August Archives

This is the month that I spent a lot of money. I ordered a bunch of clothes online to wear on my trip. Most of those got returned. I bought cameras, TV, shoes, and just general stuff. You know, spending money is really fun. But here's a general report of noteworthy happenings.

1st - I attended the bank's Recognition Event in Provo. It was held at the Elk's Lodge and I stayed at the Marriott. I love sleeping in hotels; nice firm bed, lots of channels on the TV, alone time. The event itself was fun. I was late and didn't get to scope out the prizes which really didn't matter in the end. My name was called about halfway through and all the prizes I had been hoping for were gone. But I did select a very nice set of luggage: brown flowery brocade design. Just the thing for cruise. (Stay tuned to learn how it fared on the trip. Details in a future post)

2nd - I got up early which is hard when you're sleeping in a comfy hotel bed and it's Saturday morning, but I needed to get back to Vernal for the Petersen Family Reunion. I made it just in time to say goodby to Uncle Donald and Aunt Eleanor and Cousin Eldon. The rest of the morning and early afternoon were spent mostly playing dice and visiting. It was a nice day with a light breeze cooling things off occasionally. I have a great family and it was fun to spend time with them.

12th - Went visiting teaching. I know this shouldn't be that noteworthy, but it is the first time in eight months that my partner went with me. She is the same age as my daughter but really fun; and we had a good time. She's a busy girl so I'm glad we were able to finally go out together.

13th - Saw the movie "Mama Mia" with my high school friends. If you went to high school in the 70's, I recommend going to this movie with similar age friends. Some of the references were hilarious and the music was great. Except when Pierce Brosnan sang and then it was just hilarious. I was telling someone about it today (a month later) and starting cracking up again. Very entertaining.

30th-31st - Drove to Salt Lake Friday night and stayed at Jordan's. That meant I got to play with Lincoln Saturday morning. We went to a store and Jordan parked in the back seat with the baby. I made mooing noises for him which he loved. He's so cute. I left the car with Jordan and Stacey so they had two cars while I was gone. That afternoon at 3 pm MST, Julie, Cassie and I boarded our plane en route to Boston via Phoenix, AZ and Charlotte, NC. We arrived in Boston at 9 am EST. What a long day and night. Our layover in Phoenix was five hours long!! We took a very expensive taxi ride to the boat and boarded. You'll have to wait for my post about the trip to learn more.

Books - I read or listened to eight books this month:

Johnny and the Dead by Terry Pratchett (audio) - Very funny

The Changeling by Zilpha Keating Snyder - A great young adult book

Niagra: A History of the Falls by Pierre Berton - Non-fiction, read for Canadian challenge. Very informative and interesting.

Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer - The last of the Twilight series. The kind of book you can't put down but not my favorite in the series.

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - Dare I criticize the great one? I'll just say this was one of my least favorite Austen books.

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E L Konigburg - Another great young adult book.

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons - probably my least favorite read this month.

Barometer Rising by Hugh MacLennan - Read for the Canadian Challenge and in preparation for my trip to Halifax. It was slow going at first, but the description of the Halifax Explosion was spellbinding.

I joined one challenge, R.I.P Challenge 2008, which is always a good one for the fall. I also finished the Decades, TBR, Heard It Through the Grapevine and the Chunkster Challenges. So I have six challenges to finish before December 31 and one to finish by October 31. That's about sixteen books because I do a lot of cross-challenging, so I think I'm good. Especially since I'm almost finished with one that works for two challenges. I feel like I'm pulling a fast one.

Movies - Mama Mia (see above)

TV - It was all about the Olympics. Why is it that you couldn't pay me to watch rowing but put it on the Olympics and I'm standing and cheering on the Americans? If they're not in the race, I'll find someone else to cheer for. Swimming is still my favorite to watch and what nail biters a couple of those races were. Michael Phelps was so impressive. Less impressive was the joint interview they did with Phelps and Mark Spitz. Wasn't there some obsure sport like badminton that we could have been watching? I like watching gymnastics but got a little frustrated with some of the scoring. I did have a hard time with table tennis because the ball moved so fast I couldn't keep up with it. I admit I didn't watch any wrestling, but was glued to the volleyball matches. Whatever, it was fun.

Overall Impression - It seems like the entire month was a count down to The Trip. And the Olympics, of course.