Most of you know summer is my least favorite time of the year. My body's thermostat runs fairly high and the temperatures around Utah are really uncomfortable for me. Each year I wait for the calendar to turn from August to September for a little relief.
Not this year. Every day has been more of the same - 88 degrees and sunny. This has to be one of the warmest Septembers on record and it doesn't look like it's going to end. Friday (October 1st) it's supposed to hit 90! And people say Global Warming is a figment of our imaginations.
Tara's back at the gym on Thursdays so it gives me a chance to hang out with the kids alone every week. Usually our evening consists of a little dinner, a little homework, and a lot of wrestling. Most of the time I play the role of the horse and all the kids climb aboard, but tonight Dede took over and let the boys ride on her back. I love watching them play together.
A few months ago my friend Chappo moved to New Mexico for a new job and a return to the West. Even though it crushed my chances of returning to Fenway, it opened up an opportunity to road trip with the Utes to play the Lobos. I figured we had plenty of time to make the roadie, since Utah played in Albuquerque every other year. Then the Pac 10 announcement came and it was obvious that the New Mexico road trip would have to come this year.
Chappo got the tickets, I planned the trip, and Jared Fawson provided the car and we were set. Jared and I left early on Friday on our ten hour trip to the Land of Enchantment. It was a fun drive. Jared and I have been friends for a long time so it easy to pass the trip with stories, pontificating, and some good tunes. The 600 miles seemed to fly by.
We figured we could really make good time on this trip. With it just being a couple of guys, the stops were few and far between. We really only stopped twice, once for gas and once for lunch. We passed through Colorado and were in New Mexico before we knew it. Chappo and Michelle were nice enough to let us crash at their new house (very nice - BTW) and they made sure we were well fed the entire weekend.
Unfortunately, this wasn't much of a site seeing trip. Other than a short geocaching trip on Saturday, our only exposure to Albuquerque was a New Mexican restaurant and the Lobos football stadium. I was okay without a lot of looking around, after driving all day on Friday it was nice to hang out with friends and avoid the hustle and bustle of being a tourist.
Even though we were in New Mexico, it might as well have been a Utah home game. The stands were filled with Ute gear and the game was less of a contest and more of an exhibition. Here are some of my thoughts about the game:
The Lobos football stadium reminds me more of a high school than a college. Even so, the stands were pretty crowded and there was a fun atmosphere.
The Utes need to hold onto the ball. They fumbled several times. Turnovers are the only way lesser opponents can stay in the game.
Ute Fans need to show more class on the road. If I didn't know any better I'd say a few of the faithful reminded me more of Cougar blue and Ute crimson. It's enough that we were killing them, you don't need to tell Lobos fans their team sucks.
Road trips are awesome, but only if your team wins. It would have been a long drive home had we lost the game.
We packed up early on Sunday morning and made the drive back to Utah. What a great time. Lots of good food, good conversation, good friends, and a good win for the Utes. One thing I know for sure, the next road trip with be to AZ, OR, WA, or CA and a game in the Pac 12. I can't wait!
My favorite moment of the trip. Lobos fan says it all.
A few days ago we had our Ward Picnic. I love the fact that it's a low key party with hamburgers, hot dogs, and potato salad. All the classics! The kids always have a great time as there are plenty of games, including 20 ft water slide (Kennedy couldn't get enough of it). In the past it seems like I've always made my mark on the party by being the first adult to go down the slide, but I never bring a swim suit and I always end up ruining some article of clothing. Not this year, I decided it was time to hang it up and quit embarrassing myself publicly.
Until they mentioned a watermelon eating contest. I am not a competitive eater. Even though I'm a big guy I've never been someone who packs it away as fast as I can. Still, I'm a closet fan of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest every 4th of July and I wanted to help make the party fun for everyone. Needless to say I was in and I was in it to win it.
Eating a lot of food as fast as you can is not easy. I felt like I was going forever and it had me questioning my judgement. I felt like I was making pretty quick work of my slice and I thought I was winning when the judges called time. I looked around the table of guys to see who had finished and to my surprise the winner was Maddie, our little Beehive. Wow! Way to go girl! She put all the men to shame and took home the prized PIGGY balloon. I was gracious in defeat and have to say it made for a great event and a highlight to the party.
This post marks a major milestone in half truths and mild tales - 1000 posts. I started working on this blog in August of 2005 as an experiment. Blogging was still pretty new on the landscape and a couple of us in the office wanted to give it a try and see if anyone was listening. I had no idea just how popular blogging would become over the past 5 years. I would love to say I was a blogging pioneer, but I think I was just a bit ahead of the curve.
So, what's happened in the cyber-space of our little world during the life of half truths?
I guess it's a little of everything. When the blog started Kennedy was 9 months old and we thought blogging would help us detail some of the events in her life. Boy, has that ever been the case. Alex and Dylan weren't even on the horizon and this blog has shared so much of their lives. Tara and I are pretty much the same (ok, we're a little grayer, a little slower, a little bigger - sometimes smaller, and a lot more stressed). Imagine, our family has gone from a cozy group of three, to a wild party of five. Amazing.
In this blog we've discussed parenting, family life, politics, home improvement, weather, work, church, sports, geocaching, vacations, adoption, and so much more. There are certainly times when mild tales looks like a typical brag blog, where we share why our kids are so great. Still, there are lots of times where the blog has served as a forum, a place to share ideas and look at things related to the world and how I feel about them. Truthfully, I wish I wrote more of these types of posts.
I know I've slowed down in writing over the past couple of years. I guess I've stopped creating reasons to write and now the blog gets a little neglected sometimes. Even though we're not as prolific as we were in the first couple of years, I'm still proud of the blog. A lot of people have started a blog and played with it for a month or two before letting it drift to the wasteland of the Internet- mild tales is 5 years old and still going strong.
Since the collage was so small - take a look over a few of our favorite images from the past 1000 posts.
Even though we were in New Mexico, it might as well have been a Utah home game. The stands were filled with Ute gear and the game was less of a contest and more of an exhibition. Here are some of my thoughts about the game:
Until they mentioned a watermelon eating contest. I am not a competitive eater. Even though I'm a big guy I've never been someone who packs it away as fast as I can. Still, I'm a closet fan of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest every 4th of July and I wanted to help make the party fun for everyone. Needless to say I was in and I was in it to win it.
