As my kids have gotten older many of my friends have become empty nesters. While I didn't like the idea of my kids all leaving home I have to admit that there was a certain appeal to not having any of the responsibilities that come with having kids. Lisa and I can come home from work and decide spontaneously that we want to go out for dinner or even go a movie if we want. There is no such thing as a "school night" any more. What I found amazing though was how many of my empty nester friends would tell me that they were as busy as ever. It was just incomprehensible to me that with the kids all gone you could be more busy than you were before. Well I'm a bit embarrassed to now say that my life has been crazy busy and what is worse, I don't even know why. I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted a blog.
There are so many things I want to share with but I guess I'll just start with the most recent. We've wanted to go to Utah for a while now to see Sarah and to meet Sam's family so when Desiree Heaton offered Sarah half of the furniture in her house it was the perfect opportunity to go. There was no way we were getting all of the junk in the van so we rented a U-Haul and off we went.We left about noon on Friday and Saturday was a work day. Not only did we load all of the stuff into their new apartment but then Lisa felt it necessary to totally organize the place. I guess that is part of being a mother. I would have piled everything in the middle of the floor and left them to it but I guess that is why everyone needs a mother.
After a long and arduous day we all went for pizza at the Brick Oven. It has somehow become a bit of a family tradition. They have very good pizza and delicious root-beer with free refills. How can you beat that? I feel a bit bad that Lisa didn't get into this picture but someone had to take it.
After we ate Alycia took us by her office to show us where she works. I suppose I knew that if she worked for a lawyer he would probably have a swanky place but I don't think I was quite prepared with how nice this office was. The place had a little sitting room with a fire place, a nice library and Alycia had her own office. Not only did she have her own office but she had a very nice office. Better than any office I've ever had. She had it pretty good at that place.
Monday was a play day. The girls went shopping (don't ask me how that is a play day) while Sam and I went and shot some of his hand guns. I have a high powered rifle (my 30-06) a nice bush gun (my 30-30) and 22 (every man should have one of those) and a shot gun. That about covers every potential need except for a hand gun. I really want a hand gun. In Canada it didn't make a whole lot of sense since the laws are so restrictive but here in the states I really should have one. I've decided I would rather get a semi-auto since I like the idea of having 15 shots rather than just six but I can't decide on which make to go with. After shooting with Sam I fell in love with his 40 caliber Sig-Sauer. It wasn't until after that he told me it was one of the most expensive guns I could get. Darn.
Before we headed out we decided to have breakfast at the "Awful Waffle". They have some very good Belgian Waffles and it seemed like a good breakfast.
Because Sam is so into his guns I was a bit worried that I would embarrass myself but I think I did ok. I had the occasional stray shot but if this guy was coming at me I don't think he would have gotten too far.
Of course Monday was memorial day and I just loved how all of the graveyards in Utah were completely decked out with flags. Everyone was leaving flowers on all of the graves as well. It was pretty cool.After the girls were done their shopping we met up with them and headed to the Sanchez's for a picnic. It was great to visit with their family again.
After we left their place Sam and Sarah recommended that we stopped at this place for desert. It was absolutely delicious. That is a small shaved ice that Lisa is holding there. I don't have a clue what a large would be but I was just fine with a small. I had a ball of icecream in the middle of mine and the top was sprinkled with condensed milk.
Lisa and I have come home from Utah on Sunday afternoons before and once we hit Las Vegas the traffic is so horrible that we have taken as long as twelve hours to make the five hour trip. There are so many people from Los Angeles who go to Vegas gambling that you don't want to be anywhere near the place on a Sunday afternoon when they all come home. I had heard that for the memorial day weekend they expected 2.5 million people from southern California to travel and about half of them would be driving. The most popular destinations were Vegas (bad), San Diego (double bad) and the Grand Canyon (good). I decided that I didn't want to be caught in the Vegas traffic and I would much rather sit and visit with my girls than sit on the I-15 watching the sun set. That is why I planned on leaving Provo in time to arrive at Vegas at around midnight. We were a bit late but we had no problem with traffic. Focusing at work on Tuesday was a bit rough but we're almost back to normal.It was a great weekend.
We've decided that we like Sam and we like his family.
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In 1943 a Chinook blowing out of the Black Hills of South Dakota brought the temperatures from -4°F to +45°F in just two minutes. The 49°F temperature rise was the most dramatic ever recorded in America. So dramatic that the thermal shock broke everyone's windows.
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2 comments:
We decided awhile ago that we 'loved' Sam and we already knew we liked his family - at least I did. It was a great weekend and I think we are still recovering!!
I would LOVE to experience that kind of shift in weather!!! How bizarre and such a great story!!!
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