kicker is that all the furniture in my room, the closet and the hallway has to be moved out of the room. In addition, MT (and T) will be moving all the furniture and pulling up the wood floor in the bedroom on Saturday and Sunday so the installers can put in the carpet on Monday. Monday night and Tuesday, my men will be moving all the furniture back into the bedroom so that when us girls get home on Tuesday night, everything will be nice and pretty. I have mixed feelings about it all. I mean, I'm happy that it will all be done when I'm gone (which was MT's idea, by the way), but I also feel bad that MT will have so much to do. 

To try to do my part, I have cleared off the top of all my dresser and put stuff away that is on top of stuff that will have to be moved out of my closet. I'll pack up all my books that are on my nightstand too. I also cleared off the bookcases in the hallway.

Mom and Lizzie will be here Wednesday night. On Thursday I have to work, then Mom and I are going to the Red Butte Garden volunteer reception. Then we leave on Friday morning. I have to pack sometime.

It will be fine. I'm excited about everything!