WICKED and then some

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2009 Yesterday, Judy and I flew to San Francisco and saw Wicked at the Orpheum Theater on Market Street. I enjoyed it a lot though I couldn’t understand what they were saying a couple of times at the beginning. Between that and wanting to relate it to the surprise ending, I would like to see the start of it again. We stayed at the Parc 55 Hotel which wasn’t too far away but just far enough and cool and windy enough that Judy decided to take the taxi to and from. Before the show we went to a large nearby mall and looked around. We also went to Macy’s and Crate and Barrel. We ate at the restaurant in the hotel. Expensive but, oh well! We tried to come home on a seven something flight this morning but the earlier flight canceled and everyone was “protected” on our flight so we ended up on the ten o five flight. At least on that one we got first class seats. The earlier one didn’t have a first class section.

EGGS-STRAVAGANZA

SATURDAY, APRIL 25, 2009 A few days ago when Niki had the flue, I was taking care of Alexa and Gavin so she (Niki) could get some sleep. I was making scrambled eggs to feed the kids. Two and a half year old Alexa was at the island counter on a chair next to me and when she saw me crack open the first egg she asked if she could do it. I told her yes and she carefully cracked open one egg and handed it to me to finish opening and drop its contents into a bowl. She did this three or four times, each time as perfectly as I would have done it. I had some cheese to mix into the eggs but Alexa ate most of it before it made it to the frying pan.

BUSY DAY

FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2009 Judy flew to Minneapolis this afternoon to see her mother. She is coming home Sunday morning. To facilitate this, I drove her to work this morning, babysat Alexa and Gavin while Greg and Niki went to Greg’s great-aunt’s funeral then drove back downtown, got Judy and took her to the airport. When Niki told her she was leaving, Alexa threw a fit. I even suggested perhaps she should take her with, but they weren’t gone long when Alexa announced, “I’m not sad now” or was it “I’m happy now!” (I forget which.) At any rate she was good the whole time her parents were gone. She fell asleep twenty minutes or so before they came home. Gavin didn’t wake up until 11:40 or so. Niki was sure he would be awake around 11:00. He was happy-smiley the whole time. I fed them Mac & Cheese though Alexa decided she wanted cottage cheese instead and ate a good helping of it. Gavin didn’t eat a whole lot. This evening I did an hour in the neighborhood pool, the first time I have done any exercise to speak of for a month or so, thanks to bad weather, my being out of town a lot and sometimes just not getting around to it.

YUCKY POO--SHE HAS THE FLU

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2009 Yesterday Corey was in Las Vegas and Stacey had to work so I picked Jayden and Bailey up after school and we drove to Niki’s to visit with Alexa and Gavin. Bailey especially was good with the kids. Jayden was more interested in playing video games. Niki had an upset stomach. At 5:30 this morning, Judy woke me up, said that Niki had the flu and wanted me to take care of the kids so she could get some “real” sleep. By the time I got there she had added a migraine to the problem. I took care of the kids, played with them and fed them. I also unloaded the dishwasher and did another batch. I also did a batch of laundry—towels. I had a 9:40 doctor appointment so I had to excuse myself early. Hope everything is OK! OH! Today is Stacey and Corey’s wedding anniversary and as I said he is out of town so he arranged for me to get her some roses. When I showed up with them she was certainly surprised and delighted. Everyone will be home from Vegas tomorrow.

"WHERE THE GEESE and the ANTELOPE ROAM"

Monday, April 20, 2009 When I was returning home from running a few errands, there were exactly twenty antelope in the field on the north side of 400 South near Saratoga Road, in other words just two blocks or so from the house. Tuesday, April 21, 2009 See yesterday. This evening there were approximately thirty geese in about the same location as the antelope I saw yesterday.

WHIRLWIND CALIFORNIA TRIP

Sunday, April 19, 2009 At 6:45 this evening I arrived home from the Stars California Regional competition in Valencia, California. I drove from about 5:45 this morning Pacific Time though I did make stops along the way. Thursday at about 7:30 a.m. I left home driving to California. I refueled in Mesquite and continued on to Primm, Nevada where I stayed the night. I could have continued on but I needed to pick Judy up at the Burbank, (Bob Hope) Airport at around 9:30 Friday morning and the hotels are cheap in Nevada Sunday through Thursday nights. I had prepaid for a room online for $38.98 including tax at the Primm Valley Resort and Casino. It was not the classiest place I have stayed in but not the worst either. I went to bed fairly early after a soak in their hot tub and asked for a 5:30 a.m. wake up call to get to Burbank on time for Judy arrival. How did we ever get along without GPS navigation? I hardly had to think except for the one glitch. When I programmed in the Burbank Airport my TomTom directed me to Downtown Burbank instead. After finding my way back onto the I-5 northbound, I watched for the signs to direct me to where I needed to go and everything was OK. I was only a little late for the pickup and Judy needed to make a pit stop anyway. The competition seemed to go well. Judy mentioned one minor glitch in the computer program and quickly got it straightened out thanks to a phone call to Loretta. I worked admissions with Holly’s mom and Dad and of course helped set up and tear down. Friday noon, after a visit to Stars Headquarters in Santa Clarita, Judy and I ate barbecue at Rattlers near the studio. That night and again Saturday after it was all over, we ate at Claim Jumper. I had never eaten there but Judy, Corey (and his companion) and Niki had when Corey was on his mission. Both places had good food and generous proportions. We stayed at the Embassy Suites Friday and Saturday. It was a really nice hotel with a “living room” and a bedroom. Saturday before going to bed we hit its hot tub also. On my way home I was already getting tired by the time I reached Primm. I had to make a stop at the hotel and retrieve my pillow I oopsed and left Friday morning. I had made a phone call, they found it and had it waiting for me at Security so it was a quick in and out today. By the time I reached Mesquite I was really feeling it (grogginess). But after refueling and a chicken wrap at Popeye’s I continued on. By the time I reached St. George I knew I was in trouble and half way between there and Cedar I pulled off the road for about an hour and nodded on and off for a while and then slept for a good half hour solid. I needed it though I was still not in the best of shape. In Cedar I got a chocolate shake at Arby’s which helped slightly. In Beaver I stopped at another Arby’s (I got out of the car and went inside at that one) and got an Italian sandwich and a medium diet Pepsi and after fifteen minutes or half an hour I perked up and was good for the rest of the drive home. Quite the whirlwind trip!

SUSHI and LIBERTY LAND

Monday, April 13, 2009 Corey called and asked if I could be with Jayden and Bailey while he went to an appointment. The kids are out of school all this week for spring break and Stacey was at work at FedEx Kinko's on 12300 S. in Draper. We, along with Jim, Greg and Danny Palmer met at Simply Sushi for lunch. Jayden was very adventurous with the raw-fish sushi as well as California roll etc. I was a little hidden from Bailey so I’m not really sure what she ate. I drove to Simply Sushi with Jim in his new Honda Civic Hybrid; really nice. It is black with tan interior. He got it a couple of days ago. I drove back with Corey and the kids in Corey’s new Toyota Tacoma; again really nice. He has had it for a week or so. On the way back to Wendy’s in Lehi where I had left my Camry, we stopped at Quality RV and looked at trailers. It would be fun to own one. At one point Jayden was getting bored, wanting to get to Liberty Land, and declared, “I’m a real man. I want to live in a tent!” At Wendy’s, Jayden and Bailey got into my car with me and Corey went to his appointment on Fifth West in Lehi. The kids and I went to Liberty Land on Third West where they rode on the roller coaster (Jayden only, Bailey was afraid.), Bumper boats, miniature golf, lazar tag, go carts, airplane ride, ship swing ride, Merry-go-round, rock wall climbing, frog hopper etc. They both fell in love with rock wall climbing and did it over and over. Both of them struggled but both persisted and a couple of times reached the top and rang the bell/pushed the buzzer. Bailey conquered a lot of fears today. I took Jayden to Liberty Land a week or two ago but only for a short time and he didn’t get to do much. It was also cold and rainy outside. Ever since that time both he and Bailey have been on my case, reminding me I promised to that them there again. Promise kept!