People, Places and Things

(Taken from the chair lift at Sundance)

I have always been drawn to Provo Canyon.  Every spring I unpack my convertible from storage, and one of the first things I do is take a drive up the canyon.  By myself.  

Sundance. Canyon Glen. Bridal Veil Falls.  That canyon is one of the biggest reasons I love Utah so much.   I love that within 15 minutes I can be somewhere that feels like a vacation.  

As my mom and I were driving the canyon the other day, I was telling her again about my love for the canyon.  She told me a story I had never heard before.  One which explains a lot about the draw it has for me.

She explained, "When your Dad and I were thinking of moving out of California, we drove to Ogden, UT to visit some friends who had just opened a bookstore there. We decided that that is what we wanted to do as well.  As we left Ogden, we headed south and ended up driving through Provo Canyon.  Your Dad looked at the river, and the people fishing there and said 'This is where I want to live'.  So we drove down the canyon, discovered downtown Provo and found the place where we began our own bookstore."

Provo Canyon, Downtown Provo, and books.  3 things that have helped make me who I am today.

Redicalous

When we need a laugh around the house, we watch this:

(It's MadTV, so sorry for the language)

40 is the new 30

So my birthday week was a great success.  (What, you only have a day?)

On Monday I went to breakfast with some friends.  Our 350 pound Tongan waiter brought me cake (at 10:30 a.m.? Yup!)  and said "We don't do a big deal around here singing, but I'll sing something I learned when I was a kid, if I can remember it.  What's you name?  Ok, here goes"...

"Happy Happy Birthday, Susan Dear

Happy days will come to you all year

If I had a wish then it would be

A Happy Happy Birthday to you from me!"

Nothing like a large man signing primary songs to start your week off right.

The rest of the week brought lunch with another friend, a trip to Salt Lake with my mom and dad (which was great as I never get to spend enough time with Dad), and an evening all to myself. 

And then the big day.  Richard and the Princess bought me perfume and fuzzy socks (who doesn't love a new pair of fuzzy socks?)

The weather was perfect.  The day was wonderful. I received phone calls, emails, and facebook wishes from a record amount of people this year. 

 I even got beautiful flowers from a dear friend.  

Which made it easier to forgive my seester for talking to me for 30 mins on her way to work without ever once mentioning my birthday.  15 min later (once she was at her office) I got another call. "Uhhhm, hello?"  she said very sheepishly.  Yeah, she finally saw it on her calendar.  (I love ya sis)

The highlight of the day was the private lunch for Richard and I ("This is just like old times" he said to me as we held hands across the booth).

That evening brought fun with family, cookies from a great neighbor, and fun balloons tied to my door to greet me as I came in for the night.  

Turning 40 didn't hurt a bit.  I'll take 50 more just like this one please.

To market, to market...

I enjoyed the Downtown Provo Farmers Market again last Saturday.  My very favorite part of the Farmers Market is running into Raquel.  (Gritty Pretty for you blogger types)  Raquel makes everything amazing.  I would like to take credit for everything that she has done for downtown - after all I did hire her to run the public arts program for the Alliance, but I really can't take the credit.  

Raquel is an amazing mix of creative genius and business savvy - two things that in my expercience don't always go together.  She is responsible for growing the market (pun intended) into the fabulous place it is today, as well as being responsible for all of the amazing art you see downtown:  the Storefront Galleries, the amazing mural on Freedom Blvd, the sculptures along Center...I could go on forever.

When I see her at the market on Saturdays I can be assured of two things; one a big hug, and two, an update on her amazing life.  I also get to see her cool husband Ollie, (it's Oliver to the rest of us, but I can't help but think of him as Ollie since that is all I have ever heard her call him), and her incredibly beautiful mom.  

Among the other things that I love about the market are:

~My good friend Lori and her amazing produce.  I see Lori at least once or twice a week, and she never fails to pay me a compliment.  Lori is good for the soul.

~The local culture on display. Because as Azucar says, "There is no spell check at the Farmers Market".

~Running into friends, new and old.  This week I ran into the lovely Buchert's.  They are Geo's in laws and are two of the most warm, friendly people you will ever meet.  I didn't get a picture of them, dang it.

If you live in Provo, or Utah County for that matter, take a Saturday morning and visit the market.  It's located in Pioneer Park 500 West 100 South.  It runs every Sat. until Oct 25.  Tell em Sue sent you.

Willkommen!

My seester's birthday is two weeks apart from mine, so my mom took us for a girls weekend in Midway last weekend.  

We had a great time, watching movies, sleeping in, shopping the outlets in Park City, swimming in the freezing pool, more movies, more sleeping, dining outside at the Homestead where our girls watched the ducks and geese.  

Boy the geese were loud.  

But they did laugh at all my jokes.

At one of the cute shops there, we found these adorable dragonflies.  Mom got them for me and matching butterflies for my seester.  

They will look so great hanging on my deck.  Especially since we have a group of dragonflies that commute home from work every evening at 5:30 p.m.  

Thanks Mom.  It was a great weekend!

Keeping abreast of the situation

I had a scare.  Or as we say around here,  I was ascareded.

Next week I turn the big 4-0.  This is the first birthday in my life that I have not been excited about.  I don't like 40.  It sounds so middle aged.  

So anyway, the scare.  I went in for my first mammogram.  It was so not a big deal.  It didn't even hurt.  That was until I got the letter saying "There is an area on your digital screening mammogram that requires further evaluation." Ouch, that hurt.  Now the lady doing the mammogram said that might possibly, (small chance really) happen after your first test, but still...

So I spent the weekend worrying a bit.  I am not a big worrier, so that basically meant I thought about it once or twice, but I made sure EVERYONE else in my family knew that I was this close to buying a pink ribbon.  (Please don't think I am taking breast cancer lightly, I assure you  I DO NOT).

So I went in for my ultrasound today.  She shows me the x-ray, and I'm like "OH. MY. GOSH. WHAT IN THE HECK IS THAT?!" It was a big thing in my breast.  Fortunately she immediately assured me that it was almost always a lymph node and was nothing to worry about.  The pathologist, or whoever came in, said "Yep, it's a lymph node.  Nothing to worry about", and sent me on my way.

So I live to live another day.  And now I have decided that I AM looking forward to my birthday.  Because you just never know when you won't have another.

And he cooks too!

Hey handsome!

Happy Birthday.  You still rock my world!

Love, me

He wasn't a geek at all

I met the "Will It Blend" guy at the At&T store.  If you haven't seen the Will It Blend commercials on Youtube, go here.   We chatted for quite a while.  I asked him questions about marketing, blending, and iphones.  He was actually quite fascinating.   Companies actually pay him to blend their products.  

I love meeting people who are successful marketers.  It does my heart proud.