Some Summer Randomness

The rocket's red glare (as observed from the corner of 7th East and 17th South)

Some observations from this summer. I thought I should list a few before summer is over:

• As I had another birthday, I took a rapid inventory of what is and is not working any longer. I have a hand that won't fully heal from a tumble I took last summer. It works for most things, but I can't put full pressure on it to help me stand up (I never realized how many times I was down). I have scars from various surgeries, most of which have faded somewhat (no more afternoons in the backyard in a Speedo, eh?). My brother pulled a bad tooth out of my noggin, thankfully it was in the back (upper driver's-side). The hairless region on my head is not getting any smaller (still not ready for the comb-over thank goodness). My eyesight is almost beyond my ability to squint-to-see. I have had more moles, warts and growths cut, frozen, or sanded off than Carter has little pills. All in all, I could be doing worse.

• Without bees, you aren't going to get too much production out of your garden (the leaves look pretty though).

• On BYU TV they were playing Man's Search for Happiness. If you have the TV muted, it comes up as Man's Search for Hipness.

• If it rains most of June, your summer seems over before it starts.

• The bar for holding off Christmas gets lower every year. I was in the Costco last week and they had Christmas ribbons for sale (I don't care if it was the ribbon reinforced with wire).

• Speaking of Costco, Emma enjoys spending time in the cold rooms with the vegetables and eggs to cool off.

• The Bees play in the prettiest ball park in the country. Even if you don't like baseball (gasp!) you have to admit that the reverse sunset on the Wasatch mountains is a great show.

• If you don't spend some time on your back in the grass looking up at the clouds once in a while, you are missing out on a wonderful opportunity.

• Try this for a summer rush-- eat a "brown topper" and then cannonball it with a lime rickey from the Arctic Circle. That's summer livin'. Ok then.

Agony and Ecstasy at the Mall

Emma and I went on an outing to South Towne Mall yesterday (and please pronounce that "Towny").

Here's the agony part: THE HELLO KITTY STORE IS GONE! It's vanished. This is a shallow and materialistic tragedy. We used to go to Hello Kitty (Sanrio, I guess it was really called) whenever Emma earned 20 good behavior stickers. She'd pick out a trinket or a pack of overpriced Hello Kitty gum, or once a pen with 10 different colors (very good behavior), and once a necklace with Hello Kitty herself dangling on a pendant (superb behavior).

An AT&T center is in its place, with a big map of the U.S. on the wall showing all the places where AT&T coverage is available. We kept walking back and forth down the concourse, past the big AT&T map, while I muttered, "It's around here somewhere. Gee, it used to just pop right up out of nowhere." Finally, I consulted a mall map. "Sanrio, L17." I orientated myself to the "You Are Here" icon, headed back down the track to L17 and there was that darn AT&T map blazing from the wall again. And then the awful reality struck me. I confirmed the bad news with an employee in a nearby kiosk. "Did that store used to be....Hello Kitty?" (morose nod.)

Oh, so sad! No more explosive plethora of expensive pink merchandise with Hello Kitty's inscrutable feline face staring blankly from every surface. No more H.K. pens and pencils, stickers and stamps, spangle pouches, drawstring bag sets and plush characters. Sayonara to the keyrings, wallets and purses, laptop bags and Iphone charms (Emma could have had one when she was 14 if she'd kept minding her p's and q's).

Goodbye, Hello Kitty.

But our spirits perked up (mine did, at least -- in a shallow and materialistic way) when we visited The Children's Place and discovered they had good-looking back-to-school jeans on sale for $10.00 a pair (regular $16.50). Tried a few on and they fit, oh miracle of miracles (hard to get a good fit with the jeans for Em). So we bought 4 pair, plus a cute little outfit also on sale, plus a new backpack she spied (she needs one to replace her loathsome Dora pack). Then I found out if I opened a charge account I could get 23% off the entire purchase, so open a charge account I did, and got a few more items since I was saving so much.

Emma picked up a little T-shirt she liked off a table and we tried it on in the dressing room. I didn't check the size. It was a little tight, and rather short -- probably needed a size or two bigger. I looked at the tag and it said 6-9 months. No wonder.

After the splurge we got a peach smoothie and rode the little train and discovered that on-sale school clothes almost completely soothe the hurt of no more Hello Kitty store.

Here's a picture of our haul:

It's Joey's Birthday, August 1!!

The birthday boy, above, amongst his sisters (Robyn, Carolee, Laurie, Susan)

Send a greeting Joey's way today!