The Week

It has been an amazing summer so far. I find I am enjoying myself so much. After returning from Hawaii, which required me to fly into LA and then catch a connecting flight to SLC after get zero sleep on the red eye flight, I got home, got caught up with my mom, and was able to take about a 30 minute nap. It is amazing how great 30 minutes can feel after going more than 24 hours without sleep. That night we went to see John Mayer in concert. It was hot and crowded with a full amphitheater. The music was great and he sang until 11:00. He has to be one of the sexiest men alive. He plays his music with such passion and depth that I couldn't keep my eyes off of him. Thanks to the great seats I purchased, I could just stare in awe at the man and watch him make his funny little faces that he makes when he is playing. Amazing talent.





It did take us an hour and a half to get out of the parking lot however. When we finally returned home, I dropped into a deep coma. Unfortunately, my deep sleep would not last long as my cats (on my mom’s schedule) decided a 7:00 am wake up feeding call was necessary.

The next day mom and I went out to breakfast and then onto shopping for the big 24th barbecue. It is actually my Aunt’s birthday as well.

After our shopping extravaganza, we drove up to Red Butte Gardens for another concert. We listen to amazing Blues music by Susan Tedeschi. The amphitheater and backdrop were much more esthetically pleasing than the previous evening, but it was also a much smaller crowed; 2000 vs 10,000. We packed up some munchies for dinner and enjoyed the evening’s music and crowd. A thundercloud formed overhead, but it was kind to us and didn’t start raining on us until we were in our car and working our way down the hill towards home.



Wednesday was filled with baking and grilling. I made my artichoke dill potato salad. Mom made her baked beans, and we both cooked up the 6 racks of spare ribs. Yes, it was a lot of food with a lot of good flavor. We also made 4 appetizers. Later, after all the cooking was finished, I took my mom out for a belated birthday dinner. We walked to Mazza and enjoyed some fine middle eastern cuisine with a nice French wine. We both crashed early.

Thursday morning I had to force myself to wake up early to get to the airport to pick up Larry. I was so happy to have him home again, and he was so happy to be home. It was a wonderful afternoon. I had forgotten my mom hadn’t seen him in more than 2 years. She was ecstatic! We finished up the cooking and around 4 headed over to my Aunt’s house for the dinner and celebration. It was a multinational celebration as my step cousin Jason lives in Turkey with his Russian, Turkish, and English speaking wife, and my other cousin is married to an Argentinean. Her parents were also visiting and neither spoke a lick of English. I was impressed at how well my cousin speaks Spanish now. I guess it helps when English is your wife’s second language, but it did give me hope that it might be possible for myself to be able to learn and communicate in Spanish if I have a place to use it. An old dog can learn new tricks.




Friday morning we woke up and took mom to the airport. She was sad to leave not only me, but Utah behind. She also enjoys the beauty of this place and everything there is to do here. Utah really does have a lot to offer someone. It is a great place to live, not perfect, but really great if you give it a chance. I am meeting more and more people that have relocated here for the pure fact that they just enjoy all there is to do here. My mom, like I did, dislikes living in Florida, and is counting the minutes until she can move back to Utah. Larry and I spent the rest of the day just relaxing and being home. Later we went to see the X-Files movie, which as being a “File” fan for many years, was marginal at best. The story was just bland. I was disappointed, and I think most Filers will be too.

Saturday, Larry and I decided to go for a hike and see some wildflowers. It was cool and comfortable at the higher elevations, and an absolutely beautiful day. We hiked up to Lake Mary above Brighton. We have been here before, but really enjoy the views. We came home and watched a couple of movies and had dinner. It was a perfect day. This morning I had to drive back to the airport (I think I could drive there blindfolded now) to get Larry back to Hawaii. We are counting down the days until he is finally off orders and will be living at home. August 30th is his last day, and we are both anxious for the day to arrive when we will be home together.


Now I am alone for the first time in over a month. It is quiet which is nice, but I would rather have the people I love in my life keeping me a busy bee. I do have a lot of catching up to do. I have yet to unpack from Hawaii. I have piles of laundry to wash and a lawn to mow, so I guess things will be getting back to normal for me.... whatever “normal” is for my life.