Weekend

Well this last Friday I flew to Spokane for my brother, Yancy's wedding. I'd flown up in June for Lucie's graduation and was able to have a quick visit then, but it was wonderful seeing everyone again. We arrived to a lot of fog and rain (and me with no proper jacket! Ah well....)

We arrived safely, waited for the bus and rode it to the downtown bus depot. While we waited for Enterprise Rental to come "pick us up" I went into the bus coffee shop and ordered a green apple jet tea (something I haven't found down here yet and had loved when I lived in Washington). It still tasted good but was far too sweet....guess I won't be missing those anymore! I also grabbed Jase and I each a M&M sugar cookie that I used to get often, but those too just weren't the same yumminess as I remember. I guess its true what they say...you can't always go back home.

Enterprise showed up and drove us to their lot; turns out they were short on cars and boy were they really pushing for us to take a huge red pickup. The rental guy was filling out all of the paperwork when this very nice Chevy 300 rolled onto the lot. I asked them "what about that car?" but was essentially ignored. As he was typing away the pickup pusher kept insisting that gas in Sandpoint was down to $1.86 a gallon (I didn't see anything anywhere near that low....the little sneak!) and that the truck wouldn't be expensive to drive but we were insistent, so after they checked the 300 in and gave it a quick clean we had the paperwork changed and were soon rolling out of the lot in style.

Jase had his Dick's burger (I still fail to see the appeal in those greaseburgers...seriously, it must be a guy thing). We stopped by Lucie's place to pick her up and then headed over to Hula Hut so I could get my blackened Ahi fix. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....dang I love that stuff! I ended up getting 2 orders of it and had the other one for breakfast the next morning. I also found out that the brown sauce I was going nuts to figure out was their version of teriyaki sauce. So now I can make it at home! All it is really is Ahi steak, roll it in black poppy seeds and white sesame seeds and then lightly grill on all sides so it is still pink in the middle. Cut into thin slices and serve with rice, wasabi and teriyaki sauce. Yeah!!!! No more craving something I can't get down here...now I can make it for myself whenever I feel like! Now those Ahi steaks that have been in my freezer for the last 2 months can come out and see the light of day....

We stopped at Rosauers to pick up perogie supplies, a couple packs of bacon, some eggs and a huge cheesecake sampler pack before Jase dumped Lucie and I off at her place and left on his own adventures for the night.

Lucie started playing Rock Band while I ate my first order of Ahi and then I hate to say it but I passed out on the couch (I want to say it was around 6:30). While I slept Lucie made her own perogies (sorry honey!) and then read until her roommate came home from work around 10. Shortly afterward I woke up and we had a slice of cheesecake before everyone went to bed. I slept out on the couch because I didn't want to kill Lucie's air mattress, and while it was very comfortable I woke up fairly stiff in the morning. I managed to get in the shower and dressed up and, by the time Jason came to pick us up, I was walking mostly upright again. I should mention that this has been happening all too often lately (the stiff back, not sleeping on the couch). If I get moving around it eventually straightens out...I just need to stretch it more.

Back however to the weekend....Jason dropped me off at the temple and then he and Lucie went for a drive until after the ceremony when he would be needed for the photo session. I went in and didn't see anyone I knew but Leah and Yancy pulled up right after us and so I finally got to meet Leah's wonderful parents and her supercool sister. I also met a few grandparents, a sweet aunt Jan and a few other relatives that I am not sure of the connection, but I have to say that Leah's family seems like they are a lot of fun. Yancy's roommates from Provo walked in (which seemed completely weird but it was sweet to see that they were willing to drive the 10 hours to Spokane for the wedding). By this time I had finally spotted Dad and Arlene so I sat with them until we were called in for our session.

It was so beautiful there in the temple,and so touching to be able to be a part of it. I can never thank Yancy enough for encouraging me so I could be there.

Afterwards the rain miraculously stopped long enough that Jason was able to take pictures outside...most of the leaves had fallen to the ground already and I am sure the grass was too mushy to walk on, especially with Leah's dress, but I think Jason managed to take some very lovely shots anyway. Mom and Peter showed up about halfway through the photo session so they were able to get some pics with the bride and groom before we all headed our seperate ways....dad and Arlene had already left for Sandpoint to prepare for the reception, Yancy, Leah and her family went back to the hotel and then out to eat, while Jason, Lucie and I met mom and Peter at Longhorn BBQ for lunch.

Afterwards we went back to Lucie's to grab our bags and then we drove to Sandpoint. Pulling up the house was a lovely blaze of light in the growing twilight...and inside Arlene had the fireplace going and candles burning everywhere. The effect was enchanting. We stowed our gear in our bedrooms and then guests began arriving.

Arlene had asked me to cut and serve the cake but I admit I did a horrible job. It wasn't until afterwards that I thought "hey, I should have asked Dad for a spatula". Instead I cut nice slices at first and all was going well, but then the top layers started to slide off the bottom (darn buttercream!) so my slices were getting larger and larger. Roy asked for a slab of cake (and a slab is what he got!) and a few other people asked for larger slices, but Dad came along later in the evening, took one look at my thick slices, and quietly started tossing them in the garbage! Actually I didn't mind because it let me off the hook and everyone cut the size of cake they wanted after that, so I was free to mingle.

My aunt Joan, her husband Paul, and my cousins Doug and Tracey showed up, which was great because I hadn't seen them for a few years. Doug's wife Rhonda is pregnant and their daughter is so big now....it was strange to see how old she was now until I got a look at both of Tracey's boys...freaking heck, they were little kids when I last saw them and now I think the oldest is a senior in high school. Dang that makes me feel old! We sat around and visited for awhile...even after everyone else had left before they finally had to go home. I forgot how much I miss them....and it was wonderful to get to catch up on things.

Sunday we had a family breakfast...Arlene was so tired from the day before that she didn't get up before we left, but Miya and Roy came back over from his mother's place. We laughed and talked until finally Jason and I had to leave. We'd planned on leaving at 10 but I think it was after 11 before we got in the car and started the drive back to the airport and home. Jason wanted to be sure and stop by Safeway for some Longhorn BBQ sauce and a cookie....sure enough he remembered to grab the cookies but had forgotten the sauce! By that point we were so pressed for time that he couldn't run back in, so he's lucky that he still has a bottle and a half of it at home!

I'd charged up my camera batteries and packed every memory card I own...wouldn't you know it that the only pictures I ended up taking the entire trip were from the window of the plane! I'd wanted to get a shot of Bear Lake encased in fog but by the time I mentioned it to Jason we had passed the turnoff. Unfortunately the fog didn't look good the next morning and we were in too much of a rush anyway. I was thinking of getting a few shots of rain on a red berry tree in my parents front yard, but didn't get around to it in time. Bummer, but I have some lovely shots in my mind and I guess they will have to do. Besides, Jason took a ton of pics so I will just have to steal some of his.

The flight home was fairly uneventful, a little turbulence at one spot but the landing in Salt Lake was just fine....I may end up liking to fly after all. Coming home was wonderful. My own stuff, my own bed, my cats waiting for me. Sammy all but leaped into my arms when I came in through the door, and poor Jasper somehow got sick while I was gone. Its now Tuesday and he still isn't 100% better, but he's not as lethargic as he was when I came home. I can only hope he gets to feeling better soon.

All-in-all it was a wonderful weekend....but ,as Dorothy says, "there's no place like home".

Coming Attractions

Well tomorrow will find me sailing once again into the wide blue yonder on my way to Spokane for Yancy and Leah's wedding.

Am I nervous? Not yet. Will I be? I hope not.

It still seems a bit unreal....heck, I haven't even packed my bag yet (a bag I need to clean...I am borrowing a rolling duffel bag from the office and its pretty dusty). But my laundry is mostly done, and class should be out early enough tonight that I can come home, fold that big pile and be packed before heading to bed. Jase is picking me up around 9 in the morning and I want everything ready tonight so I don't have to run around trying to find this, that and the other tomorrow.

I was IMing with Lucie this morning and was asking what she wanted for dinner tomorrow since I'd promised to cook her whatever she was in the mood for (its only fair since I am crashing at her place tomorrow night). Turns out she wants perogies. Having only eaten them once I was not favorably impressed, however I will be making them for dinner tomorrow since its what she has been craving. Since you serve them with crumbled bacon I can always toss in a few extra slices for a BLT if they taste as bland as I remember!

As for my back...it is doing so much better. I was able to roll right out of bed this morning...a little off-center but that takes care of itself after walking around for awhile. I still have some pretty colors along my left side but they are fading fast. Adding insult to injury I got a spiderbite on my left hip yesterday (I worried at first because the skin fell off around it within an hour and it was hurting like crazy)but it appears to be healing up pretty well. As a joke my gmail comment of the day was changed yesterday to "my spidy senses are tingling". If I suddenly get superstrong and start climbing walls then so be it, but I draw the line at having webs shoot out from my hands!

I received an email yesterday....thank you so much Ann for mentioning me on your Etsy account (even though you have yet to see my designs or for me to have posted them!). A gal in Highland/Lehi has a little boutique shop that she would like to sell my items through, seeing as how I come so highly recommended. I need to pull my designs together into a portfolio and see if this gal is only interested in finished pieces or if patterns will work for her (patterns had been my original plan with one or two mock-ups to send out for a trunk show display).

I have already worked out how I want to package my patterns, have the supplies to do it with, and have a couple of designs drawn up, but haven't had the space to create the model pieces. Maybe I should just plan a weekend where I bring some stuff down to the office where I can spread out. I was planning to take the Friday after Thanksgiving off of work to spend with Jason, but he's thinking of going to Hurricane for that weekend....that would be a perfect time to get some work done! I can bring my laptop down and play some movies while I get some of this stuff worked up.

For now I am happy to crochet my bracelets, since that doesn't take much room for my supplies, and then see if this boutique is interested in some of my larger pieces next year once I get the space to create them...I seriously don't think she would be interested in blank cards, but I will offer her those as well. I need to remember to pack my crochet hook, thread and some beads to work on at the airport....its either that or I spend my time reading a few chapters on the history of typography for class....nah, I would rather crochet!

Ann is going to pull me kicking and screaming if need be to start selling my designs and I love her for it! Its only fair that I get some designs together to sell.

And it just keeps getting better....

Well that was meant to be sarcastic but I guess things really are better...it may not sound like it but I am actually (all things considered) doing pretty darn good.

Halloween....no I didn't dress up this year (thought about it but I didn't). I had a chiropractic appointment in the morning and then came to work and by lunch I was unloading some heavy boxes from the back of a pickup. It went fine, my back did well, but I was teased about how slow I was in getting the job done. Oh well....at least my back wasn't hurting!

After work I ran a few errands, stopped by Jason's place for a few minutes to work out flight arrangements for this Friday (I'll be seeing family again in just a few days!!!!!) before going to my friend Cynthia's place. The plan was to stay home with her more anti-social daughter and hand out candy while Cynthia and her youngest girl trick-or-treated. Then I'd stay the night because Cynthia was escorting me to the temple the next day.

By the time I got there both girls were gone with friends and Cynthia was manning the fort alone so we hung out and waited for the girls. We spend some time making adjustments to my temple dress (it was a bit too wide in the body and the sleeves were miles too long). We were going to watch a movie but ended up spending so much time on the dress that we went to bed around midnight and still hadn't finished the sleeves, which I planned to hand-stitch the next morning before we left.

Saturday morning, 8 am. I got up, went upstairs for needle and thread, and then headed back down the stairs to the guest room where my dress was hanging. I've been to Cynthia's so many times that I didn't even bother to turn on the lights. I thought I'd reached the final step and stepped off when, in reality, I still had 2 stairs to go and fell onto the corner of the piano before hitting the floor with a loud cry of pain. Loud enough that Cynthia was out of bed in a shot and running down the stairs to see me lying on the ground, trying to roll over onto my back because I couldn't breathe.

I'd not only knocked the wind out of myself, but I'd torn up my whole left side where it scraped alongside the piano (Cynthia assures me the piano is just fine). I finally made it onto my back and lay there gasping...not only in pain but I really was having a hard time getting any air in. I think it took me nearly half an hour before I could roll back onto my stomach and begin to crawl towards the couch. Getting onto the couch in one piece took ages but once I was upright and Cynthia had tucked an icebag behind me I was asking for my dress so I could finish those sleeves, even though I was in so much pain I was having a hard time seeing myself accomplishing much of anything.

Cynthia was surprised because she was thinking I would cancel my appointment and re-schedule for later in the week. As it was we pushed my appointment time from 1 pm to 3 (I was still about 15 mins late because I was moving so slowly) but I just knew that if I got myself there that the rest would take care of itself. Not to go into details but going to the temple on Saturday was the best thing I could have done. Not only was it the most amazingly beautiful experience of my life but I was able to have the experience mostly pain-free. Of course by that evening I was hurting like crazy again and my back is swollen on that side and some very lovely shades of blue and purple....but that's beside the point. Here's a pic of me on the temple grounds just before we left for the day...I look pretty darn good for a gal who was barely moving a few hours earlier...of course, by the time that pic was taken I'd downed a lot of extra strength ibuprofen so I am sure that was helping as well!



Sunday I woke up incredibly stiff and sore...and even more colorful...but by the time the evening rolled around I was moving fairly well. I'd cancelled Sunday dinner with Jason because (at the time) I was still hurting a bit and I seriously needed to get to my homework. Cynthia called around 7 pm and asked if I wanted to come down to Springville for a few minutes and go look at a kitten that her daughters had been begging me to adopt...an orange puffball who's mom had abandoned him along with 2 other littermates. By the time they were discovered it was too late to save the littermates and he was all but dead himself, but he'd been bottleraised since then and was ready to find a new home.

Well I guess we all know how that one turned out....Sampson (he came with the name Simba but that was prompty discarded) is probably romping around my bedroom right now and having a wonderful time. He's a feisty little stinker but also a real lovebug and has slept with me these last two nights. I have to admit its nice to have a cat sleeping with me again (Jasper sleeps in Annie's room since he likes being close to the dog....my cat has some serious identity issues!) Jasper still isn't sure what he thinks about the new addition, but he's still upset with me for bringing the little furball home.

And today? Still blue and purple....with some yellows tossed in for variety. Still some swelling as well....in fact just wearing a belt hurts like the Dickens, and I am still a bit stiff. Considering the condition I was in just a few days ago I can't help but marvel at how much better I am doing. I won't be running any marathons soon (lets face it, I wasn't about to before the incident either!) but I was able to roll out of bed early this morning to vote with no real problems and for that I am thankful. I also managed to stay in a good mood through it all, and was even laughing and joking about the situation by Saturday afternoon so I think it is safe to say that, in spite of it all, that all is well.