#2861 weekend wrap-up

This weekend has been unexpectedly splendid. Let me tell you about it.

I worked in the office on Friday. It is truly my favorite day in the office because it is quiet and mellow. The end of summer rush is on, so there is a boatload of work to be done. All you can hear most of the time is the clickety-clack of fingers flying across keyboards. When I got home from work, MT and I went out for dinner to a local Mexican restaurant. I hadn't been there for awhile and it tasted really good. I was full when we left, and when we got back home, I laid on my bed to play games on my phone and fell asleep. I have an alarm to remind me to call my mom on Friday night, so when the alarm sounded, I woke up and called her, but I was so tired that she kindly told me to get off the phone and go to bed. That was 8:30 pm. ((sigh)) I am so wiped out on Friday night! I might have to suggest to Mom that we change our phone date. 

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On Saturday morning, I was up at my normal weekend time, around 7:00. MT's truck needed new tires and brakes, so we took it to the shop. MT cleaned the house while I did the bookkeeping. I had to take a break to get breakfast: coffee from Dutch Bros and malasadas from a home bakery business near my house. Fortified, I finished up the bookkeeping, then went into my room to putter around and watch Utah football. They were playing UCLA, and Utah won! YAY!! 

The highlight of Saturday was that MT and I got to see Sting in concert. I love Sting, and I have since I was 14 years old. I loved The Police, and I love Sting's solo music. I've seen him in concert maybe a dozen times. When the show was announced here in Salt Lake, I thought about going, but the tickets were expensive and I made the decision not to go. Here's the good part, though. One of my co-workers offered me tickets to the show courtesy of the concert promoter. How cool is that?! We had nice seats, and we enjoyed the hell out of the show. 

You know, Sting is 71, and he's still dang sexy to me. He is fit and handsome, and only the size of his shirt bothers me - he is a fan of wearing a SMedium, which I suppose emphasizes his slim physique and his muscle-y arms, but still cracks me up.

STING!

Rockin' the SMedium t-shirt

Sting (on the right) singing "King of Pain" with his son Joe

My pretty friend Tab and (ugh) me

Can I just defend the look on my face in the pic with Tab? I had to use the flash, and I always have my eyes shut or partially shut in flash photos. I made it a point to open my eyes, and I just end up looking like a total goober. 

Yes, the t-shirt was $60, which might be why MT is looking at me like I'm a nut

 MT and I had a great time singing and dancing. Well, I danced and MT swayed.  I knew all the words to all the songs except three. Those were newer songs from a newer album that I didn't even know he'd released. He did Police songs, too, and man, it was great. He still sounds good. He has re-recorded and re-stylized most of his songs to suit his older voice. He doesn't really get into those high notes like he used to, so I appreciate that he is self-aware enough to recognize that he doesn't sound like he once did, and talented enough that he can re-work the songs to continue to perform and please the audience.

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Today is the last Sunday of September, and that means it was my final docent shift of the year at Red Butte Garden. I enjoy the docent shift. The two other people I work with, Tracy and Wendy, are fantastic people that I am happy to spend several hours with on Sunday mornings. At the end of our shift today, we hugged each other, and then had a group hug. So sweet! 

When I got home this afternoon, I had a bite to eat, then I had to take a nap. It was short, but it was good. In the evening, MT's mom, dad, brother and sister-in-law came to town. My MIL is having surgery tomorrow, so Kelly and Denise (MT's brother and his wife) brought Linda and Jake to town. Jake will stay with us while Linda is in the hospital for a couple of days. We are counting on everything going smoothly, and we'd welcome your kind thoughts and good vibes.  

The six of us went out for dinner, then sat around chatting a bit and petting the dogs. The doggos were thrilled to have new people to play with and get skritches from. 

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I made some art tonight. The group I'm in gets two prompts a week, one on Sunday night that is due on Thursday, and one of Thursday night that is due on Sunday. The prompt due on Thursday had to include three elements: clock, bottle, and star. Here's what I came up with:

I felt like Time in a Bottle was already done, so I wanted to think of alternative ways to use the prompt words. I know it is silly and child-like. It made me laugh, and the group seemed to like it too.

The prompt due today was a painting of a woman that had been turned upside down:

this is the original I drew from

The instruction was to draw her like this, upside down, then turn the piece right side up and write a little story about her. The story must include her name, occupation, desire, conflict, quirks, and a journal entry.  Here's mine:

Starla is unemployed, but dreams of being a trapeze performer in the circus. People often don't see her beauty and grace because of her size. She can make a song out of any conversation, and she has a passion of ribbon gymnastics. In her journal, she writes, "Dear Diary: Tomorrow I will try again."

Here are a couple of other little things I did this week:

This is a single line sketch of some potted plants in the Courtyard Garden at RBG. It's messy and I kind of love it. I'm debating putting a bit of color to it.

I painted this cup of coffee free-hand, no drawing, just paint, during a creativity workshop this week. I like the way the cup turned out. 

This week, I am looking forward to having the stitches removed from my chest. That will happen on Wednesday. That's pretty much all I have on my calendar at the moment. I'm getting into the autumn mode; my brain and body are ready to slow down and shift gears to a bit of quiet and calm.  

How you doin? 

xo