Sports Related Injury

It's not often that you hear the following sentence associated with me. I have a sports related injury.

Sure, there was the minor concussion I got the one time I got roped into playing church softball so our ward wouldn't have to forfeit. I went to catch the ball, missed, and it bounced off the top of my head.

Or there was the time I was on a jetski at a scout camp (the kind of jetski you had to start on your stomach, move to your knees and then stand up), lost all upper body strength in the middle of the lake, wasn't wearing glasses or contacts, rode all around the lake on my belly while squinting and trying to find our camp- thinking I've found it, riding up onto the beach swearing that I'll never do that again, realizing that it's not my camp and they are random strangers, flopping back down on my belly (a very majestic exit) and riding along shore until I find our camp. I think my sore arms the entire trip were sports related injuries.

And let's not forget the time my sister Emily and I were in the back yard on the monkey bars having a chicken fight when she kicked my gonads so hard that I thought I was going to puke them up. I think a chicken fight is a sport.

Well, after playing Super Mario Bros on Wii with Jackie all weekend, I have Nintendo thumb on my left hand from pushing so hard. It hurts to put anything on that thumb- but it was totally worth it because we made it to World #3 because of my injured thumb. There were times I wanted to give up- throw in the towel- weep about not being able to have Mario stand still on the ice worlds- but I persevered and the injury is totally worth it. I may have to play with a band aid tonight- but we're making it to World 4 if I have to cut it off completely. Go sports!

City on Fire...

Sunday, September 19th.
2:10pm: While loading up the girls into the can after church, I look up and see a plume of smoke on the other side of the mountain. Dang hippies.

4:20pm: Leave for my first day as assistant ward choir director. Notice smoke appears bigger and blacker (but not as black as my optimism for ward choir participation and attendance).

5:00pm: Leave from the 1st practice of the new Mill Canyon Women's sextet (that's all that showed. But we're going to give Lawrence Welk a run for his money). Notice smoke appears bigger and wider.

5:15pm: Friends from Los Angeles arrive for dinner.

6:00pm: Eat dinner. We don't notice smoke because we are telling stories about Jackie from high school. No pesky fire on the other side of the mountain will detract from that fun.

6:30pm: Go outside and notice that the fire appears to be getting much, MUCH wider. Still not on our side though. Even though it's windy, we don't smell smoke.

7:00pm: We go back outside just in time to see a wall of fire (with flames REALLY high) jump the top of the mountain and start spilling down. Jackie says, what should we pack just in case? Friends from LA tell us thank you for making them feel like they're at home.

8:00pm: Put girls to bed- notice that now we start smelling smoke. Jackie starts putting together boxes to be on the safe side. Our friend from LA suggests taking pictures of all the rooms for insurance purposes.

8:20pm: No that it's dark, the mountain looks like a volcano with lava pouring down the sides. Our street is jammed because 1000 homes are being evacuated and our street is a thoroughfare. It reminds me a little of the war scene from Duck Soup because everyone has horses, jet skis, boats, etc.

9:00pm: We hear cops evacuating the neighborhood to the west and, smelling smoke in our basement, we (and by we I mean Jackie) start putting valuables in boxes and get suitcases ready. I watch the news and see watch fire coming down the mountain spurred on by heavy wind. Everyone is out in their backyards hearing police say "mandatory evacuations", but not on our street yet.

9:30pm: The news says evacuations could continue through 2:00am. In watching the news, I realize that I will not be watching the finale of Food Truck Race on Food Network and Mad Men. Luckily they are both DVR's. Unluckily, if it's burnt to a crisp, there are several things on it I haven't watched yet. We hear that while people can leave the neighborhood, they cannot get back in.

10:00pm: Jordan School District (my district) announces school closings. They don't say what schools. There is no way that I am setting my alarm for 6:00am if I don't have to.

11:00pm: Watch out of our bedroom window and see great walls of orange flames cresting down the mountain. In some ways, it's like a really twisted room at the Anniversary Inn. Only the theme makes you want to run away instead of gettin it on.

Midnight-5:00am: Awake watching the fire out the window ready for a pound on the door to tell you to leave. Check the news every hour on the hour.

5:00am: I am awakened by the dulcet tones of Mary Richards (a friend from BYU and Jackie's former roommate) that tells us (finally) that Millie's elementary school is closed (but mine is open).

Monday, September 20th: I walk around school like a zombie, but everything is good. I have students that were evacuated and that didn't know anything about their home yet. I have teacher friends that also don't know anything yet. We are glad that amazing firefighters came from all over the state to help (and are still helping today) save all of the homes that were saved.

All pictures from KSL. Go to their website to see other pictures from the fire. 3 homes were incinerated in the fire.

Observations

So tonight while having dinner at the Golden Corral (they have good rolls...) Jackie looks around and says, "I never thought of myself as a Golden Corral kind of person". This was in reference to the many ladies at the restaurant sporting several tattoos- and probably more specifically, the woman at the table next to us that was sporting a shirt that was so low-cut that we could see her cleavage piercing (Christmas gift idea for Jackie- although it looked horribly painful. Like a jewel nestled between two Christmas hams).

Also said by Jackie when we got home after I set up our brand new headboard for our new king-sized bed: I never thought I was the sort of person that would own a headboard.

Well, now you are that person Jackie. Now you are.

This Summer I...

• Had to go to a urologist 4 times. The first time was three days before leaving for New York (without going into too much detail, imagine trying to pass a watermelon through a straw- and it was not kidney stones). Let's just say, to save me a possible trip to an emergency room while in NYC, they quickly performed an emergency procedure (without out pain meds)... with the entire office staff gathered round. The other fun story was a trip to the radiologist and getting to hold my own catheter (and accidentally letting go halfway through the procedure causing a Bellagio-style fountain effect all over the place). Everything appears back to normal now.


• Drove the family out to Oregon and coast. We played at a windy beach, took the girls to eat at the same pizza place Jackie and I ate at on our honeymoon, played Ticket to Ride with cousins at the beach house, watched Jackie clog up the 1 toilet at the beach house numerous times (until Judy found the "hidden toilet" in a scary basement), ate at the Otis Cafe (delicious), drove along the coast while everyone in our van watched The Princess and the Frog, went to the world's largest sea cave and saw lots of sea lions, went to OMNSI in Portland, ate at the street carts in Portland and read lots of books.


• Taught 6 weeks at Hale Center Theatre summer camps. That's enough about that.


• Bought a new king-size bed with frame, pillows, sheets and a actual headboard. I guess we're truly grownup now that we have a headboard.


• Hung pictures up on the wall that had been on the floor since we moved in June of 2009.


• Went to Pioneer Village with my parents and the girls.


• Saw 14 plays/musicals. 9 in NYC (see previous posts), 1 The Wedding Singer at Hale (with my former student Matt Baxter stealing the show as George), 1 Pirates of Penzance at Hale (with my former student Bailee Paxman as a fantastic daughter- took Millie to this one and she loved it. Well, I know she loved the free cookie and root beer that she got at intermission thanks to Clint), 1 110 in the Shade at Hale Center Orem with the fantastic Audra McDonald. Seeing her in that show that close was worth every penny. It was fantastic. 1 Hairspray at Riverton City with 10-12 RHS Theatre alumni as leads and ensemble. They were great.
• Millie went to her 1st Broadway show. We (and a few Riverton Drama students and alumni) went to see the Broadway touring show of The Lion King in Salt Lake City. She did great. It helped that she already knew the songs (she's sat a few times in her room and wept to Shadowlands) and story. Having a bag of Skittles ready for Act 2 also helped. The cast was great and Millie loved it. It was good preparation for Mary Poppins next year.

• Saw (in the movie theatre) Toy Story 3, How to Train Your Dragon, Inception and The Other Guys. Also became addicted to The Shield and we are currently on Season 4.

So now school's back in session- I already cast our Shakespeare ensemble (a bloody good King Lear) and we're holding auditions for South Pacific after Labor Day. Happy 3 day (birthday) weekend.