Catching Up (At least trying to)

Whew. It’s been awhile since one of these. Yesterday I wrote a huge, wonderful, hilarious post, Pulitzer-Prize material, but alas, stupid computer and stupid internet shut down and didn’t save it. So we’ll have to start from scratch, and you’ll have to read a post that is merely a shadow of its original artwork. I’m sorry.

I have a lot a lot to talk about, and much of it is quite disjointed, so I think I really will turn this into several posts. (Yes, I know, I spoil you, get over it.) First I’ll talk about our Big Bad Busy Bweekend (that was the name of the post that never was, single tear). That’s this post. Next I’ll talk about adventures living outside the law, while within the law, and the third post will be about me and my place in the World of the Arts. I’m so excited I can barely control myself. I’m going to the restroom, when I get back and regain control I’ll write about the Bweekend.

Ok, I’m back. Miss me? Me too! We have so much in common! This weekend can be summed up in one word: busytrulescent.

Friday began as any other day, me at work, in shorts & sandals, goofing off, having fun, and getting a little work in. The day just improved after that. (It usually does. I mean, after work, I get to see TRACIE!!!) So I got home, saw Tracie, and we had Charity & James over for dinner. Tracie made DEEEEELICIOUS Margherita (not Margarita) pizzas, and Charity made DEEEEELICIOUS fruit salad, and I said DEEEEELICIOUS a lot. We had a lot of fun just chillin & visitin, and they went home a little early/ we kicked them out/ they escaped the cages, letting us get ready for the big bad Saturday in store…

Saturday morning I didn’t have class. So you’d think I’d have a nice relaxing day, free of cares or 8-12 Biology. Well, you’d be wrong. I had Biology homework to do as well, so I still got up early because, the only thing I’m better at than putting work off to the last minute is procrastinating. So, I did the homework, dropped it off at the weekend office (the teacher was at a seminar in Tennessee or somewhere) and Tracie and I headed up to Centerville for the SVU Alumni BBQ. I went to SVU for a year before my mission, and was excited to see several people there, as it has been about 7 years since I have. However, I debated with myself on whether or not to go. You see, without going into too much detail (largely because it’s not worth mentioning) there would be someone there that I didn’t want to see, that the last time I saw her it took me about 5 years to get completely over her. But, long boring story short, I wanted to see my other friends badly enough, as well as prove to myself once and for all that this person had no power over me, so I brought the most beautiful woman in the world and held my head up high. It was a lot of fun, I enjoyed seeing many old friends & meeting their kids (one old friend had FOUR kids!! She wasn’t even dating anyone the last time I saw her!) and I can say I am completely over said strumpet. Thank you, Tracie, for coming with me and encouraging me to stay after being there for 10 minutes, so we were there almost an hour. After the SVUBBQ we went to Riverton, as my immediate family (minus the Chileanos or whatever they call themselves) spent the week in Idaho and are now in Riverton to visit us and anyone else that wants to see them. Which is a lot. Yessir, they spent the week in Idaho, (causing me to lose the bet that there is not enough to do in Idaho that lasts more than a day) and we had fun visiting them, and I had fun beating up my little bros, who are nearly as tall as I am now, but I can still beat them both up. That’s all that matters to an older brother. “How are you doing in school? Are you making good choices? Any girls in your life? What do you do in your freetime?” I don’t care. “Can I still whoop you both in a cage match given the opportunity? Yes?” Good.
After the brief how do you do I missed you in Riverton, we went back up northward to pickup our friend Brittnee (opposed to our common enemy Brittnee) and headed down to Provo to meet her fiancée Matt at Guru’s, a really good and eclectic café on Center street. We had been there before and it had been ho hum, but they must have changed the menu or something because this time it was yo yum. That means tasty. The food. Try to keep up. So, we and Brittnee and Matt our friends (not Brittnee and Matt, the leaders of the Neo-Nazi Communist Terrorist Party of Utah) went to the Orem Summerfest. I’ve lived in Utah for about 4 years now, Orem about 1, and I must say, of all the Days and Fests there are (Strawberry Days, Swiss Days, Freedom Fest, Llama Fest, Best Fest, West Fest, Chest Fest) Summer Fest is the best Fest (even better than Best Fest). We had a lot of fun touring the booths of overpriced junk, and had some very good Sub Zero ice cream, made by freezing cream with liquid nitrogen, some Kettle Corn (cooked in the second biggest kettle I’ve ever seen) and I had a lovely pulled pork sandwich. I’d like to say that no animals were harmed in the production of that sandwich, but it’s called pulled pork, so I doubt the pig really enjoyed the process of pulling the meat off his (or her) body. But, it tasted GOOOOOOOD, and that’s all that really matters in the end. I mean, if I was raised to be slaughtered and eaten, I’d at least like to know if I tasted good. Or I’d hope the cruel beast that devoured me choked on my fat. Either one would be fine.
Anyway, after the carnie stomping we found a spot near the ballpark where the fireworks would go off. We had a lot of fun with Tracie’s glowsticks, and oohed and aahed and wowed at the fireworks. What is it about fireworks that make you ooh and ahh like that? The light? The colors? Or just the fact that an explosion is so beautiful? I don’t know, but I just loved em. After the firework spectacular we met up with Heidi and Aaron and visited with them for a bit, after being shooed by Orem’s bicycle cop menace. I may talk about more about Mr. Junior Woodchuck on Wheels later, but for now, I’ll just say our night concluded with fun and laughter with Matt & Britt and me & the missus settled down for the night.

Sunday is a family day, so that’s what we did. We went up to Riverton to play games with my parents, which, as I’ve mentioned before, is a Valantine family law. “When three or more of you are gathered together, thou shalt play cards, lest a curse be placed upon your heads and you be stricken with baldness.” I disobeyed the law once, but never again. We played “Wizard,” a fun variant on Shoot the Moon (no moons were harmed in the production of this game. Or wizards) with my parents, visited, and then headed down to Pleasant Grove (though the weather was far from pleasant) at Tracie’s aunt Sharon’s house for the Annual McNeil family BBQ father’s day/birthday hoopla. It was a lot of fun, the food was Excellent, it’s fun to see lots of family members I don’t really know and how they grow, and play games. This year was marred a bit by HayLee & Justin’s absence, and the almost triple digit temperatures. Other than that, a glad time was had by all.
To be included in my post of the weekend is a bit about Monday, at least the first part of it, because it felt like the weekend. Prosper rented or bought out or whatever 2 screens to show the entire company “Indiana Jones 4: We’re surprised he’s not dead too.” I mean “Indiana Jones: The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” While I enjoyed it more on the second viewing, partially because I knew what to expect/that I’d be disappointed, I still stick with what I’ve said before: any Indy is good Indy. And I realized something. When you spend so much of your life fantasizing and anticipating something, no matter the end result, you’re probably going to be disappointed. Like on our honeymoon. We were so excited and looking forward to it, but when it finally came, we looked at each other and said, “THIS is San Diego??!!?”

And that’s it for now!~
Stay tuned, 2 more coming up!