*Monday Memos**

*MONDAY MEMOS*

   

 (If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge) 
Weekly recap of my rather crazy, insane, but fun and rewarding life!

dear monday, I had my PT this morning and guess what?!!  Time to CELEBRATE!!!  My extension is finally back to NORMAL!!!  YAY!!! YIPPEE!!!  Hip Hip HOORAY!!!  

It needed to get to a minus 4 and it finally did!  I need to take something in to celebrate but since I am going to be gone, I think I will at my next appointment next week! So happy!  Now to get the ankle to cooperate! It is still pretty sore and stiff and painful, but it will come I know it!!!  I then had a hair appointment in Honeyville.  Right after that I headed to Tremonton to pick up an online order to save shipping. Prob cost more in gas.  I got home and everyone was gone. I ran and got Carson from the apartment because I knew he was so bored over there.  We hung out here.  I talked to Taylor and he said they are doing orientation all week.  Excited to see him.

dear tuesday, today I hit the gym early.  I then walked around the high school because the football team was on the track.  I had my Sista luncheon today in O town. On my way, I stopped and watched Carson at his swim lessons.  

I stopped at a store since I had 15 min to kill. We met at the Lighthouse Lounge on 25th Street. 

Kinda funny I know, but they have really good food and I love lighthouses and it was supposed to be for my birthday and the other August bdays.  We had a great turnout.  We had several that don't usually make it.  Lisa Hales, Calene, Kelly Wanner and Michelle Lythgoe even came. It was good to see all of them.   

It was a nice place considering.  We had been joking on our Sista feed about wearing fishnets and heels.  We all died laughing when there was a lamp with a leg in fishnets and heels.  Hilarious.  There was also a basket full of umm...let's just say, it's for in case you get drunk and forget.  Yeah....  Crazy.  We had our photo taken outside and the girl that did it cut off the lighthouse sign that we specifically asked her to get in it.

 Haha  Then this crazy lady wearing pajamas came along and photo bombed our picture. 

She later sang for us.  Only on 25th Street!  LOL We went to Rocky Mtn. Chocolate and then took a few more pix.  

It was a lot of fun. I am feeling SO sad I am going to miss the reunion on Friday night!  So sad! A lot that are going Friday are not going Saturday.  Waaa Waaa....  But I am so grateful I get to go see Taylor get his white coat. I wouldn't change it.  At all.  Just wish I could clone myself sometimes.  I hit Costco and Smith and Ed's and shortly after I got home Bryce and his crew stopped by.  We fed them dinner and they hung around for a bit. I took Liam outside because he was having a hard time.  

As soon as they left Carson got back. They had been at the apartment all day.  They are getting closer but still so much to do! 

dear wednesday, I had a breakfast this morning with Dawn for our birthday since we had to cancel since I was in Bear Lake. We met at Kneader's in O town.  I love their French Toast with caramel syrup. It reminds me of the Caramel Bread pudding at Union Grill.  Since I didn't make it there yet (Karen had to cancel) this was the next best thing.  It was delish!  

We had a great discussion (we always do) about life.  Dawn is the easiest person to talk to. She has been such an inspiration in my life and I have no idea how she has been able to send me a text EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. since my cancer diagnosis.  She has not missed a single day with the exception when she was on a cruise without service.  I have tried to do the same for Janet but I have fallen short several times.  We exchanged gifts and then took some photos. We then carried on our tradition and passed out chocolate to strangers since she was born on National Milk Choc Day and I was born on National Ice Cream Sandwich Day. 

We passed on the ice cream today because it was overcast and not sunny.  Plus, it made it simpler.  I wish I had thought to bring some candy as well. I had just planned on buying the ice cream after as we usually do since I can't bring it.  We still had one left and couldn't find anyone anywhere.  Then after a few minutes a cute girl came walking by and we gave it to her and she hugged us and told us she was so grateful because she had had a bad morning.  That made it worth it.
Dawn's FB post:

We’re Twinsee’s and obviously not identical 😅 I was born first and Jodi came 1 yr + 4 days after me...to different parents 😉 Jodi and I have very similar personalities and thoughts. We celebrate together each year and share treats with others since I am born on National Milk Chocolate Day and Jodi is born on National Ice Cream Sandwich Day! It’s fun to see the reactions of people. 😍the last treat we gave away today was given to a cute young lady who told us that her morning hadn’t been good. 😔 We told her that we saw her “on purpose” and she was supposed to walk our way! We all hugged and left feeling wonderful! I love my Twinsee and our Birthday Tradition! 🎈🍰🍦

This ↑ was the first time we passed out treats on our birthday.  Someone gave us a free movie pass that day.  It was at Beus Pond at WSU.
This ↓ one was one the second time I think at the Riverdale splash pad.

I ran some errands and then headed home and finished packing.  I did some cleaning and hung out with Carson for a bit and then we were off!  Washington, here we come!

At the airport

The flight was uneventful. We arrived at the Pasco airport and Taylor was there to pick us up in his new sweet ride. It was still very hot outside!  We stopped at Panda on the way to Yakima. 

Yakima is about an hour and 15 minutes from Pasco where the airport is.  We arrived at our hotel, only it wasn't our hotel. I thought we were at the Red Lion.  Turns out we were at the Red Roof Inn.  Hah  It was good for a laugh though.  We got to our actual hotel and got settled in. It was pretty nice.  At least our room smelled nice.  :)  We didn't do much but hit the sack since it was pretty late by then. 

dear thursday,  I hit the hotel gym - if you can call it that.  It was a tiny room with one treadmill, one bike, and one elliptical.  They did have TV's attached to them so that was nice.  Dave came in and read while I did the dreadmill.  I don't hate walking on it was much as I did running. I tried a bit of running.  Only about a minute and it felt fine but I paid for it later.  We ate the hotel breakfast and it was really yummy. They had waffles that were so yummy that you made yourself.   Taylor had to be to the school by 8 today.  We had a full day to fill.  

I discovered we needed reservations for the winery tour tonight and the university tour tomorrow. I called and the lady told me that unfortunately they were at capacity. I was pretty bummed.  She could tell. I told her if anyone cancels to please let us know because we came all this way for that. Luckily, about three hours later she called and told me she had good news and we were able to go to both.  Whew.  Dave and I wasn't sure what we were going to do for the rest of the day though.  We asked the hotel clerk what the top 5 things to do there were and he said, eating, drinking, walking the river trail, one other I forgot and he couldn't come up with a fifth. Great.  hah  We adventured out to the shopping because I didn't bring enough dressy outfits for the things we planned. They had EVERY store imaginable. We hit the mall, then TJ Maxx and I found some cute things.  I even found an outfit I think I will wear to the reunion because it's much cuter than one I had planned on.  We then found a Cabela's and checked it out.  Then a stop at Krispy Kreme.  Dave then noticed a screw in Taylor's tire and so we went and got that fixed.  We drove around a bit and tried to figure out the town.  We then went and picked up Taylor and then saw where he is living and and then headed back to our hotel and got ready for the winery tour. 

Tire store stop, purple building, new outfit to wear to reunion, a purple lamp at Good Will that is just like one I had growing up.

The tour was about 20 minutes away.  We saw a totally different part of the city and it was quite pretty.  We arrived and met the college president and the dean and several people who were the university founders.  I quite liked the president and one of the founders.  They had wine glasses to sample the wine.  We passed.  But the food was amazing!  It was my kind of food. Veggies and fruit and it was all fresh and grown there.  So good.  They did a trivia quiz on Yakima that was pretty interesting and had a few speakers and then a get to know you game.  

 Here is the quiz to help us to get to learn more about Yakima.

We took some photos and talked to several peeps (a congressman that was a founder) and then headed out.  The drive was nice. There are apple trees everywhere.  They grow them in a V shape. They look almost like a bunch of hearts.

After it was over, we stopped to visit a stake president that Dave had been talking to trying to find housing for Taylor and he really wanted us to stop by.  So we did.  They were very nice and had an amazing house. Covet, covet, covet.  JK  Theirs looked brand new and it was 13 years old.  Some people are just amazing at keeping things up.  We had a good visit and then headed through the main part of the city on the way back.  We stopped for dinner because the food at the wine tour was just appetizers to Dave and Taylor.  Hah  It was a nice place called the Cowiche Canyon Grill.  A little pricey to but they had the best fries ever!  I just got a salad but took a couple bites of Dave's burger.  We then headed home and relaxed in the room and hit the hay.

Where Taylor is staying for now, a lighted building in downtown Yakima, eating at Cowiche Canyon, fun street sign.

dear friday, I got up and hit the treadmill and bike.  I got in five miles total I think.  We had a yummy breakfast again of waffles etc. Yum.  

Then Taylor had to take off for class. It's mostly orientation all week.  We got ready and went to the school for our parent tour.  It was very interesting.  We were in a big high tech classroom and listened to the dean and the president and the CEO for a bit and then split up into groups.  

We toured the classrooms....  

 ...and the cadaver lab. It was amazing how they could use an app to put a skeleton and then add muscles or nerves or a  heart or whatever. They could slice the heart in half and basically do anything. It was amazing!  Made me want to go to med school!  

Then we went to a robotic place where they have some cool robots that cost 50 K.  It was pretty impressive though. They have robotic arms to learn to do IV's and things and then these robots where they breath and get sick and the students try to make them well. Dave listened to the guy one (named Steve or Apollo) with his stethoscope and he was wheezing. Crazy. High tech and all up to date. It will be a great place for an education I am sure.

They also explained the difference between a DO and an MD.  Basically it sounds like DO's focus a lot more on the muscle-skeletal but learn everything else MD's do because they have to be able to pass the boards.  It sounds like they are more educated in some ways. It was all very interesting. They fed us lunch and we sat outside and the CEO came and sat by us and then one of the docs of internal medicine.  

The view is looking from the school to where Taylor's apartment is.

He basically tried to talk Dave into coming there and working for them.  Pretty sure that's not gonna happen even though they are paid well.  It was fun. I got Taylor a hoodie with the PNWU logo.  

 Some fun photo opps!

 This is where the students from his class originate from.

Yes, he does!  I have no doubt!

We then went back to the hotel to chill for a bit before the white coat ceremony.  I think Taylor was literally chillin'!  

Taylor got ready for it and then we headed back to his apartment for a bit to grab some stuff (not really his apartment because he can't get in his until September so he is staying with another guy whose roommate hasn't moved in yet) and took some photos.  Picture overload coming up!

We then went to the ceremony at the Capital Theater downtown.  We had to wait outside for a half an hour in extreme heat. I thought I was going to pass out.  So hot.

We finally got to go in and I snagged a seat right behind where the students were going to be sitting, so basically front row of the audience.  We got to know the couple next to us.  Their last name was Pope.  Their son did the master's program last year and then got accepted in, which sounds like the way to go if you can't get in a school.  They took 29 out of 30 applicants from their master program.  Considering that this med school had 4000 applicants for med school and only 800 were interviewed and then only 140 accepted, that is good info.  I am so proud of Taylor.  It is a difficult thing to get accepted into med school and he did it with those odds. He will be amazing I am sure.

They did the procession and it was cool to see them walk in.  Kind of like graduation.  Then the dean spoke. He is really a funny guy. I like him. He was not boring at all.  Then the University President and then another speaker and then a doc who was in the first graduation class.  He spoke a lot about the DO stuff.  Then they presented them with their white coats. They had to carry their coat, go to the podium and announce their name, hometown and undergrad university.  Then they walked to one of the docs and gave them the coat and they helped them put it on. Kinda cool.  

 This ↑ is the video of Taylor at the podium and getting his white coat presented to him.

I was so proud of Taylor.  What an honor.  There were so many students from the pacific northwest.  2 or 3 from Weber State and a couple from BYU and U of U but Taylor was only one from USU. They were from all over the country but the majority were from the Washington and Oregon and Cali.  The class is about half women.  All races.  It's a mix of everything basically.  Very diverse.  Which is good I am sure.  They then walked out in a procession and we met him outside and took photos.  Such a cool experience!  WARNING: picture overload!  But if there is a time for that, it would be this.  Well, and maybe at graduation! hah

The cute lady on the right is the mom of the boy who we sat by in the ceremony. She is very nice.

So proud of this boy!

I was snapping lots of pix. If he finds out I posted all these, I am a dead woman.  But he is rockin' that white coat!!!

We went to eat at Miner's which Taylor has heard so much about. It was a fast food place with the best hamburgers on the planet.  And I got a salad. Yeah.  I tried to change, but knew I would never eat a whole or even half hamburger because they were as big as my face!  Literally!  Pretty delicious though. Dave shared a bite or two with me.  The onion rings were to die for as well.  It was fun.  And packed. 

 We then went to Costco and Walmart to grab some things for Taylor.  It would be so nice if he was in his place now so we could set things up better for him but he has no where to store anything.  We got him some things like a broom, cleaning supplies, a tiny desk and chair and some food. His trunk was filled to capacity.  It was fun. 

dear saturday, I hit the gym this a.m. again but only did the bike because my ankle has been pretty bad. I think it's because I ran on the treadmill a couple days ago (only for a minute) and it wasn't ready for that. Dang!  We had our waffles and then got ready for the day.  

We had to stop at Taylor's on the way to the airport. Taylor played 70's songs for us on the drive and Dave and I had to be the first to say the song name and artist.  I do well on the 70's but not the 90's. I was too busy raising kids to pay attention to the artists back then.  It was fun.  The airport is not very big.  We got to our gate in plenty of time.  I was in the bathroom and heard something about the flight being delayed for four hours. I got sick.  But found out it was the flight to Denver. Whew!  I was anxious to get back on time so I could get to my reunion.  It was going to be tight already without a delay.  It was a fast flight.  

Everything went well and we got home at 4:40 and I had to leave at 5:20.  I needed more time but, oh well.  Dave was taking photos of me while I was upstairs finishing looking in the mirror and got several as I was leaving. 

I think he wanted to come, that is until he sat there for an hour and then I know he would have been so bored.  I hit the road.  Here we go. 

I honestly can NOT believe I have been out of high school for 40 years!  FORTY!  Seriously, where has the time gone?  Life really moves much too fast.  

When I arrived Kathy and Lisa E were just getting there so we went in together. We got a ride on a golf cart to the door. Fun.  It was already packed.  The only bad thing is Lisa and I were dressed nearly identical. Hah

Bonzo grabbed me and whisked me off to her table and told me I was sitting there at their table. That turned into a bit of an issue with a few of the other Sistas sitting at another table. I was a bit surprised to be honest. I was just so happy to be there since I missed last night, that I would have sat any where there were classmates I hadn't talked to. I was anxious to talk to Pat and Robin J and then William Calton sat at our table and I made a joke that I was not going to pass sitting at the same table as William. I don't think Shelley found that funny.  LOL  But it all worked out. I had fun chatting with lots of peeps. I would have had so much fun last night because tonight was more structured and you couldn't just wander around talking. But, I was still happy I got to see who I did. I wish I would have taken more pix of people though.  

 So happy to see Pat!  This was on the FB page and I stole it. Quite of few of these photos were.  But it is one of my faves!

There was a very nice display table of our classmates who have died. I think there were around 45. That is almost 10%!  Too many!  Some were very dear friends and it was hard to see their photos on the memorial. It was an amazing way to honor them.  

 Some of us started talking about how many classmates we have lost and we decided we would make a pact that we would all be here for the 50th! ↑

This was the table display. ↓

We had dinner and then William did his presentation on his Mt. Everest climb.  He nearly died and his story is incredible. He only remembers five minutes of the entire summit. Probably a good thing considering all he went through. You can google his name and you will find in online.  An great short recap can be found HERE

He is very lucky to be alive. He was left for dead on the way back down. His stuff was stolen right off his body including his gloves he was wearing. Luckily, his partner noticed him on the way down and went over to realize it was him and forced him to get back down the mountain.  He had to go down a long ways and then they had a helicopter rescue him from there. It was the highest helicopter rescue ever. 

HERE -  HERE and HERE  are other articles,  though not as detailed.

I was in the restroom with Laura (above) and friends and she asked if we dared her to do this.↑ She did is somewhere else recently and said it was a blast. Of course, we all encouraged her.  haha  ONLY Laura could pull this off and ONLY Laura would dare do this at a class reunion.  We were all dying. She is the one who brought brownies to school loaded with Exlax. Yeah.  So funny.

We had a group photo taken after the presentation.

 The black sistas!  Hah  I think Lisa E. (far right) and I are basically wearing the same thing.  I concede that she wore it better. :)

Good friends!

 With Debbie Welker.  We were both named district Miss Smile for the Utah Dental Society when we were juniors.  Good thing we still have our smiles!

 This was on the FB reunion page. I died laughing when I saw it. I have absolutely NO idea why I am looking like that!  Cracked me up though.  I should have had someone caption it for me.  haha

 We are with Mark E. and he traveled the farthest to attend. He came all the way from Germany.

With William.  He is amazing and so lucky to still be alive after his climb to Everest where he was left for dead. He took a selfie with me which was probably much better than this photo but I didn't get it. It was so fun to get to know people that I rarely talked to in high school.

 Some of these photos were on the FB page website that I stole (like this one above).

With Randy (center), Rick K, Mike A. (Center playing the drums - he is a stake president).

 With Pat, William and Bonzo. 

There was a lot of old memory photos, trophies, etc.  The bottom right has one of Ed Eyestone from our class who went on to run in two Olympics!  He is our claim to fame!  

We're so great!  We're so fine!  We're the class of '79!

(our class cheer)

I really enjoyed the entire night. No one wanted to leave. We only had the place until 9:30 but everyone kept talking and they finally switched on and off the lights and told us "Out!" about 10:00.  Everyone moved outside and finished talking. We had a great class. It's so amazing how everyone is now friends with everyone and all the old cliques and groups are gone. Everyone still gravitates to who they know and were friends with, but everyone is also open to talking to everyone else that they didn't know so well. None of that petty stuff that was so important in high school now matters.  It was well planned and the committee really did an amazing job! I can't wait for the next one. Kipp Cashmore mentioned that at the next one in 10 years (though they do them every five but most people come on the big years) that we will be pushing 70!  WHAT?!!!  That is NOT a good thought!!!  But it was definitely a great experience and I enjoyed it. I just wish I could have talked to even more people.  

dear sunday, when I got home last night, Carson had left out some "presents" he made for me while I was gone. He missed me and it was so cute. I just love this little guy! 

He kept giving me more and more presents.  He is so thoughtful and sweet. they don't come any nicer and kinder than this one.

I taught the Sunbeams today and I had two extra visitors.  It went well. We planted seeds.  We have such a short class now that I could come unprepared and be okay.  Not sure they learn anything.  Carson came and got me and we headed home. We had a yummy lunch and then I had to take a nap. I was so so so tired.  I didn't sleep much but the rest was nice.  Bryce and crew were here and so I headed outside and played with them. They were so cute.  Carson and Brinlee were so stinkin' cute together. They are the cutest things. And he was so sweet to her.  I was happy to see that.  And Liam just has my heart!

 I love these pix of them holding hands. So tender...

 Bryce and Liam

We have a few of these in full bloom right now. They remind me of Tyson.

I made zucchini bread.  Forgot the after pix.

dear random, McKay (front left) and CJ (back right) on the river in Tennessee.

Text from CJ. Love this kid!

McKay and CJ having fun in Tennessee after Taylor left.

Bryce with the littles.

 Memories that popped up. 

From last year's reunion.

 Sista lunch.  We had a reunion before the reunion a couple of years ago.

THIS!

This is from my college days as a Weber State Folk Dancer

dear quotes, 

I thought that said HOST but it says MOST. Hah