Bit of Ivory

Heh. So I guess, after a whirlwind of posting while on vacation, being back home means being back to my usual non-updating habits. Ah, well.

There is a reason for that, though. I’ve been trying to cram in as much work as possible, to help pay for all the fun I’m having this summer. I did pretty well, considering, but it was a crunch there at the end of the month to raise the number of monthly hours. Will do better in July.

In any case, since today’s a holiday (Happy 4th of July, Americans!!!), I’m taking the day off of working. So there.

So, let’s see. What do I need to write about? Ah, yes. The rest of my Cali trip. Well, Nicole and I went to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat on Thursday night, and it was very enjoyable. Although I must say that in some ways, I prefer the local productions we get up in Utah. But I was still thoroughly entertained. After the play, we drove around looking for somewhere with good desserts that was still open, and ended up at Mimi’s Cafe, where Nicole wanted the bananas foster mud pie but couldn’t get it because they were out, so had the bread pudding instead, while I contented myself with the chocolate chip pecan pie. Mmmm. We got home late and pretty much went straight to bed.

I tried to get up early the next morning to go shopping with Nicole at Kohl’s before she had to go to work, but failed miserably. I did wake up in time for her to show me what she’d bought on supa-supa clearance, though, including some cute clothes for my soon-to-be-niece. When Nicole left for work I got up and got dressed, and ended up watching Labryinth with Rosie to pass the time. I also gathered up my scattered belongings and re-packed my suitcase (luckily everything still fit, although it was a bit tighter than when I’d brought it). We went to Del Taco and picked up some lunch, then went back to City of Hope to eat with Nicole, since I was leaving before she’d get off work. After lunch we stopped by the Japanese garden again and fed the fish some more, then it was time to say goodbye to Nicole. *sniff* She might drive up to Vegas on Lumos weekend, though, so I’ll be able to see her at the end of July, and if she doesn’t manage to do that, she’ll be back the second week of August. Still, I hate to think that she’s a thousand miles away.

After lunch we stopped by Trader Joe’s so I could buy some ginger-root candy for the flight back. It was cheap! Then we stopped by the house and picked up my luggage, and went off to do a bit of last-minute shopping. I needed to get another bit of something for my sister, who’s birthday was the day after I got back. We ended up at Kohl’s, and I got several pairs of earrings at a nice discount (one for Lisa and 3 for me). We then stopped to get gas, and I attempted to buy some ginger ale, but the convenience stores failed me there, and we ended up at Albertson’s instead. I bought a four-pack of some ginger ale, then went to 7-11 and bought a cup of ice to pour it into. I only used two bottles, and left the other two for Taylor and Nicole. I think they enjoyed them. We also got a Slurpee for Rosie. In an effort to avoid traffic, Taylor dropped me off at the airport a couple of hours before my flight left, and I drank ginger ale, played Solitaire on my laptop, and read to pass the time until they called my flight.

The flight back was actually more bumpy than the flight there, and though I felt a little queasy, I was actually much less sick than before. I just listened to Keane (the old album and the new) the whole way, and focused on a spot at the front of the cabin where I couldn’t read anything. And I didn’t throw up, and after I got off the plane, I felt perfectly normal. So ginger works. I shall file that little bit of knowledge away for future reference. It took a while to get my bags– the Salt Lake airport is large and busy, completely different from the Ontario airport, which was the deadest I’ve ever seen– but I managed to find my dad eventually. We stopped at Wendy’s on the way home, because I’d been scared to eat before getting on the plane, and when I got home the whole family was there to eat ice cream cake to celebrate my SiL’s birthday. Good homecoming.

Someday I’ll post the pics I took.

So, since the Cali trip, I went to P.F. Chang’s with my family for my sisters’ birthday, saw Superman Returns twice (once on Friday, once last night, and it is SO GOOD), taught Sunday School two weeks in a row to make up for my co-teacher having to take over what should have been one of my weeks while I was in Cali, went shopping with Lisa to buy stuff for a Captain Jack Sparrow costume she’s hoping to finish in time to wear for the opening, met up with SQ people in Provo for dinner, and pretty much worked the rest of the time.

Oh, and I bought some yarn to make me a bag like the one I made for Nicole, except instead of lime green and light purple, mine’s going to be yellow and dark purple. I shall take pics when I’m done with it. But I have to finish the sweater I’m making for my neice-to-be Anna first, especially since my SiL has high blood pressure, and she might end up getting induced early because of toxemia. So I could be an aunt as early as next week! Whee! And in other baby news, my sister had her ultrasound yesterday. It’s one baby instead of two (they thought she might be having twins, because she was measuring pretty big), and while the sex has been identified, they don’t want to know, so the pictures are stapled together. Everything’s perfectly healthy with the baby, though, and the current due date is November 16. Yay! I love babies!

In fannish news, I bought a replica of Elizabeth’s pirate medallion necklace, and I’ve got me my tickets for a midnight showing of Pirates, so I’m all set.