July Rundown

WOW! I know that it's been almost a month since I have posted so I beg everyone’s forgiveness; July was a very busy month both personally and at work. I spent the month of July playing with my friends. I think I have now seen all the movies that I wanted to see this summer. Yep, I’ve seen a lot of movies but I would have to say that the best one that I saw (twice) is Iron Man. I may see it a third time.

The pictures posted are from the Days of ‘47 Parade which was really fun. I remember as a kid I always wanted to go downtown for the parade on the 24th of July but because of the logistics of the event I was never able to go. Well, since I have lived in the Avenues I have gone to the parade several times (I am within walking distance of the parade route). I like to invite my friends to come along since it makes it more fun so this year Trish and some of our friends from our ward joined us. We didn’t camp out for a spot so we got lucky when we found a shady spot just in front of the Brigham Apartments. We had a great time; I have dome pretty great friends!

The month ended with Stampin’ Up!’s annual convention which I had the lucky pleasure of working. I opted to stay at the Hotel Monaco while I was working convention and I am so glad that I did. My days started at 6:30 or so and did not end until 7 pm or later so it was nice to go back to my room and not have any distractions. I just fell in to bed. But even though my days were long I really enjoyed having the opportunity to work with people that I would otherwise not get to know. I made some great new friends during that week. Convention really is a lot of fun if you can get past being exhausted all the time.

And, I know you are all dying for an update on my 4 x 10 schedule. It’s still really great. I have my body trained to get up at 4:30 am and for the most part I can make it though my day without any chemical assistance. I really like having my Wednesdays to rest and play. All in all, July was a great month and I can’t believe that we are halfway though August.

I’ll try to be better about posting this month. Peace out!

Trish and Travis

Me

Me and Trish

Me and Steve

Cute Karen!

Andy, Karen, and Fielding

Me and Andy testing our personal space. Yeah, he doesn't have any. :)

4 x 10’s

Yep, I have jumped on the “4 x 10 work week” bandwagon that has been in the news quite a lot lately. I was offered the 4 x 10 shift almost a year and a half ago but I really had no desire to change my beloved schedule. I mean, in order to be to work by 7 I need to be up and going by 4:45 and that is only if I have packed my lunch the night before. Who in their right mind would want to get up that early? Plus, it also means that I need to be in bed no later than 9 so it kind of hinders my social life during the week. But, with the continual rise of gas prices combined with my desire for some down time in the middle of the week I took the leap (last week was my first 4 x 10 week). I now work 7-5:30 with Wednesdays off so I never work more than two days in a row. And to be honest, I have not really noticed much of a difference which makes me wonder why I didn’t jump on this ages ago when it was first offered? Oh I know, it was my need for sleep.

So far so good but I’ll keep you posted!

Pickin’ Peas with Grandma Homer

Most of you know that I live next door to my roommates grandma but what you may not know is that Grandma Homer is 92 years old but you may not know it to look at her. She is still really active. Anyway, for as long as I have known her she has planted something of a garden in our backyard(we share the driveway and the backyard) and she always shares the spoils. Well, last night when I got home from work Grandma Homer was standing in the middle if her pea patch eating peas she had just picked. She looked so cute just standing there smiling that I could not help but laugh. I went in to the house and quickly wolfed down a bowl of cereal and then went out to visit with grandma. She gets really lonely these days and I felt impressed to go out and visit with her. As I approached her she said “Do you want to pick peas with me Melissa?” to which I replied “I sure do”. We spent the next twenty minutes or so picking and eating peas out of the garden while I asked her questions about the other plants in the garden and how well she thinks her tomatoes are going to do this year.

She then invited me in to see her freshly washed windows in the basement and I got my yearly tour of the basement. She has given me the history of the finished basement many times but she never remembers so I just pretend like I had never heard her stories before. I actually do that with most of our conversations. I have heard almost all of her stories at least a dozen times but she never remembers that she has told them to me before so I always humor her and act like I have never heard them before. Good thing I have had years of practice with my own grandma. I would have to say; however, that the highlight of my visit with grandma (other than the fresh peas) was when she got on the HealthRider that she has in her basement and demonstrated how it worked. I will never forget the image of that 92 year old grandma riding the HealthRider. So funny!

Maybe Grandma Homer will be out pickin’ peas again tonight. She’s so cute!

Friends

I love my family but over the last several days I have been pondering just how blessed I am to have the friends that I have, especially right now. I have been struggling with some pretty intense emotions lately and even though I tend to work through them on my own, I know that I am surrounded by good friends who are there for me should I need them. Last night, as I was driving home from a friend’s house, I thought about some friends who have really impacted my life and wow, I have been blessed!

I want to express my gratitude to Trish, Karen, and Alisa for their tender love and care. I really love you girls! And Nicole, thanks for the confidence and encouragement. It means a lot to me. I also want to thank Chris and Nate for being two of the best guy friends that a girl could ask for. I appreciate you more than you could ever know.

There’s no doubt about it, I have (and have had) some awesome friends!

Utah Highland Games 2008 Part 2

I wanted to post a few more pictures from the Highland Games. I felt the need to post more "kilt" pictures, plus most of the pictures that I posted earlier in the week are linked to Facebook (thanks Trish) so if you do not see them I apologize. I cannot access Facebook at work (it's blocked) so when I view my blog at work the pictures cannot be seen. If this is the case for you, I apologize. If you can see the pics then I hope you will enjoy these as well. I sure love my friends!

I love the bagpipes!

Chris, Tonya, and Andy
Darren and Trish

Geoff, Trish, and Darren

Tonya and Travis

Yes, this is a man...

Utah Highland Games 2008

So, last Saturday I went down to Thanksgiving Point with some friends to enjoy the 2008 Utah Highland Games and Scottish Festival. My good friend Trish is from Scotland and is in an singing group called Citrine that performed at the festival. So, we had the opportunity to support her and have some fun together as friends. It was fun to walk around the festival and observe the Scottish patriotism. I felt a twinge of it myself (my many of my ancestors on my mom's side are from Scotland) especially when the bagpipes started playing. It was also cool to see kilts in the different clan colors but I must admit, I have never seen so many men in kilts before. Ah, fun times. Thanks Trish for such a fun day! Enjoy the pics of me and my friends!

Travis, Trish and LeAnn

Tonya and Melissa

This is the crew (minus Tonya who was taking the picture).

This was the perfect photo opportunity for Trish LeAnn, Trish, and Me

Chris could not resist this photo opportunity either. So silly!

Tonya and Geoff chillin' on the grass.Me sharing some pics with Geoff. What was my hair doingMe, Travis, and LeAnn

Octopus Rose

I wanted to take a quick minute and post some pictures that I took of "Octopus Rose" this week. We call this particular rose bush Octopus Rose because she is huge and her branches are really long. I love having this bush in the backyard because her roses are so fragrant and I love to keep a small bouquet by my bed. Ah, I love summer! Anyway, when I got home from work on Wednesday Rose looked to droopy and sad from all the rain that I could not resist taking some pictures.