In February my Mom came up from California to hit the St. George Parade of Homes with me. Funny name. The people parade, not the homes, but whatever. We decided to start with the house the furthest (farthest?) from mine. Of course that is the one at which I chose to lock my keys in the car. With the car running. Yes, really. Poor Steve. He was working 10-12 hour days, six days a week, at that time... and having a nap at that particular moment - which was rudely interrupted by an hour long rescue mission. We all make mistakes like this once a decade, or so, right? I locked myself out of the house a week later. Long story that I will skip but, yes, I had to pull Steve away from work to rescue me. Fortunately I am really good at laughing at myself. He's getting pretty good at laughing at me, too.
In March Steve and I made the one hour drive to Zion to do a two hour hike. It was one of those hikes that require a hiker's guide that gives directions like "hike up this gully and turn slightly left after the burned tree then continue up the confluence to the boulder with a protrusion that looks like a cupcake". We were prepared for it: wearing our hiking boots and the ugliest shorts we own. After successfully finding the 'hidden' arch and returning to our vehicle, Steve says "let's just go to Flagstaff, Arizona". I say something along the lines of "sure, why not" because Steve always says stuff like that but we never really do it. A few hours later I'm at Target, in Flagstaff, looking for a toothbrush, underwear, and something less horrifying than the ugliest shorts I own, to wear to dinner. We purchased what we needed, had a lovely evening, and made plans to visit trendy Sedona, AZ, the next day. Morning brought a surprise for Steve when he discovered he'd grabbed the size small undies off the shelf instead of the requisite size large. Fortunately, we have both learned to laugh at him, too.
April was about children. Well, adults, but OUR children.
Round one: Steve's girls. New York City. Getting there was a nightmare starting with a missed flight, a day long stint in the airport waiting for the next flight, and endless circling of JFK waiting for a window of opportunity to land. This could be an incredibly long story (you know I could make it one, right?) but I'll rein it in and just say this: Delta airlines was responsible for us missing our flight then charged us $50 apiece to reschedule. Grrr. We had three great days with Brooke and Emily, Ro and Mike: eating, playing Wii, catching Susan Sarandon in a Broadway play. Our return flight boarded right on time. We then sat on the tarmac for THREE hours. Add that to the five hour flight. That equals eight hours without food because they ran out in the first few rows. May I just say GRRRR again? It's a good thing the part of vacation that fell between the rotten start and the maddening end was well worth it!
Round two: My girls and their boys. St. George, Utah. Wii Golf and coloring Easter eggs. Hiking amongst the red rocks at Pioneer park. Good Times. Well, except for poor Max (Katie's beau) who had a stomach disturbance/fever thing going on. You just had to feel bad for him: there's nothing quite like visiting the girlfriend's mom when you'd rather crawl under a rock. Two points to Max for toughing it out.
Now it's May. I went to Ogden to attend graduation at Weber State University. TWO graduates. Katie recieved her Bachelor of Integrated Studies. Mike collected his Master of Business Administration. Seriously, how proud am I? The girls and I spent an afternoon wandering through antique shops. Fun, right? Yeah, right up until I realized that a lot of stuff in the shops is stuff I had as a kid. Ouch. Then again, when they found an old Bonneville High yearbook, with photos of their aunt and uncle in it, the amusement factor went way up. Why is getting old so much funnier when it's somebody else and not me?
So, that's what I've been doing instead of blogging. It may not seem terribly exciting to YOU, but through my eyes it has been a happy spring. Now comes summer. In St. George that means 100-plus degree temperatures pretty much every day. Close the doors. Lower the blinds. It's time to hide until fall.
