What an emotional week it’s been!

Arctic Boy graduated. We had a pre-graduation dinner before Meigi/Mei Guo left. We went to the Food Truck Roundup in Provo.

 This is AWESOME by the way and you should try it some time. When we went it was packed with hundreds of people waiting in line to buy food. People were parking blocks away and walking down, because parking was at a premium. I’d say standing room was at a premium. The Macarollin’ truck ran out of food before the evening was even halfway over. I know because that’s the line I stood in first. 😦 We eventually ended up in the “Pound It Kebabs” food truck and that was very good. 🙂

Gratitude #1 – Food Trucks

 

Gratitude #2 – Last high school graduation.

There is always a sense of “Whew! He/She made it” when each of your kids does this. Even if you weren’t particularly worried about whether they would, there is a sense of marking a BIG to-do item off the life list.

 

Mei Guo/Meigi left for her culinary internship in Italy.

Gratitude #3 – She made it there safely to her new apartment.

 

Gratitude #4 – Amazing photos that make me put Italy solidly on the life list.

Gratitude #5 – New Hiking Boots.

I bought new hiking boots this week because I’m tired of my shoes slipping on loose gravel and shale or sand when I hike. The man at the store was so helpful and patient as I tried on almost every. single. pair. I finally found some that bend where I need them to and they make my feet feel oh-so-happy. Also, they have ankle support, which, after hiking in Zion National Park, I decided I needed. Stupid ankle-twisting river rocks and boulders there about killed me. New boots, happy feet, YAY!

Gratitude #6 – Rattlesnake Vaccine

We like to take Sam-the-Dog hiking/bounding in the mountains, and mostly we go in the cooler mornings, but I worry somewhat about what would happen if he bounded onto a rattlesnake. I discovered there exists, for dogs, a vaccine that can help them survive such an event. It still won’t be pretty, but it can save their lives. I also heard about rattlesnake avoidance training, which we are signed up to participate in. This training is easily available in Arizona, Nevada, and California. Not so available in Utah though. I’ll report back how it goes.

Gratitude #7 – Location, Location, Location

I love where I’ve moved my desk.Being able to see out the front windows of our house, fills my brain’s need for brief distraction on a regular basis, the dogs are happy to have company during the day, and I LOVE not having a bunch of red and green LED lights glowing in my bedroom while I”m trying to sleep at night.