Happy Birthday, Grandma

91 years old, and as stunning as ever. 

As much as I miss her and Grandpa, there is happy news: Grandpa's temple work has just been completed, courtesy of my cousin Trevor, so now he's eligible to be sealed to Grandma for all time and eternity. More details to follow, but we're considering the day of sealing sometime in late October.

I knew Grandpa wasn't an active member of the Church, so I wondered (and worried) about that. Maybe Dad was the one to teach him on the other side. 

In any case, I hope Dad was there to give them both a great big hug, and I hope he and Grandpa are still indulging in good-natured banter.

Utah State Fair

My grandma used to be the boss of the Utah State Fair, and every September, she would send our family tickets to the Fair. 

This year, we got tickets thanks to an old friend, we went with Mom's friend Kayalauna, and it was a very nice little trip down Memory Lane. We actually went yesterday; I was too tired the night before and too caught up in resting the next day (had the day free from work) as well as a few art projects to make this post, but here it is. Christine wasn't able to come with us (her kids have school) but Mom gave her some money to go on Friday.

We didn't go on that many rides; the tickets are expensive and Mom didn't want to spend even more money on wristbands, so we just divided the tickets we did have and we managed to go on three rides, four for myself and for Chris. We went on the Ferris Wheel (I have a slight phobia of heights but the Ferris Wheel is okay), some kind of spinning ride, the bumper cars, and Chris and I went on the Pharaoh's Fury, which is basically an enormous playground swing. That one, I'll admit, was just a tiny bit scary.

I wasn't able to take many pictures (they don't allow photography in many of the exhibits and we were all trying not to get separated in the huge crowd) but I managed to snag a few. I was a tiny bit jealous of all the art pieces I saw there; I'm quite tempted to give my own artwork a try at the Fair one of these days. Only time will tell. 

My boss's daughter had submitted a piece of art and won second place this year, but unfortunately I was unable to find her in the exhibit. But we did run into a lady that Dad used to work with; she had given us our first cat, Lucky, and it's obviously been a while because she didn't even know that Dad had been gone for a few years.

There were some nice quilts (I saw a cool Harry Potter quilt that Christine would have really liked), nice baked goods, and some pretty good-sized produce. We even got to pet a couple of animals, like an adorable piglet and an adorable baby goat. I always had a soft spot for "kids!"

And at dinner, we saw a mime who pulled off some rather impressive magic tricks. One lady was particularly blown away by how he was able to "break" a long balloon in two pieces without the balloons popping. She actually yelled out, "How did he do that?"

Since payday was this week, I bought myself a few treats. I paid for my own dinner (you'd be amazed at how expensive burgers and fries are) and later I treated myself to a frozen banana pop with nuts, and then a Rainbow Shaved Ice, which is a really nice blend of cherry, banana, and bubble gum. 

Overall, it was a great day, albeit an exhausting one. I was a little sorry to leave, but I sure was glad to get home, take a hot shower, and go to bed. 

Butterscotch - 1 Year Later

Today marks the day that we made the extremely difficult (moral, but difficult regardless) decision to have Butterscotch euthanized.  

We had our ups and downs, as anyone would with a cat or any other sort of pet. We loved him...but we also loved him too much to let him suffer. I felt exactly like Travis in Old Yeller when his trembling finger is poised on the trigger.  

And the sad, brief words of Sulley from Monsters, Inc. become all the more meaningful: "Kitty has to go." 

20 Years Later

I always make a little memorial collage for September 11, and here's the one I made for the two-decade mark. Hard to believe it's been that long and what's come about since that day. 

Of course, I can recall precious few details anymore...but I can tell you where I was, how I first heard about it, and how I felt. 

I was 13, on my way to school with my dad, and Dad often liked to listen to the news on the radio. I preferred music myself, but anyway, it was through the radio that both he and I first heard the big bad news. The reporter's voice was extremely quivery, like he was struggling (and failing) not to cry. Being just a kid, I was naturally stunned to hear about four plane crashes in one day but I didn't give it too much thought at the time. I have no way of knowing how Dad felt but he didn't say much; he just dropped me off at the main entrance and drove off to work like usual. 

At school, said crashes were pretty much all everybody talked about, students and teachers alike. Even my strict teachers were pretty subdued and schoolwork was lighter than normal. We didn't even have homework, which would have been a kid's dream come true under normal circumstances. 

During a quick trip to the library, I caught a glimpse of the story on TV and I was taken a little aback at the terrible footage. That's when I thought, "Wow, this must be more serious than I thought." 

When I got home, Mom had the TV on (this was back in the days when we had cable) and you guessed it: it was on the news channel and it was the only story they talked about all evening.  

That was when it finally hit me how bad this really was. 

The next few weeks were a nightmare, a real melting pot of sadness, confusion, and fear. I broke down crying more than once, but everybody who saw me was nothing but sympathetic. 

To this day, I still have a hard time stomaching that footage. It still goes to my heart to imagine what that must have been like for everyone. I was fortunate enough not to lose anyone in those attacks, but I was plenty affected in my own way. 

The worst part of it all is that it was no accident. Terrorists really do live up to the word "terror" in their name. 

And so here we are, two decades later, and I repeat the question in the image: what has changed since?