And the wanting comes in waves...

Friday night, I got to see a pretty awesome concert in the Cities with Kristen and Kate. Tell me, have you ever heard of The Decemberists? Yes, I *am* looking smug right about now.

Opening act was Laura Veirs. Kristen's been a big fan for years now, but I only knew a couple of songs. Yay for me, Ms. Veirs sang one of them: "Galaxies."

Unlucky for all of us, some douche in the row behind us kept talking through her first few songs. Not a whisper to the person next to him, but full-out, normal voice or louder. Despite several of us turning around and glaring, and Kristen shushing him once, he continued on. What can a girl do? Well, if you're me, you turn around and stare him down, then once you know you have his attention, loudly and slowly say, "SHUT. UP." Oh, sure, his face will turn red and he'll mumble back, "YOU shut up," but it won't affect you. Because he'll then get up with his buddy and leave for the next 30 minutes and you'll have your fellow concert-goers cheer you on. So, really, it's worth it.

Also? We met Laura Veirs after the concert and got her CD autographed. Check out July Flame; it's gorgeous AND you can get two free tracks! Plus, one song is adapted from an Arthur Rimbaud poem. Be still, my heart!

Then the Decemberists took stage. Oh, wait. I guess technically they took the stage while Laura Veirs sang, inundating her band with remote control vehicles. So the second time they took the stage, they played the entire tracklist of "Hazards of Love." Pretty sweet, ya'll.

That chick on the far left of the picture, Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond, is phenomenal. She is a freaking powerhouse! I have a bit of a girl crush on her now. (Don't worry, Neko Case; you're still my No. 1 gal!) During encores, she sang Heart's "Crazy on You." Gave me goosebumps!

And we can't forget about Colin Meloy.

Delish! And he came down from the stage and walked through the audience, stopping at our aisle! He was about seven people away from me!

Chick on the right here? I don't know her name; I called her Ghost of Christmas Past. She creeped me out with her hippy dancing. *sigh* Fine. Her voice *was* incredible. I'll give her that.

Great show, though. Really a lot of fun! Except when douche came back to his seat and started playing the air mandolin. What a maroon.

Quote of the night
Kate, Kristen and I were walking to the concert venue, passing by The Orpheum, which was putting on a production of 101 Dalmations (it said so in bright lights). A tent was set up outside to house the dogs when not in use. They suddenly all started barking. Kristen got a deeply sad look on her face as she looked around to spot where the noise was coming from.
Kristen: Ooohhhh! Is someone having a dog fight?

No, Kate and I have not let her live it down. And neither should you.

"A house needs a grandma in it." ~Louisa May Alcott

I know I haven't written in a long time, haven't even felt like it. I've shared almost everything on this blog, though mostly I've kept it light and funny. Today I'll explain a little of why I've been so silent of late.

I guess things started to take a toll on me over the summer, and I didn't feel it was appropriate to be sharing with the world. As you know, I've lived with my grandparents since college. About the time I moved in, my grandmother, Lorraine, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Medicine can only slow down the disease so much, and the last year and a half got pretty tough. We never left Grams alone; she couldn't cook anymore; we had to lock the closet doors because she spent most of her days rummaging and "discovering" things.

And then the days started coming faster and faster when she didn't remember my grandpa. Now, my grandma has always been a feisty lady. If a stranger budged in front of her in line at Burger King, she wouldn't hesitate to put them back in their place. If someone marked their wicker basket at $5 at their garage sale, Grandma's look of contempt would not be hidden. I'm pretty sure I take after her more than anyone else. So when she started to not recognize her own husband, thinking he was a bossy stranger, you'd better believe things turned ugly.

Then she thought her dead brothers would come take her back home. Or she worried her father, dead more than 30 years, would wonder where she was. Every day--every hour--was different from the next. "Well, let's go home," she'd say. So we'd take her for long drives two or three times a night, then pull into the same driveway at the same house we'd left from, and she'd be satisfied that she'd left someplace and was now home.

When she didn't recognize us, she tried escaping the house, and it didn't usually go well. Through this past July, I'd wake up about 25-30 times a night, hyperalert for movement or noises, fearing Grandma might fall down the stairs or make her way outside. It was mentally and physically exhausting.

On Aug. 3, my grandfather, uncle and aunt took my grandma to a nursing home. The hardest part was that she had so many lucid moments. Though, yes, it was more frequent that she was constantly trying to leave, to "go home," there were just as many times when she was lovingly kissing her husband, patting his cheeks, calling him sweetheart, telling him she loved him. I can't even tell you how many times in her first three weeks at the nursing home we almost went back to bring her home again.

It's been hard on our family, especially my grandpa. He celebrated 60 years of marriage with her in June; now he drives 11 miles to visit for a couple of hours with her. Sometimes she begs to come home. More recently, she's blank. The downhill march of Alzheimer's is so much quicker than you'd expect.

Nothing is the same without her. She used to bake all the time; Gramps has quite the sweet tooth. Grandma used to work at the church, donating time and talents with cooking, cleaning, etc. She was a wonderful crafter, sewing draft dodgers, pillows, wall hangings, crazy little snowmen. She used to make these gorgeous baskets with lights and pine cones that she'd highlight with glittered paint. I remember several winters where I accompanied her to craft fairs, where she sold all her goodies. She loved coffee, and she always ate weird food combinations, like a hunk of cheese, a gingersnap cookie, and a handful of peanuts. She hated Judge Judy, or "that old bitch," as Gram called her. She loved "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!" and playing Yahtzee. She has knickknacks galore in the house.

Everywhere you look, you see her. Except she's not there. That's the hardest of all.

Worst hair salon ever!

Don't have your 4- (almost 5!) year-old pretend to be your hair stylist. My sister learned this the hard way last night.

It took me an hour and a half to detangle her hair from the comb, which had been twisted through several times. Amanda called me in a panic, certain we'd have to cut it out. But I worked at slowly releasing just a few strands at a time, utilizing a giant tw0-pronged meat fork to loosen the hair at the base of the comb. Eventually, I was successful. But not before taking some pics of the deed. I'm evil, aren't I? But not as evil as the pretend hair stylist. Look at this jerk:

Arrive'd!

I flew into Salt Lake City, Utah, last Wednesday to visit friends. Here are my very first glimpses of the gorgeous city.

From the plane:

Driving to Rachel's house from the airport:

So beautiful!

The crew!

My fave blog friends! Here are RC and Towr, two ladies both named Rachel who are hilarious, smart, and fabulous tour guides!

And what Utah vacay would be complete without meeting Carina, aka Jet_Set, who is ever in the know about fashion, politics, food, and generally everything else.

I also met Carrie, aka Kiki, who was funny and who takes Rock Band very seriously! Why didn't I get a pic of her as well? Grr!

Exploring the city!

Here we are at the LDS convention center. Rich history, blah blah blah, OOH! A mirror! Let's take a picture!

Some pretty glass thing hanging above a water fountain.

On the roof of the convention center, in front of yet another water fountain.

Across the way, the LDS temple. I think.

At the Daughters of the Pioneers museum, I literally gasped "LIZ LEMON?" when I saw this portrait of a pioneer.

The view from the top of the Salt Lake City Public Library.

Why didn't I take a picture of the library itself? No idea.

RC and I pose with the mountains behind us. Such beautiful weather there.

Towr and I. This is also on top of the library roof.

We then drove through the canyon and pulled over at this reservoir.

I suggested we start climbing up this mountain/giant hill.

You can see what I shortly thought of my hiking suggestion.

But the view was worth it!

Worth the heart palpitations, ragged breathing, and cough that lingered for next two days.

The eats!

A very small selection of all the goodies I tried whilst on vacay. The first night we ate at a restaurant called Cafe Rio, which I truly enjoyed! Delish Mexican food. And the second day RC and Towr talked me into trying my very first sushi restaurant. At Shogun, I had some tempura (?) veggies: carrots, potatoes, zucchini, and, I think, shrimp. Or was it crab?

Then, on to the sushi rolls. We tried four rolls: spicy tuna (which I confess I never did try), the Vegas, the Shogun, and the California roll. Official verdict? Meh. I'm really glad I tried it, though, and especially with the Rachels.

After attending a farmers market where we got rained out, Towr and I headed to Bruges, a place specializing in Belgian waffles and fries. I ordered the vanilla waffle with dark Belgian chocolate and fresh sliced strawberries. Delish! But I also pigged out on Rachel's order of fries, which, I kid you not, were the. best. fries. I've EVER eaten. Nothing will ever compare. *sigh*


And at a fast food place called Iceberg, you could get a regular soda or a mini shake with your meal. I ordered the house special triple berry mini shake, and Rachel got the butterscotch. I expected a drink smaller than the small size. Yeah. These were bigger than a large size. Maybe they don't know what "mini" means? Also? Not really a shake since you had to eat it with a spoon. Yummy, nonetheless.

Scenery, etc.

Some excellent views as Towr and I drove to Park City.


The awesome outlet mall where I spent $200 *alone* at the Fossil store.
Since I work at a newspaper, I had to take a picture of the building where two of Salt Lake City's newspapers are printed. This building tries to emulate the skyline and "fails, in my opinion," says Towr.

The copper mine, which you can see from space.

At Rachel's parents' house for Father's Day, they all suggested places for her to take me. Her brother, John, suggested the copper mine.

Towr: You can see it from my house!

John: YOU CAN SEE IT FROM SPACE!

Towr: You can see your FACE from space!

John: You can see your BUTT from space!

Towr: You can see your MOM'S BUTT from space!

I'm pretty sure it kept going after that.

Dino Day!

My last full day in Utah was dubbed Dino Day. TOWR and I started out the morning at a dinosaur museum in Thanksgiving Point. Here's the outside of the building.

Standing beside a ginormous leg bone, just to give an idea of how large some of those dinos were.

I don't remember the names of any of the skeletons we saw. But these creepy things remind me of crocs, and me no likey.

Another creepy predator.

I just thought this was a cool picture. I couldn't even fit the whole dinosaur in the camera frame.

I think this is a velociraptor. I'm doing sort of a part "I'm scared!" pose partnered with Will Ferrell's "He's right behind me, isn't he? I knew it."

Yeah. He looks much more frightening without me mucking it up.

Two T-Rexes. Way too enormous to get in the frame.

The museum showed other eras besides the Jurassic age. I don't know quite what this was from, but this was one monster shark! My head was like the size of one of its eyes!

After the museum, we continued Dino Day with a trip back to the Fossil store and then a viewing of "Land of the Lost." I enjoyed the movie, but Rach found it stupid. Not that it wasn't stupid; I just happened to find that particular brand of stupid amusing.

More scenery. Ooohhh!!

Wisconsin

Beautiful Wisconsin sunset on the drive home.

Jersey kept us entertained with songs she made up. "My cloud-shaped heart, whoooaaa, I've got love in my heart! If the love is gone, then my heart stops. But I'm still alive. Whooooaaaaa. I'm still alive!" Okay, that last part sounds a bit like Pearl Jam, but she didn't sing it that way.

Looks kind of like purple mountains!

Good old Wisconsin farmland. Almost home.