For a Year and a Day...

Sounds like how long it's been since I blogged. Oh wait, that would be more like FOREVER and a day.  But really, this evening I went to a friend's handfasting.  It's mostly a Pagan ceremony and is sort of a temporary/trial marriage.  They are married for a year and a day then can decide to be married for forever then, or walk away. It was very interesting.  They lit various colors of candles in a certain order than symbolized different things (there was a member of the wedding party who served as sort of a narrator to explain what everything meant which was cool.) had a "sacred circle," drank some Martinelli's (instead of wine), and then tied their hands together, supposedly for 48 hours (but they are going to cheat because they have a baby to take care of.).

It was really interesting.  I have this thing about other religions and cultures.  I love them!  Do I love my own, too?  Of course. And more than that I believe it is true (religion. Not culture.  There is no such thing as a true culture!) so I follow it, to the best of my ability.  But I just think learning about others is so fun.

Earlier today I had another adventure.  Monday is World Turtle Day and I really wanted to get a picture or 2 the green sea turtle at Living Planet for my Examiner article.  You know the one that escaped a shark and a boat accident and lived?  She is cool!  However, my pictures weren't so awesome.  So I ended up using one of the new musk turtle they have.  Anyway, I really wanted to get the aquarium to see the turtles and everything else and write about it.  So I did!  I went to "Strut Your Mutt" in the morning for school, but having no mutt to strut, I left and went to the Aquarium. 

I love the aquarium.  I love the seahorses, the jellyfish, and the penguins.  I love petting the stingrays.  I love hearing kids ask questions.  I love the new exhibits with glow-in-the-dark scorpions and colorful geckos.  It is just a fun place to hang out.  And since I just renewed my yearly membership, I will be going back.  So, if you are bored and feel like looking at some pretty cool critters and want some company, well, I'm game.

Luck and Bones

Yesterday I went to the U of U Neurological Center to meet with a specialist. I was very lucky to get in because they were booking a YEAR out. "Bones" as we call this doctor was very nice and had SOME ideas but some are going to be really hard.  Like my goal to be on less meds, well he's decided which of those to cut and weaning off of those is going to be scary. :(

But here's hoping Bones' ideas... the going off some meds and adding Celebrex... is the answer to these horrid headaches.  Today I went to my cousin's bridal shower and it was fun. Everyone is so funny in my family.  But my head was killing me the whole time and so it was kind of spoiled.  Also there was always those mixed feelings of Yay! Weddings! and Aww crap. WEDDINGS. because the guy I feel I truly love is so far away.  And I honestly don't know if we WILL ever get together.  I know the Lord is in control, but I think there is luck involved too and THAT I do not have.

Even my parents anniversary makes me think of pets

Today was good except for a few painful things... my head, as always, hurt and my stupid tooth in front is crumbling like it's made of clay.  And I hurt my shoulder on Christmas in a ROCKING CHAIR. How lame is that?

BUT Mom drove m,e around to do errands and it was good to get things DONE. I really appreciate her, even though sometimes I am not sure who is a scarier driver, her with her stroke or me with my head. But anyway we got lights and timers for all the reptiles, some chewy treats for Fable, and mailed off the things I sold on eBay. One of those things was the too fancy Prada bag Fresno bought me when we were dating. Good to have money instead of a purse I am not using.  I am using it to buy vitamins for the gliders.  And a new foraging toy.

I might have enough left over to get a book or something (I only got 66 for it), but yes, pretty much all my spare money goes to my pets.  And I am okay with that.  It makes me happy to see them happy and healthy.  I love my babies, including the scaley ones.

Today is my parents 32nd wedding anniversary.  Padre got mom orchids, like growing in a pot. They made ME want an Orchid Mantis.  Someday I will have one. They are gorgeous!  Anyway, bug aside, the flower is really pretty.  And I think it is cool that they have been married that long and still love each other.  That's pretty awesome and rare in 2010.

As for what I am reading right now, I just finished the kids' book Room with a Zoo and am going to review it for the Examiner.  Now I am on Sorcerers and Seers and just starting The Last Olympian.  Better start on that review now.

 Ta ta!

P.S. (Proposal -o-Sunday) it gets worse

OH. my. HECK.

So, apparently I missed part of that story. The "friend" the Dork was on the date with when he fell for the friend he would later propose to in our house? RINN. She is in full hostess mode and throwing the ice cream party. But, Yeah. That means that dork is proposing to the girl in the house of the OTHER GIRL'S parents. Wow.

I was laughing so hard at Rinny as I was telling her I felt bad for her that I am not sure she believed I was sincere. Which was too bad because she was being really nice at the time.

Anyway

He is coming here to PROPOSE tomorrow!

Did that get your attention!? Okay. GET THIS. At some point one of Rinny's friends was on a date with some dork at one of her parties at the Padres' house (pool table, big screen... you know.). Well, Dork ends up liking ANOTHER of Rinny's friends at the party (it happens. Fine.) and later asks her out to a dance blah blah blah. WELL, fast forward however many months that was they are going to get married. He wants to propose to her the first place he MET her... yeah OUR HOUSE (where he was on a date with someone else?!).

Umm... D'oookay? Now this is JUST MY OPINION. But seriously. I think proposing at my house, like upstairs at the pool table is a bit NOT romantic. Especially considering, you know, it's our house. But whatever. AND we are having another ice cream party to "set the scene" and then we all disapear for the big moment. I just think it is kinda tacky.

If you know who I mean, don't tell. (Not that anyone does... well, maybe you, Bobbie.) But still... come on, my parent's pool table room?!

p.s. I just got back from the hospital because I ended up getting driven HOME from work. Leaving my car there. I feel like crap. Ican't move because of my back and a stomach thing (ulcer). This is a BAD BAD BAD day. But still... the proposal is QUALITY freakin humor.

Friday with Fanpires and Fairies to Sunday No-Shows

It has been a CRAZY weekend!
WORK was hilarious.

So I get to the barn for my first field trip; Kindergarteners at Farm Country means emphasizing the 5 Senses. I especially love how we say "do you notice it smells different here than at your home?" and I am thinking gee I HOPE it does unless you happen to have cow poop all over YOUR house. We are full of that Teacher-ese, usually with this OVER enthusiasm that I really ONLY can must AT work with my kiddlets. In real life it is just NOT natural to be THAT chipper. "Let's say hi to our friends, Amazing Grace and Annie Oakley. They are Belgians." Or "Oh, this is our little bunny friend!" Occasionally a child asks something like "is this animal your friend too?" "Yep!" But THIS time a more logical and frustrated and confused kid raised his hand and said incredulously, "Umm, how come a horse is your FRIEND?" "Because they work so hard and help us pull our wagons and we love all the animals on our farm!" "But they can't TALK. FRIENDS can TALK." "Well, these are just... Animal friends." "But TEACHER! A horse can NOT be a friend because..." "Lets go see our peacock friends!" Other fun stuff happens at the farm, too. I LOVE Kids. There are kids and then there are kids....

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) /kɪd/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[kid] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation noun, verb, kid·ded, kid·ding, adjective –noun

1.	Informal. a child or young person.

2.	(used as a familiar form of address.)

3.	a young goat.

and BOTH crack me up. We've just had quite a few new babies born, too. The newest pygmy ones look like kittens. I love holding the little graham cracker colored girl (and her little black twin brother) most right now. Even my own little Ambrosia participating in a favorite naughty goat past time RIDING SHEEP! The sheep hate it. They fall asleep or wander by a box and those little goats who are tiny enough to slip under the fence between the sheep and goat pens climb onto those soft woolly "blankets" to nap... OR just to stand up while the sheep go nuts while the babies entertain themselves being, though is still just a year old and you can tell she's still young, though she WASN'T chosen as the "official" Birthday Party Goat. Right now that is Ginger. The bottle-fed trouble maker shown here Mutton Busters riding around the pen. IT IS HILARIOUS! Goats are funny and smart. Sheep... not so much. (Though, actually I really like that sheep in the photo. He's friendly. He's a Rambouillet named Cherokee.) Next field trip was 1st Grade at the Children's Discovery Garden which is about Bees and Pollination in plant growth. It is a fun one. However it was HOT outside, and I was an idiot who forgot my hat. So I am once again sunburned... but still hurting from frostbite. Oh AND they were supposed to do rubbings of plants with crayons then label what part of the plant it was? Well the crayons were little pools of wax when the second group got there! (Fun to have the kids practice Fanning like the bees do so their combs don't melt though!) They loved seeing our real bee hive, though it has become disturbingly sparse this year. That whole mystery honey bee sickness or something is... bad. (And right now I am actually learning a bit from a site about ICE CREAM, randomly. But they let you make a bee. And it IS informative. Coolio. AND totally adding some of this INFO for next time.) AFTER a couple field trips at the garden I was headed to the office. The problem? The education office is in the Red Show Barn. It was only 2 or 3 in the afternoon or so but already the line to the Red Barn stretched far out into the hot sun. They were waiting for Stephenie Meyers to come and talk about The Host, at, like 7. In fact, some tried to camp out but security freaked out and kicked them out last night. So they came back this morning. And these are some GOOD tailgaters! They don't just have pizza and chairs and card games. They were making ice cream in a home-made ice scream maker and vegetable kebabs on a butane grill under beach awnings while watching videos on their laptops. It was hilarious! We could not get to our office with out stepping on blankets and asking people to move chairs and such. Truthfully, those Twilight novels are my girlishly guilty pleasure and I am ANXIOUSLY awaiting Breaking Dawn due to come out in August. I AM a fan. But I didn't know about this sold out book talk event until my Aunt L called and asked if since Rinny and I worked here did we have anyway to get in anyway. (We told her no. But that didn't stop ME from later that day attempting to get in under the pretense of working the event. You know, I thought maybe I could be all "Oh, pardon me, employee coming through. Ms. Meyers, can we get you anything? A fresh pen? Here's MY book to test it out on..." Yeah, well, Borders brought their OWN hosting peoples to sort of, uhh POLICE the door. So I failed. Hee hee!) The funniest part to me, though, was Rinny's reaction to all this when I left to run an errand. She called me all panicked. "They were fighting!" "What? Who?" "People in line! There was fighting! Security had to be called!" "SHUT UP! THAT is too funny! PLEASE tell me they were fighting over liking Edward or Jacob more, because that will SO make my day!" "Who? What? No, someone, like, butted or they were squishing closer to get more shade or something..." "Oh." "But THEY WERE SWEARING!" "Okay...?" "I was afraid and couldn't leave my office because there was fighting and they were swearing and I had to call security and..." "WAIT. YOU called security?" "I COULDN'T LEAVE MY OFFICE!" "Why?" "THEY WERE SWEARING!" "Rinny! SWEAR WORDS are not, like, jack knives! They can't actually hurt you! The people in line aren't GANG members! They are NERDS! Bookworms!" "They are KIND of like a cult... and they ARE VAMPIRE books!" I seriously almost crashed my car I was laughing so hard. My sister is such a dork. I love her to bits. But OH MY HELL what a pink and fluffy world she lives in. Anyway, yeah. AWESOME. Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee!

ANYWAY, I DID end up SEEING Stephenie Meyers, by a weird chance. She and 2 hostess looking girls in yellow sashes were taking a BREAK behind the barn as I drove by and she seriously looked like she was ready to cry. I don't think she had anticipated the THOUSAND people in that barn STILL wanting her autograph and her hand was probably ready to break off. It might have been PLANNED to end at 9 but I would be totally shocked if she got out of there before midnight, poor woman. I mean GOOD for her, because that means more books sold and thus more fame and fortune, but I just looked at her and thought she can NOT be having a good time! She looked a little overwhelmed. But hey, good for her, and congrats for making it big, you might say. :O) Since she seems like a nice person and at least SEEMS like she really does live her faith. Kudos. And I am a dorky dorky fan. So pathetic. SIGH. And yes, I gave in and had to buy The Host, too. JUST started it. (It is for ADULTS, though, not teens. So even though I actually AM 28 rather than 18 it will be slower going than my usual literary candy. Hee hee!) SO, after I gave up trying to schmooze my way in with out tickets and enjoying the hype by proxy I went the OTHER direction on that Thanksgiving Point/Cabella's road out to the sleep doctor place. Because earlier that day they called and asked if my study could be changed from next Thursday to THIS Friday. Yay? My room was decorated in fairies which was kinda fun.... except it seemed a little incongruous when there were cameras in the ceiling and all kinds of monitors and machines on the nightstand. Not shockingly, I didn't sleep much being all trussed up like some sort of robot... (this was NOT all the wires and tubes I actually had to wear when they put me to bed (Oh, and at 11 because they "let me stay up"... as if I EVER COULD sleep that early anyway. They also let me "sleep in" TILL SEVEN. UGH. As they say "Seven has an a.m.?"). Nope, there were more. Like stuff IN my nose. Yeah, as if I could sleep comfortable with THAT. Good Gordon. Well, I don't have the OFFICIAL results but the unofficial ones seem to suggest I will be placed on a CPAP machine for oxygen after all. I am, ahh, Under-Joyed. I know everyone says it will be worth it, to sleep better and stuff. That I will get used to sleeping in a mask. That it won't make me even MORE of a long shot to ever finding love. That if I need it, then that's that. I NEED it.

But I still can't help but feel impending doom about the Mask.

SO, when I was woken up (after such a comfy and relaxing night and sleeping in SOOO late *rolls eyes*) I headed home and did my best to wash off the glue and red markings from my skin before a bridal shower in Brigham City. (Bleh. Showers.) My cousins are getting married... NOT TO EACH OTHER, MIND YOU. We are not polygamists nor are we from Texas, thank you very much. ;O) (Yeah, many of my family are LDS... but I don't think any of us FLDS) One cousins' son's fiance and another cousin's daughter had a joint bridal shower and yes, it was as cool as it sounds. hee hee! Made me feel OLD, too since now it's all the cousins' CHILDREN getting married and having babies instead of the cousins like me and Rinny. It's hard because we are sort of closer in age to the great grands anyways since Dad and mom are both second youngest of sevens in their respective fams, but also because, well, we are not MARRIED right out of missions or highschool, but of course THEY, those baby cousins, ARE.

I miss my baby bro.

OH and yeah, did we get to talk to him Sunday because remember how we were supposed to get a call for Mother's Day? NO. He had to take another 8 hour train ride. WHAT IS HE, a missionary, or Mr. Conducter?! GRRRRR!

Sleepy Sabbath and a Nice Day for a [Red?] Wedding

Today was icky. Yesterday was good.

I woke up feeling bad. Hurting. EVERYWHERE, but my foot was screaming (walked a lot yesterday... under a bunch of medication.) and my head was, too. I kept debating whether to go to church, but decided I need to at least TRY. I want to be worthy of the blessings I so desperately need. So I got ready and went. I made it through about 45 minutes before I had to go home and lay down.

I went home and thought I would take an hour nap and then eat something and take meds. This was at about 2. I woke up at 10:30. GREAT.

8 and a half hour nap. I am sure I will sleep SO well tonight.

BUT YESTERDAY was fun. It was Prism's wedding! She and Sluggo got married in the Salt Lake temple and it was GREAT and very THEM! I loved that.

CC met me at the Trax by Meg's house because she is AWESOME and saved me from driving the whole way on meds. There was a wedding breakfast at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. We got there early so we went to the top and looked at the temple from the window. I still hate those elevators, though.But anyway, the breakfast was pretty fun even though I was hurting.

Yay for times with the girls!


The ceremony itself was, of course, beautiful. (It was in the Temple after all) But I LOVED how Prism and Sluggo seriously did NOT stop holding hands for even a SECOND the whole ceremony. VERY cute.
How cute are they?

MaGurls!


Congratulations to Prism, our Defective Knuck!

But sometimes seeing bright spots just means you are having a stroke or something...

You know how Friday was the 13th? Well, it has kind of, like, STUCK or something.

I know, I am not technically superstitious. However, this week has just been sort of pissing me off, and this weekend was the poisoned icing on the poop flavored cake. First of all, I am a nerd. I don't think anyone really denies that. Unfortunately I am just a NERD, not a smart geek, so that means I like/depend on/LIVE on the computer but without the skills to fix stuff. So when I suddenly had no service starting, like Thursday I think it was, I got more than a little panicked. However, I am also working like crazy with day camps so I don't get HOME during very convenient "trouble shooting hours." So I have not had access to the net for DAYS and FINALLY get on the phone with "Ted" from Qwest Customer Quick Care Technical Support because that is what my computer diagnoser thingy said to do. (I am PRETTY sure Ted is NOT her real name, but I think she should have had a little more guidance on picking a pseudonym for talking to American customers so that she didn't have a weird BOY name, but that isn't the point.) She didn't find out much, after being on the phone with me for about half an hour, but some of that was probably... ummm... communication difficulties.

I really REALLY hate this about myself but I become a little more racist every time I have to talk to customer support. It's not their fault. Companies make the decision to outsource like that. But it is just really really frustrating.

Anyway, it ended with Ted saying she would send me out a technician the next day (today... Sunday) and that if they just checked outside the house and found the solution it would cost me nothing. But that if he needed to come in, it would be my decision, but it would be 90-100 bucks. I didn't really want to skip church for this, and was feeling guilty so I asked when it would be. She said she would check and then came back to tell me it would be between 8 am and 5 pm. Okay, to ME, THAT is not a TIME. That is a WORK DAY. But I am desperate. So, sinner that I am, today I stayed home from Church today with a sick... COMPUTER.

At least the Technician guy was really nice when he got there. But wasn't able to fix it. And then HE called tech support (and had to call the same number... how is THAT fair) and it SOUNDED like HE had to talk to Ted. And he got off the phone very frustrated as well. But at least he seemed like he really did do his best. (but DID come inside, and so I admit I may throw a fit if I get charged $100 for that...) But in the end they said it was a problem with my OTHER ISP actually BLOCKING me. (Net[Worst-in-the]World) My guess is that my subscription is up. But that they only have said so via email... THEIR email... that I have never used and can't check as it has never worked. And all their tech support, customer support, EVERYTHING... is closed except Monday through Friday from 9 to 5. When *I'm* at work. Which since I assume they want me AT the computer at the time, I can't really do on a break.

So, yeah. Kinda screwed.

Also, personally. I am worried. I am worried that "trying harder" just will not be enough. And that I am going to lose Fresno. I haven't heard from him in AWHILE and it is making me nervous. We may have talked a short time Wednesday, I think. But on Friday I called and left a message he never returned. Saturday I sent a Text. Today I will (finally (dumb internet. Not FIXED but now I am at the padres for a bit)) email. And call again.

The thing that ticks me off is that NORMALLY I would SO not consider a few DAYS reason to worry. Except that HE does. And that after breaking up, well, I am a little gun shy.

Also because I have recently been worried about "us" anyway. And feeling the whole hopeless "what is the point, he is going to eventually decide he's fed up with me anyway" feeling. I have been feeling that lately even WHEN things are supposedly good. So when things AREN'T for sure it intensifies. I don't know that it's a premonition or the Depression... or something in the middle. But that's what's up with me and Fresno right now.

On the other hand, last night I had a really FUN dream with him in it. It was really sad to wake up. SIGH.

Another thing that, even though this is really REALLY stupid, has my heart on edge is that my friend Pepper's little sister just sent me a wedding invite. That's not the reason (even though sometimes those DO make you a little more heartsick), though. This is dumb, but it's the picture that is bringing up a lot of stressful memories. Her fiance looks like TexasBoy. EXACTLY like him. I do NOT miss him... but seeing "him" makes me all scared that Fresno will become like him to some... to ANY... extent. I know that is neither logical nor fair to Fresno. But it is what pops into my head when I look at that stupid wedding announcement. SIGH. STUPID STUPID STUPID.

At least Threadless ROCKS. Just FYI.

There WERE BRIGHT SPOTS however, and I kind of have been forgetting them. For one thing CC is so awesome she actually came down to help me cut 100 yarn manes and tie 1oo rope bridles for 100 stick horses to be made for Family Night at the Farm this Monday. I am skipping it (got a sub. The new girl, BoPeep, who, I am ashamed to say has NO idea of the hell she is in for with this particular activity...) to go to my Family Reunion and (hopefully) go river rafting (just tubing, really) with Squall and any other relatives that aren't pissing me off at the moment. RINNY will ALSO be missing work that day... but for a long day of FILMING with Kirby Heyborne in the Dirty Little Secret and HOPEFULLY come up to the reunion for a LITTLE to rescue me. We'll see.

CC and I talked and tied and cut (and complained about how things SHOULD be run but aren't) and sat until we had done ALL the bridles and almost all the manes and the farm was closed for the day. Anyway for CC's AWESOME service to TGP and mostly Me I treated her to a movie and we went shopping in AF and she bought Old Navy shirts and tried to talk me into it, too. I would have. They WERE cute. I just wish the places they were slightly tightish were because I was "broad where a broad should be broad" but they aren't. I felt way not cute enough for that store. (their REAL plus size stuff has been moved EXCLUSIVELY online. SIGH.)

Maybe someday.

But we went to Ratatouille and it was SO FUN! Funny and very well done and just GOOD! BRAVO, Brad Bird!

GO SEE RATATOUILLE. If you have any sense of humor, chances are, you will love it. It is excellent. Well, in my opinion anyway. Hee hee hee!

Aaaand as much as I hate to leave net access again and go home to my messy house to clean it and stuff, my Padre and I are NOT getting along right now (me being here all day is not helping) and absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Sometimes.

At least between dads and daughters who sometimes can't stand each other. SIGH.

Tah! :OP

We could call it "The Fallen Sexy!"

Fresno really is pretty much the perfect boy (for me). It has been a very busy, but very fun day. I am EXHAUSTED and may actually SLEEP when I go to bed, which should be soon. So I will probably end up writing this tomorrow.

Here are the pictures from BEFORE...

OR... yeah... not the next day. It is days later. Trying to get caught up on the trip now that I am HOME.

To start with, Saturday morning, Fresno came over to my hotel and we went down to breakfast. It was actually GOOD, not a "continental" breakfast or anything. A full breakfast. We ate and talked and had fun and then took off for our woodsy adventures. First, we went to the grocery store and bought picnic stuff (sushi, trail mix with chocolate, and a box of bottled waters). Then it was off to the mountains!

First we went to King's Canyon National Park to play in and around the giant Sequoias! The pictures make me giggle because so many of them involved Fresno saying "Wave! You have to wave to the camera!" and me arguing "Dude! It's not a video. WHY do we have to WAVE?" So, yeah, lots of "waving."There are also quite a few "Rinny Poses" (ie: Ta-Da!) that just seem to fit the trees' enormity.

Big Trees, Big Fun

Speaking of pictures, there are a LOT you do NOT get to see because they are WAY too silly and embarrassing. Not that they were BAD or anything, we just kept trying to do these stupid sexy Zoolander-esque poses and most of them were pretty humiliating. FUNNY but humiliating. (which could pretty much be the definition of me in a relationship.) Hee hee hee!

We went off the path a lot and hiked and found an awesome unnamed fallen tree to play in that way probably pretty dangerous, but it was SO COOL! Then we decided to get going to the Boyden Caverns as it was supposed to be a "bit of a hike" up there. OH MY HELL. I almost DIED. Just so you know, that little "steep walk" up to the cave would probably do in a lot of people and poor Fresno was basically DRAGGING me up at the end. My calves were on FIRE and I pulled muscles I didn't know I had, and a few of other people's muscles for them. But at LEAST I wasn't trying to CARRY A CHILD up there... one family did.

The cave was pretty cool, but not as good as some. And we got in trouble with Sam the tour guide a few times. Because we touched water we weren't supposed to... and giggled and made semi-inappropriate comments to each other that I am PRETTY sure Sam didn't hear... and Fresno kept saying he was going to sneak off and PEE IN THE CAVE...

"I bet Put would've! You don't think Put ever took a leak in here? Sam said he was lazy!"

...(Now, mind you, Fresno DIDN'T... but the 4 year old who the parents carried up DID! HA!) which was a running (Ha!) joke through out the whole trip because I SWEAR that boy has to pee like EVERY 10 SECONDS which he blamed on me for buying so much water. Anyway, MATL. SIGH.



Spelunking Adventures...

After the cave we had our picnic in "Roaring Meadow." Okay, so it's not really called that it was Zuwalt Meadow or something like that by Roaring River. We kept ROARING whenever we said it, so we started called everything Roaring _____. And making a band called "Beautiful Danger." And kept talking to his car who whines and sounds a little like the Gingerbread man from Shrek mixed with Strong Sad. Yes, he makes his car talk a lot. It is very weird but very VERY funny. Plus Fresno pointed out a bazillion places he used to deliver to in the park (he used to drive for BUDWIESER! HA!)

We had our sushi and really yummy limeade he made from scratch by a pretty (roaring) river and just hung out. It was fun. We also TALKED. Like for really talked. He said that he was sorry for stressing me with the whole moving thing. He told me he had been praying about it and that while he was driving he had "just felt like no matter what, it will be alright. Like, I think, California, Utah, whatever... everything will work out and we will be okay." I told him I thought that was a good answer. :O) (and was pretty much what *I* was praying for, too)

Then we realized we didn't ever see "The General" aka "The Nation's Christmas Tree" which Fresno sang a a program for when he was a kid and so we were determined to see ALL the famous trees. So back we went to the Sequoias... but not before we found a BEAUTIFUL waterfall called Grizzly Falls to play in. But then it was gonna get dark and we wanted to hit the trees before that so off we went again!

Turns out we probably have a TON of pictures OF the general in the background... our off-trail exploring had circled it in every way except the front where the sign was! So we finally found that and then got really silly (more "sexy" facial expressions and far too many jokes about wood) and decided that the tree we explored with no name should HAVE a name and stuff so he named it "The Fallen Sexy or 'The Tree that Which Fell and Nobody Heard'." *rolls eyes*

On the way back, one sad thing happened though. We were talking about how PERFECT this trip had been (and Holy Hannah had it EVER!) and watching the sunset (gorgeous) when there was a road block. Someone had driven off a cliff. There were choppers and ambulances and cops. We felt a little guilty for feeling so happy. We said a prayer and went (slowly) to... Sanger... I think it is?

Where his PARENTS live. Dun Dun DUN! Yeah, I was a little nervous. But HE was freaking panicked. He was SO nervous because, as he said, he wanted me to meet his mom and dad... but NOT have to meet his siblings. So he said we would just sorta SNEAK in the house and hope his jerk of an anti-Mormon psychiatrist brother who was presently living with his wife and kiddlets in his parents' pool house wouldn't notice us come in.

MAN he was NOT kidding about sneaking... as we drove through the grape vineyard they live behind he turned off his headlights and everything. It was SO FUNNY. And then when we got in there, we had to chill awhile anyway because his mom was in the tub and dad was helping her out (she is in a wheelchair now). And while we were waiting, guess who came out to meet us... yep, the brother Fresno hates. And when he introduced himself (albeit in a very condescending way) and shook hands Fresno jumpoed to his feet and almost PUNCHED HIM!!!! IT WAS HILARIOUS! I gave him a very serious "CHILL THE HELL OUT" look but almost laughed out loud. I asked him later "what were you THINKING?!"
His answer? Quite seriously, "All I could think was 'DON'T YOU TALK TO HER. DON'T YOU TOUCH HER. DON'T EVEN LOOK AT HER.'" Umm... Issues much? *rolls eyes*

Psycho.

ANYWAY, his brother IS a rather self-righteous jerkface... but Fresno needs to chill. But it WAS really REALLY funny to me. And when his actual parents came in, well, THEY were cool. His mom was nice and his dad was funny and kept messing with me. He acted JUST like Fresno, but old. SCARY! HA!

We hung out and talked a while and when we left his mom hugged me and his dad shook my hand and said "Well, thanks for coming. Hope to see you around. We'll see how things turn out." and Fresno rolled his eyes and mumbled "Thanks, Dad. Why don't YOU just ask her?" Hee hee hee!

Then it was time to go home, which was good as both of us were both pretty exhausted (especially him). So he took me to the hotel and we planned to meet there for free breakfast again the next day.

Oh, and when we kissed goodnight, way embarrassing, he smiled and said "See, you ARE getting better." Tee hee hee! *blush*

SIGH! He's so cute.

Anyway, the next day we didn't go to the mountains, we went the OTHER direction... to the BEACH! We went to San Francisco! We went to Monterey Bay Aquarium and it was AWESOME! Seriously, amazing place.

P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way Sydney!

We had clam chowder in sourdough soup bowls, got smashed pennies, and walked down Cannery Row holding hands a lot like dorks. Hee hee hee! Then we left, thinking we would have a couple hours to chill at his house with his Alien roomie and the dogs before my flight home. BUT we totally got lost (and it was NOT MY FAULT!!!!). So we only had a little time there, but we DID play with the puppies and just chilled for a little while. It was fun but we were tired and bummed because, well, the vacation was over. <:O(

SIGH. Fresno took me to the airport. We said goodbye. It SUCKED. BLEH. Then we were delayed in Vegas AGAIN with airplane problems. YIKES?! And, there was the trip. (and here is a picture of the casino/airport of Vegas... bad because did you know it's a LAW not to take pictures of gambling people?)

And THAT was the trip! It was a FANTASTIC trip. THE END!