Beautiful message

Water, water everywhere and.....

I like rain, I really do, but lately rain/snow and I, well....., we aren't talking anymore. M and I were having a very nice Memorial day seeing family and going to the cemetery. I told M lets just chill the rest of the day. He was going to read his book, I was going to take a nap; what bliss. We parted ways and then within moments he is back upstairs looking for his nasty work pants. I thought this strange; I don't usually change my clothes, let alone into nasty work clothes, just to read a book, so I inquired.

He then told me that the window wells were filling up with water and about to get to the windows. M and I are not really pet people, so we decided that the aquariums would have to go. So we both changed found some buckets and then started bailing water. I'm sure the cute little widow that lives across the street from us was having a jolly good time watching me run around the house throwing buckets of water on our front lawn.

We got it done and M used his super genius powers to rig up some sump pumps he got at the store and some PVC pipe. (P.S sump pumps hard to find because of all the flooding, so says the store clerk) Crisis averted and no water actually got in our basement, which we are totally blessed for. I'm just ready for everything to dry out though, I think our poor yard is even turning "pruney" from all the water.

3rd Annual British Party

It's that time of year again

We had an excellent time. For those who are new to this event we get all my sibs together that can come and celebrate Great Britain. My parents were the hit of the party dressing up as

King and Queen

We eat a potluck of different dishes some British, some not so British. This year we had Tilapia, breadsticks, safron bread, veggie tray, potato wedges, peas and chocolate milk. For dessert we had the traditional Sticky Toffee Pudding. I forget how good that stuff is. (M and I made some and shared it with our neighbors, one of them called it 'Heaven in a cup' I think she was spot on)

We mostly visit, play games and just laugh and eat until we can't do either anymore. New this year, I bought some fancy china from the makers of Wedgewood and my sister made a fun picture book party favor with pictures from the U.K.

We had a great time, and next spring it will happen again.

MacMaster Leahy Concert

M took me to see one of my favorite music artists awhile ago (I haven't blogged lately; shame on me). This is Natalie MacMaster and Donell Leahy (married). They are fantastic fiddle players, and I just can't get enough of their music. Their albums are my favorite, but to see them live is awesome. When you watch their show it's like you're hanging out at your friends house and they're just there playing and showing off.

I was lucky enough to get a picture and autographs.

Do you ever think about what you're going to say to someone you really admire? I have; but it still sounded way lame. I just thanked them for sharing their talents and their music really helped keep me motivated when I was sick. M told me that I didn't sound like a blundering idiot, so I guess it was okay. It was a great show and if you get the chance you should go.

R.I.P

The day has finally come. The hair dryer that my Mom bought for me in 1993 has finally died. It was a sad moment last night when I plugged it in and nothing happened. I even tried plugging it in to other outlets, but to no avail. It was finally time to get a new one. But it's okay, it had a long a good life.

(I thought about posting a picture of it, but it's a little gross. You can imagine all the layers of haircare products caked on, Bleck!)

Jetty and the Trains Part 2

Our next stop brought us to the Spiral Jetty in the Great Salt Lake.

This was created by an artist named Robert Smithson. I don't know anything else about it other than it's a lot bigger than you think. If you click on the picture above you can see a tiny me with my arms outstretched. I like inter-active art. It must have taken the artist a long while to haul all those rocks out there.

Here M and I go around the jetty to the center.

This was a really cool interesting place that kids and adults would love. It did take about 3 hours to drive to it, and is free. The lake does rise with spring/summer runoff, and bugs will probably be bad the warmer it gets. It makes you realize the Great Salt Lake is great, it is one big body of water.

Jetty and the Trains Part 1

Feel free to sing the title of this post to the Elton John song 'Benny and the Jets'

We had a little vacation to celebrate our anniversary this week and saw some pretty cool stuff. One of our stops was the Golden Spike National Monument. Since it wasn't peak visting hours the engines were not running, but we still were able to see them in the engine house a little bit away from the museum. It was a really cool place. With todays technology whizzing back and forth as speedy as can be, it's good to remember that these machines changed the way people did anything in the West or the U.S. This was a great stop and well worth the $5.00.