Cerebrate Good Times

Per our bi-annual custom, we went to Toquerville this year for Thanksgiving. We like trying out different places to stay in the area, and this time we decided to try a motel right outside Zion National Park. When we got there at 10:30 Wednesday evening, this was our first look at the view: [caption id="attachment_1010" align="aligncenter" width="169" caption=""I'd like a room with a view of the big, dark blur, please.""] [/caption] While enjoying the sights (or unloading the car, anyway), I heard leaves rustling behind me. [caption id="attachment_1001" align="aligncenter" width="169" caption="If you look closely at the center of the picture, you can see a darker blur."] [/caption] It was a deer that didn't really seem to care that I was there. I took a video of it on my phone, but it wasn't playing nice with WordPress. Anyway, the deer just calmly strode across the silent parking lot, ...

I have a feeling that most tomboys have an older brother... [caption id="attachment_986" align="aligncenter" width="169" caption="Yes, that's some sort of crocodilian"] [/caption]

Katie and the kids came down to Provo today, and we went to McDonald's for lunch. Allison was trying to grab our food, as usual. We finally gave her a couple of fries to gum on. Here she is with one clenched in each fist. [caption id="attachment_979" align="aligncenter" width="169" caption="Nom nom nom"] [/caption] Get 'em started early, I always say.

I learned something new today. I was really tired this morning, so I was tempted to drink a caffeinated soda. But instead I decided to try an experiment. I had some grapefruit juice instead. I figured the sour, bitter taste would do a good job of keeping me awake. And it worked! My friend Rob had this to say about this particular beverage: I like grapefruit juice, because it feels like it's fighting back. Now I do enjoy eating grapefruit, but I've never before actually just had the juice by itself. I nursed it throughout the day, and by the afternoon I was surprised to find that I was actually enjoying it. Sort of an alimentary Stockholm syndrome, I suppose...

So my new drive is an 80-mile round trip every day. I was a little worried about getting sick of listening to the same music over and over, until I did the math. If I just let my iPod shuffle through all 3500 songs, I actually won't repeat anything for at least 5 months. Amazing. The other thing I've noticed about the drive is that they have a bunch of new billboards that tell you the current estimated waiting time at the emergency room for local hospitals. Am I the only one who thinks this is ridiculous? Would anyone on the entire planet shop around for the emergency room with the shortest wait? "Hang in there, honey—the hospital on the other side of town can get you in 5 minutes sooner! Just keep that tourniquet on there!" Seriously, what's the point of advertising an emergency room, when everyone just goes to the one nearest them?

I know there are thousands of people out there wondering where I have been. Don't worry, I'm not dead. I actually started a new job a couple of weeks ago, and it's a long commute, which leaves my evenings shorter and reduces the time I have for blogging. Anyway, here are a couple pictures from Halloween. This is supposed to be a monkey, which everyone knows have pineapple rings surrounding their navels. This is a dragon, from How to Train Your Dragon. Getting into character was not an issue. More updates will follow soon.