Sunday, July 4, 2010

The Great Utah Time Warp



Happy 4th of July to all of you out there who don't live in Utah! If you do live in Utah, then you understand that in our world the 4th of July is over already. It happened Friday and Saturday. That's because in Utah nothing happens on Sunday. That's right. No Thing.

Not that I'm complaining. Sunday is a laid back day for me anyway. Plus we got to celebrate the 4th over the course of two days instead. (And a big benefit is that I can start my July 4th post with a picture of fireworks that I took two days ago. Cheating? Yup.)

Friday night our town had a little parade, that ended with a man yelling at me, "If you don't get out of my way, I'm going to run you over!" Because it was a small town, no f-words were uttered. That's how you can tell we have hospitality.

Later that night we traveled to a nearby town for an outdoor concert. You might remember that we went to the same place last year for Independence Day celebrations and got to see Merrill Osmond.  These outdoor concerts are magical. People spread out camp chairs and blankets and listen to good music under the stars, followed by fireworks. Children run through the grass and dance, wearing neon jewelry and lighting up our night in a parade of bright colors. Warm breezes keep us from being too hot or too chilly.

Look at the clips below to see a brief glimpse of who we saw in concert this year.


[Now this is right where our video would have appeared had I not stopped the download after THREE HOURS. I even took an hour nap while it was downloading. So just pretend you saw someone who looked and sounded amazingly like Neil Diamond.]


That person in your imagination was not even Neil Diamond, but an expert faker named Jay White! We thought he was fantastic, as did the crowd. On many songs, if we closed our eyes and laid our heads back in our camp chairs, we would have sworn Neil was really there. He normally plays at the Riviera in Vegas but we were lucky that he had nothing to do on the 2nd of July! (That's the 4th of July in Utah lingo.)  This had to be one of the best concerts I've attended.

Gal pal Ekanela and her family were there too.


Weston (purposely pretending to be eating) with Ekanela's son, He's Hot. 



Ekanela's daughter, The Divine Miss Ya-Ya


BFF Ekanela with hubby, He's Even Hotter, and daughter, SK8TR


The next day, Saturday, Ekanela and I hit the parade route. We even took our kids. We would have gotten lots more candy had we left them home, but we knew they would enjoy the hot sun and noisy sirens.

Well, except for SK8TR, who enjoyed the sirens NOT SO MUCH.

The Divine Miss Ya-Ya, her cousin Osteoporosis, He's Hot, Weston, and SK8TR


SK8TR, an all-American pile of cuteness


During the parade, Weston scored two coupons for 12" pizzas for only $5 each at a local pizzeria that is known for its great  food. The coupon specifically said, "No Waiting!"   That was a big fat lie. Ekanela and I each decided to get one pizza to give to the kids for lunch. I went in to order our pizza, while Ekanela went to the dairy. We hoped that we would finish our errands simultaneously. 

At 12:30 I entered the pizza place and saw that there were lots and lots and lots of people who all thought they should use their Pizza for $5 coupon. Right now. I placed my order and paid for for 2 cheese pizzas around 12:35. At around 1:00, Ekanela called to check progress. I told her I had ordered, but not yet received, our pizzas. She asked me if it would be a problem to order a third pizza. 

I looked around and saw that there were still quite a few people waiting for their orders, and about 20 more people waiting in line just to place an order.  She decided to send her son, He's Hot, in to get a third pizza. I was honest and said that he would probably be in line for at least 30 minutes, waiting to place his order, and then there would be another 30 minute wait to get the pizza. $5 pizzas don't come along every day so she decided it would be worth the wait. 

After about another 10-15 minutes, the owner came out and yelled, "Three cheese pizzas for Roger? Roger? Is there a Roger for three cheese pizzas?  Roger?"  Roger was either deaf or had given up, so the owner called out the next person in line, who happened to be me! "Two cheese pizzas for Randi?"

I said, "Actually, I need three cheese pizzas now," and turned to He's Hot at the end of the line and said, "Bring the money up here!"

The owner said, "Just take them, they're yours. Go."  Woo ho!  Ekanela scored a free cheese pizza.  Thank you, Roger, wherever you are. You saved us about an hour's wait, and made some starving children very happy.



Later that night, we went to another set of fireworks just a few blocks from my house. There's a beautiful church building not far from my house that sits atop a steep hill. 



People gather with blankets and bug spray on that hill to watch. Computer Geek, Weston and I walked over there to sit with daughters (adopted and not) and grandchildren (adopted and not.) Our blanket was kind of slippery so Computer Geek and I had to dig our heels in to keep from sliding down the slope.

Tiny Dancer and Em


Avatar and Pinque

Weston and Dash

He said he was watching but I think he was sleeping.

After we walked home, I put brownies in the oven so we could finish our July 4th celebration the right way---with chocolate and ice cream. Gnome happened to call around 11:00 p.m., right when the brownies were coming out of the oven, so we invited her and Hoolie over for a midnight snack. 

Today, the real July 4th, I would like to officially end our festivities, as many of you are just beginning yours, with a quote by one of my favorite founding fathers.

Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death! 
Patrick Henry 

13 comments:

  1. Randi -

    Being a Sabbath & a national holiday it is hard. Today I just decided to stay home, I recorded a bunch of David Barton programs to watch (he is on Glenn Beck but he has his on tv show about the history of Christianity in America).

    As well I started reading "The Creature from Jekyll Island" about the history of the Fed Reserve & our monetary system. It really is a key to understanding where we are at today & something we need to repent of.

    Did you get any shots of the fireworks going off with the temple in the background? I've seen a few photos before & it really did look beautiful.

    I guess I have to learn to be more humble as next Sabbath is my 36th birthday too & I am more trying to figure out what I am going to do as far as finding a job & paying for tuition goes. I am covered through the fall for tuition but would like to find something soon. So that is all I could ask for to get me closer to where I want to be in the near future.

    God Bless,
    Adam

    ReplyDelete
  2. Adam: Computer Geek is familiar with David Barton and says he brought to light the separation of church and state situation. He also says Jekyll Island is the best book to help a person understand the Fed. He met G. Edward Griffin in '93 in Vegas.

    Fireworks behind the temple would be gorgeous, but they now shoot the fireworks between the high school field and the cemetery instead of the mountain because they kept setting the mountain on fire.

    Happy early birthday, Adam! I hope your birthday wishes for a job come through soon. Are you working at TJ's at all anymore?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Randi -

    No, I was laid off from TJs back in April so its mainly school that has kept me going these last few months. I am really trying to stay out of retail, the hours are too unsteady. I'd like to find something with a school district but they've all had cutbacks, so will probably just have to take the first job offer I get no matter what...

    David Barton has a show called "American Heritage Series" on TBN which is pretty good, I was watching one he did about the various monuments in the capitol. If it weren't for Barton I probably would not even watch Beck...what he does is better done by others & less watered down...

    I knew about Griffin for awhile but put off reading him because I've had family members who worked for the Federal Reserve Bank. I knew it would make me upset to read this & not be able to talk to my family members about it. I had seen Griffin interviewed on Alex Jones & a couple of other radio programs. What really opened my eyes was the "Money Masters" documentary (sounds corny but it really is a good summary of the history of our monetary system).

    I should go check out Jekyll Island next time I am down by Savannah, my brother went to band camp there when he was in high school.

    God Bless,
    Adam

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey Stranger...

    Still thinking about you, been stupidly busy.. but wanted to take two seconds to say Happy 4th of July. :)

    Daisy

    ReplyDelete
  5. Daisy: Oh my gosh! I was just on your site like 2 seconds ago and made a note that I was going to have to come back and listen to those vocals as soon as my hubby is done listening to his classical music!

    And thank you for the Happy 4th wishes, my Canadian friend!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Adam: So are you talking to your family members now that you're reading Jekyll? I just asked Computer Geek about Money Masters and if he's heard of it, and of course he pulled out the DVD and showed me. I'll have to watch it this summer.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Randi -

    Yeah I am not sure what I am going to do, my Dad worked for the Atlanta FRB. My paternal grandmother's brother (I am not sure what that actually makes him but everyone calls him Uncle Bob) worked for one up north (I think Philly, since they live in NJ).

    My Mom agrees with me about the Fed but my parents are divorced. Who knows Dad may wind up getting a copy of the Jekyll Island book for Christmas or his birthday, he's retired now so I figure he's got the time to read it. I just hope he never met Geitner or Bernanke, I think most of the stuff my Dad did was low level HR management type stuff though. A friend of mine already wants to read my copy after i am done.

    What's frustrating is finding a solution to the problem, now that I know what the problem with the FRB is. The big question is: How do we get rid of it? Short of getting Ron Paul or his son elected to a higher office...

    That's funnny, definitely did not know Tim would have a copy :) Yeah definitely watch Money Masters great history lesson. Its on Youtube too, there's another one I just heard about but haven't gotten to listen to the interview yet on Alex's show called "The Secret of Oz". Just trying to finish up "Abe Lincoln; Vampire Hunter" before the library sends me the audiobook versions of "Under The Dome" (30 CDs *%$!, its going to take me forever to listen to) & "The Lost Symbol" (can't remember how many, but its a lot too).

    God Bless,
    Adam

    ReplyDelete
  8. Another great post, Randi. I have to chuckle at all the names. I can't keep up with them.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Adam: I think I can see why you and Computer Geek were former roomies. Did you two have lots of interesting discussions back then? Do you yell at the TV as much as he does? :) It really sounds like you two think a lot alike. Do you listen to lots of books on audio?

    Auntie M: Thank you! I have a hard time keeping them straight too! The only thing that saves me is that the names are not random, but have some sort of meaning to me.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Randi -

    Well between podcasts, random CDs people pass onto me that I in turn pass on to others, library books on CD I get my fair share of stuff listened to. As far as audiobooks its mostly fiction stuff, I like a good narrator & I have some sort of mental block when I try & read fiction. Non fiction I can chomp through in a couple of days, not so with fiction.

    I mainly yell at the DVR or the radio, plus I am a "dog talker". You try explaining to an Australian shepherd why she can't watch Dr. Phil or "Jonas Bros LA" & then check your sanity. Yeah I miss Tim & the guys. If you see Paul K. give him my email address, don't know if he is still around or not.

    But I think all us crazies are cut from the same cloth :) I just need to get my act together & get back where I belong ;)

    Now to see if this lemon water "diet" does anything for me.

    God Bless,
    Adam

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love an outside concert. Always a good time. Love Neil songs too.

    Great pictures Randi. Glad that you enjoyed the 4th!

    ReplyDelete
  12. An eventful day by the sounds of it. We had a very quiet day in comparison. Amber made some unbelievably tasty beef burgers but alas no fireworks.

    ReplyDelete
  13. It really was a great time with you Ms. Quang.. I love the nick-names for my kiddies! (and my hubby!) The pics are so cute too! Thanks for the post. I can hardly wait until next year!

    :) ekanela

    ReplyDelete

You won't be paid for it, but at least you'll know that you have contributed intelligence to the universe...

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...