Sister Date

Nate Bargetze is a clean comedian, clips of whose work is all over Instagram. He's funny. He was coming to Salt Lake and Sharae got tickets for tonight's performance for her birthday which is tomorrow. Because we work until 6:00 on Fridays, she decided that she and Eugene would go tomorrow, and she offered her tickets for tonight. I eagerly accepted and asked Mikayla to join me. She eagerly accepted and off we went tonight. I was able to get off work early, so it was less of an issue for me than it would have been for Sharae.

Nate really is a hoot. He talked about marriage, parenting, dealing with aged parents, neighbors, and getting older. The great thing about comedy is the way it pokes fun at reality and brings to light the silliness in situations that might not seem very funny at all.

Even better than seeing Nate and the two comedians who warmed up for him, I got to spend the whole evening with my sister. We talked and talked and laughed and laughed, even without Nate. It was a terrific evening!

We were waaaaaaaay far away from the stage

but we could hear just fine.

Besties

Office Upgrade

The Nelson's next door had a yard sale. I was happy that, looking over all of their stuff as I helped them haul it out, I didn't really want any of it. Well, I did find some pots for plants. They had four white pots with a cute pattern on them that I thought would be nice in my office with little plants growing in them. I bought them and then it took me weeks to get around to getting plants to put in them. We went to the dentist the other day and on our way home, we stopped at Lowe's and bought four plants to put in the four pots. Each plant was different.

As I was making selections with some input from the children, Isabella said, "Oh, you've got emotion support plants, just like me." I told her I thought it was ridiculous that a grown woman would need an emotional support plant, and that my clients would be concerned about trusting me with their money if I needed an emotional support plant. She was insistent, however, and gave a name to each of the plants. I potted them when I got home, and she surreptitiously attached name labels to each of the plants. 

The plants in pots look really cute in my office. I set three of them on the credenza next to my desk and the fourth on my receipt printer by the window. I rearranged the pictures Mikayla gave me when I got my new job and had my own office, and I'm really pleased with how cute they look. They have added a touch of green growing interest to my office. While I did not remove the names Isabella attached to each one, I have turned the pots so the names don't show.

My credenza

Plants from left to right: Audry, Ted, and Pipsqueak

Grandma Norma not pictured as she is on the other side of the office.

The basket next to the picture of me and Mik contains Tootsie Rolls,

my treat for those who come into my office.

Mom's 75th Birthday

Today is my mother's 75th birthday. Seventy-five is a big deal! Three quarters of a century means that you've lived a long time. Although we have determined that you aren't officially old until you turn eighty, 75 is a respectable age. We wanted to celebrate in some way with her, but she wasn't very keen on doing a big bash of any sort. In the end, Kent and I took her to see Catch Me if you Can at the Hale Theater.

After the play, we met up with adult DeMartinis to have dinner. We went to Edna's, a restaurant Christopher thinks is terrific. The food was good to a greater or lesser degree, depending on what one was eating. What was terrific was the company and being able to celebrate Mom. We had her share some of the highlights of her life. 

I love my mom. She is a tremendous blessing in my life. Over the course of my life, she has taught me by example to be faithful in the face of adversity, to work hard, and to love others. I know she is on my team, whatever happens, in any circumstance. Her love has been key to my growth and continued well-being. 

Princess Brandt

 

Here is Brandt wearing a hat and a pink princess crown. 

Believe it or not, he's in class.

This semester, he is an office aid for my friend, Cinda Morgan.

It's pretty much a party every day he's got "class."

Bunco

Mikayla asked if I wanted to substitute for someone at their Bunco evening. She was hosting at Mom's house. I readily agreed and even helped put some nosh together. It was fun to play.

Letter From Cora

I got a letter from Cora today. 

Here it is.

 

I love so many things about this.

1. Cora wants to go to lunch with me.

2. She wants it to be a "rie" (real) lunch. 

3. She is very specific about who can come, namely Freya, Blythe, Cora, and me. Notice anyone who might be missing? Like Thea? Apparently, Thea bugs Cora.

4. I love that Cora is letting me know about a need she has that I can meet.

We're going to lunch!

A Mile-wide Smile

Isabella got her braces removed today!!

WAHOO!!

She has been very vigilant about wearing her rubber bands, and as a result, even though the orthodontist said she would have her braces on longer than Brandt, she got them off first. She gloated about that and will likely continue to gloat.  

She was worried she wouldn't like her teeth, but they look terrific. She is a beauty!

Cool Cars, Cool Music, Cool Dude

Brandt went to Farmington with Alan Wilberg to provide audio and lighting for a birthday party. The man hosting the party for his wife is really rich. He has lots of cool stuff, including cool cars. He has two Ferraris and a Cobra. He graciously let Brandt sit in one of the Ferraris and rev the engine. While that is cool, it would have been even cooler had he let Brandt take it for a spin. But no! Not a chance. Brandt was happy to just sit inside and feel the coolness of being in a Ferrari, especially as he had seen so many while we were in Montreal. 

Games with Cousins

 

Isabella was able to play games with the girlie cousins today. She played matching with Mila, Vika, Cora, Freya, and Thea. Isabella really liked being with them.

Stake Relief Society Activity

I went to a really terrific Stake Relief Society activity this morning. The Stake Relief Society presidency had arranged for a couple who does returning to activity research come and speak to us. We hear so much about people who lose their faith and leave the Church, but this couple, Eric and Sharah d’Evegnée, do research and to what brings people back to the Church after they have had a crisis of faith. Faith. 

The d’Evegnées' presentation was really, really interesting. They stressed that what we can do to help people returning is to love them, to be patient with them, and to not try to dictate their story. They compared it to an instrumental soloist. The person working to return is the focus of the piece of music and that those of us who are befriending and helping to embrace them as they return are like the orchestra. We aren't the ones who should be directing how things go or the timing of their return. I really like that. 

After their presentation, we did some service projects in the cultural health. We put together food sacks for children in the school district who need extra food. We made string lacing cards and a couple of other things. It's nice to be with like-minded women engaged in a meaningful activity and be able to visit with people I know and meet those I don't.

Last Official Swim

Summer has come to an end. My mom is closing the pool. Today was our last day to soak up the sun while floating in the pool. *sobsob*

Freedom Frenzy

Brandt has recently begun working with Pink Bird. It is a production company, the owner of which, Erik Little, he met through Alan Wilberg, his first boss. He has been doing grunt work for them, helping assemble sets and lights and doing some audio. Over the past couple of days he has been setting up for Freedom Frenzy, an outdoor rave. Here are some pictures of set up and the show. Brandt stayed the whole night and got home at 4:00am. 

BYU Women's Volleyball Bash

Chris and Sandralee Jensen invited us to join them at the BYU women's volleyball game this evening. We love Chris and Sandralee and were delighted to be going to watch women's volleyball too. In the end, Sandralee had too much homework to do, so she bowed out and Clarice came in her place. Clarice is a delight, so we still had a marvelous time. The match was really great. BYU won in three sets. Volleyball in the Smithfield house is always so excited because the venue is small, the energy is big, and you always feel like you're right on top of the action. It was fun to people watch all the other attendees who were there to enjoy the game. When we were done with the match, we picked up Sandralee and went to get fresh peach milkshakes at Taco Amigo. We talked and talked as we enjoyed our treat. All in all, the entire evening was a treat!

Movie Night with Mom and Mik

I went with Mom and Mikayla this evening to see My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3. I realized early on in the movie that I had not seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, but apparently it doesn't much matter. The movie was funny and set in Greece which is a beautiful place. It made me want to immediately book a trip to the islands. The movie was not as good as the first one, but it was a delight to be with my mom and sister.

Sprouts

Brenda has been doing activities with Isabella fairly regularly, ones that they haven't done before. Several days ago, they did sprouts in order to germinate. They did mung beans, lentils, and garbanzo beans.

Here is Isabella to tell us all about what they did.

Me and Brenda did this for fun and to see what would happen. They sprouted a lot quicker than I thought. We rinsed them a couple times before placing them at a slant with a cheese cloth over the opening so the excess water could drain. I rinsed them in the morning and at night. They sprouted faster than I thought they would. They didn't taste very good, but it was still fun to do.  

I agree with Isabella. They didn't taste very good. 

A Trip to Cedar City

I have read all of Shakespeare's plays, and now I am working on seeing all of them. I've seen many, even most, but there are a couple that are not done very often so I haven't seen them. This year at Shakespeare Festival, two of the plays I haven't seen were being performed. I told Kent early in the year that I was going to Cedar City with or without people but that there were some other funny things playing and I thought that if we all went, we would have a good time. 

So as not to take any days off of work, I scheduled our trip over Labor Day. We drove down on Saturday morning and went to see a matinee. Well two separate matinees. I went to see Coriolanus, a play that nobody else was interested in seeing but that I needed to check off my list. Everybody else went to see Emma. We went and had Thai food for dinner, then returned in the evening to see The Play That Goes Wrong. It is a hilarious play-within-a-play where everything that could go wrong does. The leading lady is rendered unconscious, the corpse won't play dead, the actors trip over everything, and the set falls apart! We laughed and laughed and laughed. The kids were so interested in what was happening behind the scenes. One of the actors was supposedly the backstage person and it was very funny to see her on stage being freaked out about what was supposed to be happening or  not supposed to be happening and how she dealt with it. It was just a funny play.

We are staying in an Airbnb which has been nice. It's a house that we rented with a kitchen and three separate bedrooms so the children don't have to sleep with us. On Sunday, we got up and went to church. We met up with Tess and went to her ward. It was fun to be with the young people. It was fast and testimony meeting and it was nice to hear the testimonies of the young single adults. Once church was over, we hopped in the car and drove down to St. George to visit with Craig and Monica. We don't see them very often, and it was fun to visit. We talked and talked and enjoyed catching up. We returned to Cedar City for a quiet evening at the house. We played a very funny game called Throw, Throw Burrito. Isabella asked for it for Christmas.

Monday we were seeing a matinee. Kent and I were seeing Timon of Athens, a play we knew the children were not going to be interested in, so they went to the movie while we went to the play. We wandered around Cedar City in the morning before going to the movie and the play. Our play was interesting though not my favorite Shakespeare play. Probably why it isn't frequently performed. Isabella liked her movie, Barbie, and Brandt sort of liked his, Blue Beetle. After the movie they met up with Charlie and Mikayla and baby Boston at a park. Tess was there too with her dog but left before we got to see her. They visited and played and got ice cream. When we were done with the play we hopped in the car and drove home. 

We packed quite a bit into the long weekend, and I checked two plays off my list. It was a success all around.

We had lunch at Firehouse Subs.

Brandt got a free fireman's hat.

While we were away, Rebekah and Elizabeth Stovall took care of Moo Moo.

We got this picture from Dakin of the dogs out for a walk.

We've got such good neighbors.

Coriolanus

Emma

The Greenshow before the evening performance

The Play That Goes Wrong

Timon of Athens