The absence of God will bring you comfort, Baby....
Blah...............................So the past few weeks have been literally a blur. I have just kind of been an emotional wreck, trying everything to keep it all together. I just don't really know what's going on with me anymore. One minute I'm working or focused on something, but I slow down for any amount of time, A wave of depression washes over me. I've been crying at some of the stupidest things lately, and it seems like I am pissed off about half the time, but mostly at work. I have a very weird temper these days, not anything uncontrollable, but it's just being triggered very randomly. There have been days in the last week where I literally have felt like I was coming out of my skull, But I could see that something was wrong, yet I couldn't stop it from happening. I don't know anymore, I am kind of just coasting on auto-pilot, and trying to keep an eye out for the next wave. I feel at times like it's just about time for me to wander out into the sunset, again. Maybe this time I'll find what I need, maybe I'll find something of an answer, maybe I won't come back........
So, My family was in town like almost 3 weeks ago, now. It was good to see them, even though it was a funeral that had brought us all together. I literally hadn't seen any of them, except my Father, in a little ove 2 years. One very odd thing was to see my Sister again, and I feel a little sickly weird saying this, but she looked pretty hot. I can see why she is so popular, and has a steady boyfriend, Even if my parents secretly hate him. I think that my Baby Brother looks more & more like an ancient Mayan. He's got the long forehead, the bigger nose, & colouring of one of our ancient Mayan Ancestors. He hasn't really changed much, he's still in the super annoying teenage boy mode that makes it hard to talk to him at all. Sometimes I just want to bat him around the ears. My other brothers were pretty much the same, But my Asshole Brother, Gabe, has really taken a liking to the Valley, and was talking pretty much the whole time about looking into moving down here. Which is the last thing I want, I am not sure If I hate saying this or not, But I really could do with seeing him as little as possible. My Mom & Dad Seem to have emotionally switched places more & more over the years. I think that anymore, my Mom is a Pre-packaged Shadow of the woman I used to know, & grew up with. It's like she and I have this relationship now as if we were just two well known strangers who happen to frequent some of the same social circles. On the other hadn, My Father has become more real to me, yet equally more distant in his emotions. I spend hours these days talking to him about absolutely nothing. Even when I try to tell him real things that are going on in my life, looking for some kind of response or advice, I often get trapped in a nonsensical path that leads back to a pointless conversation about the Weather. But, he has been getting a little better in the last month or so, Although I think that sometimes he wishes he could trade me places, that he still had some of the freedoms I possibly take for granted.
The one really strange thing I noticed, was on the second day that they were all here. I had been running around like a crazy man, getting things sorted out, working on my Uncles Eulogy, & running crazy errands. But I had a little time to hang out with my whole family, for the first time in forever. We went down to Mill Avenue, and were walking around, My Mom was looking at jewelery, and searching for gifts for her friends. My Dad & Brothers were in & out of sports shops & t-shirt stores, looking for ASU stuff. You know, the typical tourist stuff. We ended up eating at Uno's Pizzeria, which was good, I had never been there before. My Dad had been to the original Uno's in Chicago many, many years ago, and wanted to take us all there for lunch. Everyone ordered big honking pies & my Brothers tried to show off with their beer selections. I on the other hand, ordered a smaller Meatless pie and a Ginger Ale that was the worst thing I have ever drunk. And it was sitting there eating lunch with all of them that I began to fully realise that, I'm nothing like any of them. Sure, we all share the same blood, and alot of the same memories from our collective childhoods, but in the nearly 9 or so odd years that I have been living away from these people, I have evolved along my own path, and I really don't know what if anything we really share in common anymore. I don't know if that's sad or what. I love them all, please don't ever get that wrong, but I just don't know the first thing about these people anymore, and I'm sure that if you quizzed them on me & my personality, they would each fail miserably. However, this does sadden me as a whole, because I feel a certain emptiness inside, not having a real connection to my family.
The one person in my Entire family that I was the closest to was my Uncle Frank, and now that he is passed beyond this world, I am truly left alone in this family. But this opens things up to alot more, and my eyes focused on a chilling reality. I don't think that I am like anyone, I have no real connections to anyone. The only other people I'm nearly as close to would have to be my 4 Best Friends, But these days, I'm beginning to question just how real is our connection, & how close am I to these 4 at all, anyways??? I love each & everyone of them, equally. I would lay my own life down on the line for any one of them, Any day of the week, In a heart beat. But, the last time I saw Trevor, It ended disaterously, and when I spoke with him last, it was even worse. Molly is so distant, and growing ever distant from the girl I once knew & fell in love with. Sometimes I look at pictures of her now, and them look at pictures of her just a few short years ago, and I just can't wrap my head around the notion, of where the Molly I knew went. Fred will always be Fred, but I'm not really sure that I really belong in Fred Land anymore. And as for Autumn, I'm not sure that she's talking to me at the moment, for the first time in a very long time. It's like a piece of my very Heart has been ripped away. I have been banished from her presence, and I'm not sure if I'll be welcomed back into her Kingdom again, I'm not sure I am worthy of it. So, it seems like the raven must continue to fly west. I do have friends at Church, but very few of them are actually what I would call close. I am thankful that I have them & their support, but it's a long week between Sundays. Mauri is probably the one that I've gotten the closest to, especially as of late, But I suppose I'm just kidding myself that we could ever be anything more than the close friends that we are. But, I am very thankful that I still have Her in my life. I no longer have any real friends at work, And I suppose that's probably a good thing. Anymore, I just get pissed off & depressed at work. I wish that I didn't work with such idiots, pot heads, drunks, & perverts. And then there are the customers........
So, Later that day, we all went to the Visitation for my Uncle. It was actually the first time I had seen him, since everything had happened. He looked pretty peaceful, if not a lot more pale. It is weird how they make a body look as good & normal as possible, and yet nothing will shake the reality of the fact that there is no more life left in it. I had this older picture of my Uncle Frank & His Brother, My Uncle Juan Jose, turned into a few 5x10's, and framed. I gave them to several of my aunts, and I also had a few Photo Mugs made as well, and gave them to several of my uncles. I gave my Sister & My Baby Brother both framed pictures of them with My Uncle, from the last time that we both had been in Albuquerque. My Uncle's Pastor spoke first, and he was pretty good. He's a Native American Baptist Pastor, and he spoke of alot of the conversations that they had shared, and a bit about Death, as it's spoken of in the scriptures. Then it was my turn. Molly had shown up a little bit before I had to get up & speak, and I was very glad that I had her by my side. It was the first time in a long time that I had felt the comfort that I used to know when we were first dating. I got up and gave his Eulogy, and I spoke alot about the time I had shared with him, living there at my family's house. I had tried to ask as many of my Aunts & Uncles just what I should say, But again & again I got the answer, You knew him well, and the best in the last few years. You'll know what to say.
Initially, I didn't want to sit down & write it. Even though I had volunteered for the duty, I didn't want to actually have to sit down & write the thing out. It would finally drive it home that he was really gone. I had been avoiding it for days after I had volunteered for it. It wasn't until the very night before the Visitation that I finally sat down & wrote out about 7 or 8 pages of memories, thoughts, & his stories. Sunrise came, and I was still writing, and I knew that I had to get some sleep, as I hadn't really been getting much of any good sleep for most of the long holiday weekend. I tried to get back to finish it the next day, but My Parents called & wanted to see me. So, I had to go. I wasn't sure when I would get back to it, and the truth is that I never did. The last almost 15 or so minutes of my speaking were just kind of off the cuff stories of his & the memories of that great man that we will all miss, until we see him again. Everyone afterward told me that I had done a very very good job, and I don't know if I believed them that night, But I knew that I had at least done him proud, I hoped.
I had made a big pot of Chicken Curry to take over to my Family's house, to feed the throng of people who showed up. It was literally the most people I have ever seen in that little house. Well, as I walked into the living room, I saw my Dad talking to someone I didn't know. This turned out to be my Uncle Lupe, who had been missing for like 30 years or so. He is my only other relative that is still active in the Church. He had picked himself & his family up, shortly after they joined the Church, and moved away, and cut himself off from our family. I had never met him, and I suppose that I was angry with him about this, and about it making my conversion to the LDS Church a little more dramatic & harder. But, I introduced myself to him, and it was like all that anger just melted away, when I told him I was a member as well, and about my Ward. He was very different from what I had pictured him being like. That entire night was a very sad & also calming night. I don't think I have ever seen that much of my family in one place for anything, ever.
The next day was a Catholic Mass for him, & his actual burial. I didn't know that I was going to be speaking again that day, But I got up and spoke a little bit about all the many faces that were here, that he knew & loved, and just how he would have wanted us to remember all the good times we had shared with him, and not mourn over him. It was a beautiful service, and then we proceeded to the cemetery. After the burial service, we all met once more at the church where he used to go, for a big meal. I had made a Red Velvet Cake, one of his favorites. I got the chance to meet with Cousins, Uncles, Aunts, & Relatives and Friends that I hadn't seen in a long time. I just hope that the next time that we all see one another, it's not at another funeral.
I had been on the go that entire holiday weekend, and my parents left right after the meal, so by the time I got home later on, I was at a loss as to what to do with myself. I wanted to go do something, because I wanted to get all these things off my mind. I had been so wrapped up in family & funeral procedures, that the only thing I wanted to do was something completely different. But, I couldn't find anyone to go do something with, and so I just slept.
The next weekend, we went out to the desert to go Burn things, It was pretty kool, once we actually got there. It was kind of crazy, since our entire group was spread out in 3 cars, and the lead kept shifting. But once we finally found the spot we wanted, and were joined by Rachel Nobel and her friends, it all went pretty well. I had a pretty good time, and it was kool to actually get the chance to talk to Rachel for once, she is someone that if I were in a better place at the moment, I would consider asking out on a date. Now, Jacob had brought a butt Load of Fireworks from Washington with him. And so we set off a good number of them, which was pretty freakin' kool. But as we were leaving, Badger's Jeep wouldn't come out of 4 wheel drive, and then when we finally did get it back into the proper gear, Jacob wanted to shoot off one last big Firework. I was already having bad feelings about all the activity we could see from the entrance to the site we were at. So, they shot them off, and they were the biggest & loudest ones that he had, and then we ran to the cars & got the hell out of there. But, as we were leaving, we all got stopped by the Sheriff. And luckily, we were all calm & honest, and that coupled with the fact that we were all sober, impressed the deputies, and they let us go, after they took the remaining fireworks.
But, then Jacob saw that he had lost one of his Hubcaps, and asked us to go back & find it. So, being the idiots that we were, we turned around to go back, but not before being stopped again by the Seriff, only to be let off the hook once more. So, we quickly made our way back, and found the Hubcap, and got the Hell out of there. James was so ticked that he has been holding the Hubcap hostage ever since. He even took some pictures of it, all around town & such, and posted them on Face Book.
So, the weekend after that, we went out to go bowling, but when we got to the bowling alley, it was packed. So we went to go play miniature golf over at Fiddlesticks. That was pretty kool. The next day we went to the Flea Market to go find more razor heads for my shaver. I ended up buying a new handkerchief that has cute little skulls & cross bones all over it, A bunch of socks, & the razor heads. I have recently started to use some of the old after shaves that I have inherited from my Uncle. It's kind of odd to smell like him, I have also started to wear, & really like his old leather sandals.
Later that day was Stake Conference, which was really good. After that, we were supposed to go to this one Hispanic Cultural Fair, but by the time we actually found a place to park, and we were looking for the front gates, we found out that it was like $10 to get in. So we said screw that, and went to go eat at Filiberto's. That was kool, I was feeling adventurous, and ordered the Menudo. It wasn't great, but it wasn't as horrible as it could have been. There was alot of meat in it, but very little hominy, and it was alot spicier than I like it, also it was mostly broth by the time I was done with it. For it almost being $6 for the bowl, I should have gotten more actual hominy, and less broth. But Megan was actually really kool, she tried it, and it wasn't all that bad for her, but she said that it did stink.
We ended up at her house later that night, & watched The Transporter. the next day was Stake Conference & The Dedication of the New Building. I got seperated from James & Megan, and was shuffled up to one of the classrooms to watch the dedication. President Mike Crow was actually alot more articulate than I was expecting, even though he was dressed pretty casual for the event. The Governor was great, if but a bit brief, she was actually pretty funny though. And the highlight of the event was Elder Henry B. Eyring. He talked quite a bit about his family in the Gila Valley, and his roots at ASU. I always love when he talks about his Family in Arizona & New Mexico. After the dedication, I ran into my old Bishop, Bishop Waddups & his Wife. they are just the same, and it was awesome to see them. I also ran into Former President Udall, who made a comment to Bishop Waddups that I was the first of many Baptisms that have happened since, in the 5th Ward.
This passed Thursday, James & I went to the Muse Concert. it was pretty freakin' awesome. I hadn't been to any shows this year, so it was nice to go to a big one like that. And it certainly was worth the money I paid for the tickets. It was actually a birthday present for James. We ran into alot of people we knew, from our ward & other places. Rachel Nobel was there, but we didn't run into her. She is a huge fan of the Muse, and she actually has amazingly great taste in music. I was fighting to stand for most of the show, But everytime it got too hot, there seemed to be a kool breeze that would blow in, and take care of it. I did get kicked in the head a couple of times, from crowd surfers. I had actually thought of crowd surfing, myself, But I could barley keep standing, let alone find someone to lift me up. After it was all done, I was soaked & excited to go to another show. I am going to try to go to Edgefest next weekend, and possibly to Rilo Kiley in October.
So, this weekend that just passed was pretty kool. On friday, I went to the farewell party for Pam, she is going on a mission. The theme of the party was a very German Oktoberfest. They had a Keg of Root Beer there, and I even danced. It was all in all a good time. The next day, we had another one of our Movie Nights, but with a little twist. The theme was Saturday Morning Cartoons, and James put together a playlist that was like 6 hours of cartoons from our childhoods & the present. We had all kinds of Breakfast cereals, donuts, and I bakes some breakfast breads. We didn't have alot of people actually show up, but all in all, it was a success. By the end, it was Mauri who stayed till the end.
Well, I think that is most of everything that has been happening, and if you've actually gotten to the end of this, and are reading these words, I'm sorry. I will try in future to post a little more often, and shorter. But, I guess it's just been a whirlwind in the last few weeks. I hope that you all have had alot less drama in your lives than I have as of late. I thank you for continuing to read this chaotic journal of mine. Until next time remember, There is only a short time we spend here, make the most of every moment, and don't be afraid of making mistakes, they are simply training grounds.............................................tootles
So, My family was in town like almost 3 weeks ago, now. It was good to see them, even though it was a funeral that had brought us all together. I literally hadn't seen any of them, except my Father, in a little ove 2 years. One very odd thing was to see my Sister again, and I feel a little sickly weird saying this, but she looked pretty hot. I can see why she is so popular, and has a steady boyfriend, Even if my parents secretly hate him. I think that my Baby Brother looks more & more like an ancient Mayan. He's got the long forehead, the bigger nose, & colouring of one of our ancient Mayan Ancestors. He hasn't really changed much, he's still in the super annoying teenage boy mode that makes it hard to talk to him at all. Sometimes I just want to bat him around the ears. My other brothers were pretty much the same, But my Asshole Brother, Gabe, has really taken a liking to the Valley, and was talking pretty much the whole time about looking into moving down here. Which is the last thing I want, I am not sure If I hate saying this or not, But I really could do with seeing him as little as possible. My Mom & Dad Seem to have emotionally switched places more & more over the years. I think that anymore, my Mom is a Pre-packaged Shadow of the woman I used to know, & grew up with. It's like she and I have this relationship now as if we were just two well known strangers who happen to frequent some of the same social circles. On the other hadn, My Father has become more real to me, yet equally more distant in his emotions. I spend hours these days talking to him about absolutely nothing. Even when I try to tell him real things that are going on in my life, looking for some kind of response or advice, I often get trapped in a nonsensical path that leads back to a pointless conversation about the Weather. But, he has been getting a little better in the last month or so, Although I think that sometimes he wishes he could trade me places, that he still had some of the freedoms I possibly take for granted.
The one really strange thing I noticed, was on the second day that they were all here. I had been running around like a crazy man, getting things sorted out, working on my Uncles Eulogy, & running crazy errands. But I had a little time to hang out with my whole family, for the first time in forever. We went down to Mill Avenue, and were walking around, My Mom was looking at jewelery, and searching for gifts for her friends. My Dad & Brothers were in & out of sports shops & t-shirt stores, looking for ASU stuff. You know, the typical tourist stuff. We ended up eating at Uno's Pizzeria, which was good, I had never been there before. My Dad had been to the original Uno's in Chicago many, many years ago, and wanted to take us all there for lunch. Everyone ordered big honking pies & my Brothers tried to show off with their beer selections. I on the other hand, ordered a smaller Meatless pie and a Ginger Ale that was the worst thing I have ever drunk. And it was sitting there eating lunch with all of them that I began to fully realise that, I'm nothing like any of them. Sure, we all share the same blood, and alot of the same memories from our collective childhoods, but in the nearly 9 or so odd years that I have been living away from these people, I have evolved along my own path, and I really don't know what if anything we really share in common anymore. I don't know if that's sad or what. I love them all, please don't ever get that wrong, but I just don't know the first thing about these people anymore, and I'm sure that if you quizzed them on me & my personality, they would each fail miserably. However, this does sadden me as a whole, because I feel a certain emptiness inside, not having a real connection to my family.
The one person in my Entire family that I was the closest to was my Uncle Frank, and now that he is passed beyond this world, I am truly left alone in this family. But this opens things up to alot more, and my eyes focused on a chilling reality. I don't think that I am like anyone, I have no real connections to anyone. The only other people I'm nearly as close to would have to be my 4 Best Friends, But these days, I'm beginning to question just how real is our connection, & how close am I to these 4 at all, anyways??? I love each & everyone of them, equally. I would lay my own life down on the line for any one of them, Any day of the week, In a heart beat. But, the last time I saw Trevor, It ended disaterously, and when I spoke with him last, it was even worse. Molly is so distant, and growing ever distant from the girl I once knew & fell in love with. Sometimes I look at pictures of her now, and them look at pictures of her just a few short years ago, and I just can't wrap my head around the notion, of where the Molly I knew went. Fred will always be Fred, but I'm not really sure that I really belong in Fred Land anymore. And as for Autumn, I'm not sure that she's talking to me at the moment, for the first time in a very long time. It's like a piece of my very Heart has been ripped away. I have been banished from her presence, and I'm not sure if I'll be welcomed back into her Kingdom again, I'm not sure I am worthy of it. So, it seems like the raven must continue to fly west. I do have friends at Church, but very few of them are actually what I would call close. I am thankful that I have them & their support, but it's a long week between Sundays. Mauri is probably the one that I've gotten the closest to, especially as of late, But I suppose I'm just kidding myself that we could ever be anything more than the close friends that we are. But, I am very thankful that I still have Her in my life. I no longer have any real friends at work, And I suppose that's probably a good thing. Anymore, I just get pissed off & depressed at work. I wish that I didn't work with such idiots, pot heads, drunks, & perverts. And then there are the customers........
So, Later that day, we all went to the Visitation for my Uncle. It was actually the first time I had seen him, since everything had happened. He looked pretty peaceful, if not a lot more pale. It is weird how they make a body look as good & normal as possible, and yet nothing will shake the reality of the fact that there is no more life left in it. I had this older picture of my Uncle Frank & His Brother, My Uncle Juan Jose, turned into a few 5x10's, and framed. I gave them to several of my aunts, and I also had a few Photo Mugs made as well, and gave them to several of my uncles. I gave my Sister & My Baby Brother both framed pictures of them with My Uncle, from the last time that we both had been in Albuquerque. My Uncle's Pastor spoke first, and he was pretty good. He's a Native American Baptist Pastor, and he spoke of alot of the conversations that they had shared, and a bit about Death, as it's spoken of in the scriptures. Then it was my turn. Molly had shown up a little bit before I had to get up & speak, and I was very glad that I had her by my side. It was the first time in a long time that I had felt the comfort that I used to know when we were first dating. I got up and gave his Eulogy, and I spoke alot about the time I had shared with him, living there at my family's house. I had tried to ask as many of my Aunts & Uncles just what I should say, But again & again I got the answer, You knew him well, and the best in the last few years. You'll know what to say.
Initially, I didn't want to sit down & write it. Even though I had volunteered for the duty, I didn't want to actually have to sit down & write the thing out. It would finally drive it home that he was really gone. I had been avoiding it for days after I had volunteered for it. It wasn't until the very night before the Visitation that I finally sat down & wrote out about 7 or 8 pages of memories, thoughts, & his stories. Sunrise came, and I was still writing, and I knew that I had to get some sleep, as I hadn't really been getting much of any good sleep for most of the long holiday weekend. I tried to get back to finish it the next day, but My Parents called & wanted to see me. So, I had to go. I wasn't sure when I would get back to it, and the truth is that I never did. The last almost 15 or so minutes of my speaking were just kind of off the cuff stories of his & the memories of that great man that we will all miss, until we see him again. Everyone afterward told me that I had done a very very good job, and I don't know if I believed them that night, But I knew that I had at least done him proud, I hoped.
I had made a big pot of Chicken Curry to take over to my Family's house, to feed the throng of people who showed up. It was literally the most people I have ever seen in that little house. Well, as I walked into the living room, I saw my Dad talking to someone I didn't know. This turned out to be my Uncle Lupe, who had been missing for like 30 years or so. He is my only other relative that is still active in the Church. He had picked himself & his family up, shortly after they joined the Church, and moved away, and cut himself off from our family. I had never met him, and I suppose that I was angry with him about this, and about it making my conversion to the LDS Church a little more dramatic & harder. But, I introduced myself to him, and it was like all that anger just melted away, when I told him I was a member as well, and about my Ward. He was very different from what I had pictured him being like. That entire night was a very sad & also calming night. I don't think I have ever seen that much of my family in one place for anything, ever.
The next day was a Catholic Mass for him, & his actual burial. I didn't know that I was going to be speaking again that day, But I got up and spoke a little bit about all the many faces that were here, that he knew & loved, and just how he would have wanted us to remember all the good times we had shared with him, and not mourn over him. It was a beautiful service, and then we proceeded to the cemetery. After the burial service, we all met once more at the church where he used to go, for a big meal. I had made a Red Velvet Cake, one of his favorites. I got the chance to meet with Cousins, Uncles, Aunts, & Relatives and Friends that I hadn't seen in a long time. I just hope that the next time that we all see one another, it's not at another funeral.
I had been on the go that entire holiday weekend, and my parents left right after the meal, so by the time I got home later on, I was at a loss as to what to do with myself. I wanted to go do something, because I wanted to get all these things off my mind. I had been so wrapped up in family & funeral procedures, that the only thing I wanted to do was something completely different. But, I couldn't find anyone to go do something with, and so I just slept.
The next weekend, we went out to the desert to go Burn things, It was pretty kool, once we actually got there. It was kind of crazy, since our entire group was spread out in 3 cars, and the lead kept shifting. But once we finally found the spot we wanted, and were joined by Rachel Nobel and her friends, it all went pretty well. I had a pretty good time, and it was kool to actually get the chance to talk to Rachel for once, she is someone that if I were in a better place at the moment, I would consider asking out on a date. Now, Jacob had brought a butt Load of Fireworks from Washington with him. And so we set off a good number of them, which was pretty freakin' kool. But as we were leaving, Badger's Jeep wouldn't come out of 4 wheel drive, and then when we finally did get it back into the proper gear, Jacob wanted to shoot off one last big Firework. I was already having bad feelings about all the activity we could see from the entrance to the site we were at. So, they shot them off, and they were the biggest & loudest ones that he had, and then we ran to the cars & got the hell out of there. But, as we were leaving, we all got stopped by the Sheriff. And luckily, we were all calm & honest, and that coupled with the fact that we were all sober, impressed the deputies, and they let us go, after they took the remaining fireworks.
But, then Jacob saw that he had lost one of his Hubcaps, and asked us to go back & find it. So, being the idiots that we were, we turned around to go back, but not before being stopped again by the Seriff, only to be let off the hook once more. So, we quickly made our way back, and found the Hubcap, and got the Hell out of there. James was so ticked that he has been holding the Hubcap hostage ever since. He even took some pictures of it, all around town & such, and posted them on Face Book.
So, the weekend after that, we went out to go bowling, but when we got to the bowling alley, it was packed. So we went to go play miniature golf over at Fiddlesticks. That was pretty kool. The next day we went to the Flea Market to go find more razor heads for my shaver. I ended up buying a new handkerchief that has cute little skulls & cross bones all over it, A bunch of socks, & the razor heads. I have recently started to use some of the old after shaves that I have inherited from my Uncle. It's kind of odd to smell like him, I have also started to wear, & really like his old leather sandals.
Later that day was Stake Conference, which was really good. After that, we were supposed to go to this one Hispanic Cultural Fair, but by the time we actually found a place to park, and we were looking for the front gates, we found out that it was like $10 to get in. So we said screw that, and went to go eat at Filiberto's. That was kool, I was feeling adventurous, and ordered the Menudo. It wasn't great, but it wasn't as horrible as it could have been. There was alot of meat in it, but very little hominy, and it was alot spicier than I like it, also it was mostly broth by the time I was done with it. For it almost being $6 for the bowl, I should have gotten more actual hominy, and less broth. But Megan was actually really kool, she tried it, and it wasn't all that bad for her, but she said that it did stink.
We ended up at her house later that night, & watched The Transporter. the next day was Stake Conference & The Dedication of the New Building. I got seperated from James & Megan, and was shuffled up to one of the classrooms to watch the dedication. President Mike Crow was actually alot more articulate than I was expecting, even though he was dressed pretty casual for the event. The Governor was great, if but a bit brief, she was actually pretty funny though. And the highlight of the event was Elder Henry B. Eyring. He talked quite a bit about his family in the Gila Valley, and his roots at ASU. I always love when he talks about his Family in Arizona & New Mexico. After the dedication, I ran into my old Bishop, Bishop Waddups & his Wife. they are just the same, and it was awesome to see them. I also ran into Former President Udall, who made a comment to Bishop Waddups that I was the first of many Baptisms that have happened since, in the 5th Ward.
This passed Thursday, James & I went to the Muse Concert. it was pretty freakin' awesome. I hadn't been to any shows this year, so it was nice to go to a big one like that. And it certainly was worth the money I paid for the tickets. It was actually a birthday present for James. We ran into alot of people we knew, from our ward & other places. Rachel Nobel was there, but we didn't run into her. She is a huge fan of the Muse, and she actually has amazingly great taste in music. I was fighting to stand for most of the show, But everytime it got too hot, there seemed to be a kool breeze that would blow in, and take care of it. I did get kicked in the head a couple of times, from crowd surfers. I had actually thought of crowd surfing, myself, But I could barley keep standing, let alone find someone to lift me up. After it was all done, I was soaked & excited to go to another show. I am going to try to go to Edgefest next weekend, and possibly to Rilo Kiley in October.
So, this weekend that just passed was pretty kool. On friday, I went to the farewell party for Pam, she is going on a mission. The theme of the party was a very German Oktoberfest. They had a Keg of Root Beer there, and I even danced. It was all in all a good time. The next day, we had another one of our Movie Nights, but with a little twist. The theme was Saturday Morning Cartoons, and James put together a playlist that was like 6 hours of cartoons from our childhoods & the present. We had all kinds of Breakfast cereals, donuts, and I bakes some breakfast breads. We didn't have alot of people actually show up, but all in all, it was a success. By the end, it was Mauri who stayed till the end.
Well, I think that is most of everything that has been happening, and if you've actually gotten to the end of this, and are reading these words, I'm sorry. I will try in future to post a little more often, and shorter. But, I guess it's just been a whirlwind in the last few weeks. I hope that you all have had alot less drama in your lives than I have as of late. I thank you for continuing to read this chaotic journal of mine. Until next time remember, There is only a short time we spend here, make the most of every moment, and don't be afraid of making mistakes, they are simply training grounds.............................................tootles