Weekend in Utah

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Big thanks & much Love to everybody out there for wishing me a happy 28th birthday yesterday...and for those of you who forgot, damn the whole lot of you. I'm just kidding of course. Not usually the kind to throw a big deal about my birthday...other than an excuse to have fun and a few drinks. "What do you want for your birthday?" "I don't know. Rent money?" "What? No really, what do you want?" "Honestly, you showing up is fantastic. The best present that I can ask for. Hmm, and maybe an adult beverage." "Sold." Anyway, here's a brief summary of the past weekend...then I have to get back to packing & calling a bunch of people who want my money or owe me money.

Wednesday

Fairly uneventful day in Denver, just made a few calls to set up apartments to check out the next day, some more light packing, etc. Then I got on an airplane for the 82-minute flight from Denver to Salt Lake City...and sat next to this nice lady, probably in her forties. Well, the issue of Spirit (or whatever the Southwest in-flight magazine is) was the same that I had read earlier in the month when going to/from Cali, so I was bored...and noticed that she was knitting. "What's that you're making? Little bootsies or something?" "Haha, no. Actually it's gauze. See, I work with this organization that makes this hand-sewn gauze for people with Hansen's Disease (leprosy) and this stuff made by hand has been shown to do better than the usual surgical gauze because it's more...from the heart and they feel that human connection." So we instantly hit it off because I dig people with a cause...and I'm charming, so we got to talking about our travels, our families a bit since we were both going home to Utah, and then the conversation really got awesome.

"You probably get this a lot...but you look a LOT like a young Dennis Quaid." I was stunned. "Really? Wow! Thanks, you just made my day." So apparently, this lovely lady on the airplane won the Look-Alike contest proposed in my last entry...with the submission of a young Dennis Quaid...like Big Easy, Inner Space, tappin' Meg Ryan in her prime, nothing to do with his crazy brother Randy, Dennis Quaid. I'll take that. Gladly. So yeah, that night just hung around with my dad & stepmom catching up and getting ready for the next day.

Thursday

I woke up bright & early, grabbed some bagels & Tootsie Rolls for breakfast (that's how I roll), met up with JL Clyde and we went apartment searching for me (wanted a second opinion). We looked through a LOT of places in the Avenues, downtown, West Valley and Murray areas...but I didn't really take a whole lot of pictures...so thankfully I don't have to bore you with analysis like the Denver version. Let's just say that I saw a lot...and they all had their good qualities and not-so-great qualities...but nothing REALLY stood out. There were three possibilities at the end of this day...and more to check out on Friday.

After the search though, we got lunch at Yoshi's which meant deep fried sushi rolls and green tea ice cream (delicious) then I dropped JL Clyde off at work...and thought I'd stop in and say howdy to the former coworkers like the Mad Scientist, Boss Lady J, Mother Tucker, Brooklyn and others...and apparently that lasted about three hours. Then I went to my dad's for dinner and some NBA playoffs. Little did I know that my brother had shown up there...and brought my niece & nephew, so I got to play with them for a few hours. They've grown so much since I seen them last. Vinny didn't recognize me at first...but Kairi was excited. She's under 18, so it's a given (and the lady who said I looked like Dennis Quaid was over 40...so my theory still holds true). Good times.

Friday

Went to see a few places in the morning and early afternoon...but by about 3 PM, I had decided to go with...drum roll please...the Palladio Apartments in downtown (teaser picture to the left). Sure the bedroom's a little smaller than I was hoping for...but that just makes it more cozy...and the great qualities include a large living room, great kitchen with island for bartending atmosphere, large balcony on the 4th floor, 24-hour fitness center, pool & hot tub, and a great location in the heart of downtown...and really it wasn't a huge difference in price from basically the exact some thing ten to fifteen minutes away, so yeah, despite being shown the property by a Barbie Doll that described everything as "super cute", I see great potential in this place...at least for the next six months. I'll let you all know when the Housewarming Party is.

After doing some paperwork for the apartment, I went to my brother's house to hang out with him...since he basically has no friends since my sister-in-law scared them all away. We'll just skip my feelings on her for right now...but I assure you, they're negative. So we had fun...and played Rock Band 2...and shot some people to relieve stress. Virtual people, of course...then I slept with Tinker Bell. I know, I know. She's a cold-hearted mythical b**ch who's surprisingly famous and adored for trying to have a teenage girl killed and an entire group of children ravaged by pirates (it's true, watch Peter Pan again if you need to) but damn it, she's just hot...and happened to be all over the sheets & blanket of my niece Kairi's bed, which I slept in that night.

Saturday

Spent the morning with my brother, then drove back to Salt Lake City to go clothes shopping. See, I had $150 in Men's Wearhouse gift certificates from my suit purchases six months ago that were going to expire...and so I had to use them...but I don't have a whole lot of fashion sense. I know what I like...and I apparently watched a lot of blaxploitation films like Dolemite & Willie Dynamite & the Mack & Superfly growing up and said, "That could be me." So I brought JL Clyde along for assistance...and basically with sales they were having, I ended up with two dress shirts, four ties and a a nice silk T-shirt for my birthday party...for eleven bucks. Nice. After that, we ate at Noodles & Company and then I got ready for my party.

I arrived at the Bayou right on time and who was there to greet me...but the lovely Bone Junior (who is STILL the only person that bought me a drink for my birthday...but more on that later). While waiting for others to show up, we had a nice little meal and caught up on on-goings. Great times. Then we were joined by my mom, my aunt pat, Brooklyn & Nic, Erica & Ruben, JL Clyde, & Mr Wong...and just had a great time catching up and having a few drinks. Then my mom & aunt went home...and stiffed me with their bill. I'm not joking. Apparently that was their present for me. How bad is it when your mom ditches you with her drink tab...on your birthday? Love ya mom!!!

Sunday

Woke up and caught up on the NFL Draft while hanging with my dad. The Eagles did pretty good...theoretically, but that's the thing with the Draft, especially in the NFL. We'll see in like three to five years if they did any good...but I think they chose a great playmaker receiver in Jeremy Maclin, a great running back in LeSean McCoy...and used a few picks to get a Pro Bowl tackle to block McNabb's in Jason Peters and a great cornerback in Ellis Hobbs too. Are they going to the Super Bowl next year? ABSOLUTELY!!!

Also, I found out that Boss Lady D had her child...and so we share the same birthday...but I have yet to hear whether it is a boy or a girl...or if she took my suggestion for a baby name...but I'm assuming that she did in fact name her first born son Optimus Prime...or her first born daughter Jem, because that would be truly outrageous. Truly, truly, TRULY outrageous. Anyway, my dad & stepmom also took me to dinner at Chili's and that was a lot of fun...so yeah, then I hopped on a flight back to Denver.

Do you know the one thing that I'm absolutely not going to miss about Denver? The drive to the airport. Why is it about forty minutes outside of town? There's literally twenty minutes of windy nothing between the airport and the nearest homes. Why? Too convenient? So yeah, it was snowing...and because it was the eastern plains of Colorado, it was windy...and it was around midnight. Not the worst drive ever...but just really inconvenient...and could've been very easily avoided with proper planning by city & state officials...but hey, they gotta get their money from somewhere. Also, what the f**k is up with that evil horse statue that I guess is meant to scare off horse thieves or something? This blue mustang is just ridiculous...and pointless. It doesn't even have a souped-up engine like Bone Junior's blue mustang. Anyway, not going to miss that whole place at all.

So yeah, that was my weekend...and the next few days are just a hectic mix of packing and trying to get other people what they want to. Frustrated is a good word to describe it...but I'll get over it...because I had a great weekend with some great family & friends (even though the Mad Scientist totally didn't show up to my party) and by this time next week, I'll be moved into my new apartment (pictures tomorrow probably) and starting my new job. Thanks again to everybody for a fantastic time...and I hope to see all of you again very soon. Have a great day everybody!!!